
Qass^Zyy/^ . 

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HISTORY OF 

Sacramento County 



CALIFORNIA 



WITH 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



OF 



The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified 

With Its Growth and Development From the Early 

Days to the Present 



HISTORY BY 

WILLIAM L. WILLIS 



ILLUSTRATED 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 



HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
(1913) 



^S <t- c' 



/^-^/5^'^<^ 



PREFACE 



What is termed "history" is made up of several factors, which 
sometimes move concurrently and sometimes are divergent. There 
are manv matters of record, which of course are not disputable, but 
in the recital of which the narrative is tinctured by the opinions or 
prejudices of the narrator or the historian or of the source of his 
information. Tradition and personal recollection play another large 
part in history, and things that are accepted for decades and even for 
centuries as facts become in the course of time a matter of dispute and 
even of rejection. The path of the historian therefore is not one of 
roses. If he be wise he will as far as possible submit each statement 
to the test of scrutiny and comparison and hold fast to that which he 
considers as proven, or if he does not reject it, state that the matter is 
not fully authenticated. 

Had the writer been far-seeing, when he came to California in 
1874, he would have jotted down the ])ersonal recollections and experi- 
ence's of a large number of the pioneers with whom he became ac- 
quainted and who were then in the prime of a vigorous life and with 
a vivid recollection of what they had passed through and of the^ condi- 
tions thev found prevailing here when they arrived. Some of these 
men came as early as 1846 before the discovery of gold, and he has 
listened for hours to their tales of adventure and experience, but did 
not at that time realize that the lips that recited them would one day 
be stilled in death and many important matters connected with the 
early history of the state would be luiried in oblivion. A book em- 
bodying these recollections would have been a most fascinating work, 
for a glamour alwavs hangs over the history of the days of the Argo- 
nauts that seems to grow in interest as time progresses. Many of 
these reminiscences were probably tinged with romance, but that 
hardlv lessened their interest. 

In the compilation of this volume the writer has endeavored to 
present facts collated by him, without bias or prejudice, and as nearly 
authenticated as possible. Perhaps some statements may provoke 
(>riticism from those who hold a different point of view, or who have 
received information conflicting with them; and it would be too much 
to expect that the book would be entirely free from faults or defects, 
but he can trulv sav that he has done his best with the resources at 
his command and sifted the evidence to the best of his ability, and can 
onlv ask the indulgence of the public with regard to his shortcomings. 



In the compilation of this work, the author has consulted a number 
of authorities, and had the valuable assistance of a number of persons 
in collecting data. The works of Dr. Morse, Thompson and West, and 
Winfield J. Davis have been drawn upon freely, as have those of 
other authorities. To Hon. W. A. Anderson he is indebted for the 
valuable chapter on ''The Bench and Bar," and other reminiscences, 
and to E. B. Willis, N. E. White, J. A. Woodson and others for 
suggestions and information. In a work of this kind it is impossible 
to incorporate all incidents, however interesting to the parties con- 
cerned, and where it has not been practicable to secure accurate data, 
some things have been omitted, rather than run the risk of incor- 
rect statement. He therefore trusts that the public will accept the 
work in the spirit in which it was written. 

W. L. Willis. 



CONTENTS 



Introductory 

Sacramento the Peer of any County in California— Her Part in History of 
State Important— A Second Valley of the Nile— Splendid Soil Sprinkled 
with Gold Dust— Great Crops Shipped Abroad— Here Began Real History 
of California— Hither Came Argonauts of 1849— Deer and Antelope Then to 
be Seen— Wild Oats Taller Than Man's Head— Sparsely Settled Plains- 
Remarkable Transformation Made by Citizens. 



City and County Elections 

First Election— Officers Chosen— Hardin Biglow the First Mayoi'- First 
Meeting of Council— Success of Biglow in Preventing Disastrous Flood in 
1850_Growth of Business— Report of Assessor— Decline of Valuations- 
Sacramento Incorporated February 27, 1850— Boundaries Defined— Ne%\ 



10 



16 



17 



CHAPTER I 

Sacramento County 

Location— Tonnage on River— Fertility of Soil— Growing of Fruit— Soil and 
Streams— Necessity of Levees— Water Available for Factories— Raising 
of Wheat Superseded by Horticulture— Asparagus and Celery Profitable 
on Tule Lands— Old Spanish Grants— Present Property Valuations— The 
Capital City a Place of Beauty— Many Attractions for Visitors— Steam and 
Electric Railroads Increasing in Number. 

CHAPTER II 

Mining -- 

Discovery of Gold— Early Process of Mining with Shovel and Pick— Latest 
Methods of Dredging— Shall Dredger Mining be Regulated by State- 
Hydraulic Process Opposed by Orchardists— Finally Prohibited by Legis- 
lature. 

CHAPTER III 

Climate --- 

Snow Never Seen Except upon Distant Sierras— Temperature Compared with 
Southern Italy and Los Angeles— Cherries Usually Blossom in February 
and Ripen in April— Average Rainfall— Sunstroke Unknown— Summer 
Evenings Delightful— Oranges Shipped Earlier than in Southern California- 
Sacramento Rainfall Monthly, Seasonal and Annual from 1849 to 191^— 
Sacramento Temperature Average Since 1878— Relative Humidity— Per- 
centage of Sunstroke— Extreme Temperatures— Extremes of Wind. 

CHAPTER IV 

Gen. John A. Sutter - ^^ 

Early Life— Travels in West— Agreement with Governor Alvarado— Settle- 
ment on the American River in 1839— Proximity to Digger Indians— Declared 
a Mexican Citizen in 1841— Given a Grant to New Helvetia— American Mag 
Hoisted In 1846— Kindness to the Immigrants— Heavy Losses by Desertion 
of Laborers and by Thefts— Tardy Recognition of His Services by State. 

CHAPTER V 

The Fort Restored -.- 

First Effort at Restoration— Public-Spirited Work of General Martine— Enter- 
prise Promoted by Native Sons— Pioneers Also Active in Work— Present 
Condition of Fort. 

CHAPTER VI 

The Discovery of Gold - - 

Early Explorers Referred to Presence of Gold— Cause of Immigration of 
Mormons to West— Settlement on Mormon Island— Gold Mined There- 
Other Reports from Explorers— Marshall's Discovery Accidental— His Later 
Life— The Results of the Discovery— First White Child Born in California. 

CHAPTER VII 



31 



37 



41 



CONTENTS 



Charter Granted ISol^Date of Elections — Amount of Salaries — Tax for 
Support of Free Schools — Consolidation of City and County Government — 
Repeal of First Act — Adoption of New Charter — Horace Smith Second Mayor 
— Later Elections. 

CHAPTER VIII 
Tpie Squatter Riot 49 

Cause of the Trouble — History of the Affair — Leading Participants in the 
Riot. 

CHAPTER IX 

First Things 55 

First Mail Received in Sacramento — First Directory — First Prison Brig — 
First Store at Sutter's Fort — First Census — First Paper — First Banquet — 
First Rail — First Railroad — First Agricultural Association — First Frame and 
First Brick Houses in Sacramento — First Fire Department — First Street 
Cars — First Court House — First Criminal Trial. 

CHAPTER X 

The Revolution 61 

Conditions Culminating in the Revolution — The Bear Flag Party — Ide's 
Proclamation— Making of the First Bear Flag— American Flag Hoisted at 
Monterey. 

CHAPTER XI 
In the Beginning .'. _ 65 

Founding of Sutterville— ^Eclipsed by Sacramento — Description of City by 
Bayard Taylor— Freighting to the Mines— High Cost of Living— Commis- • 
sioners Elected— Gaming Prevalent— Influence of Clergymen Beneficial- 
Organization of City Government — Burdens of Early Councils — Sufferings of 
Penniless Newcomers — Odd Fellows and Masons Prompt to Relieve Desti- 
tution — .January Flood of 1850— Admission of California to the Union— Epi- 
demic of Cholera — Disasters Overcome by People. 

CHAPTER XII 
Political gi 

Democratic Convention of 1854— Dissention and Dispute— Mass Meeting 
of Republicans— State Convention of New Party— The Spittoon Convention- 
Governor Foote of Mississippi Prominent in Public Life. 

CHAPTER XIII 

County Govkrnment , g-j 

Organization of County in 1850— Its Boundaries— Elections— Officers. 

CHAPTER XIV 

City Officers !)7 

List of City Officials from 1849— Mayor Wounded in Squatter Riot— City and 
County Consolidated from 1858 to 1862— City Governed by Board of Trus- 
tees (3) from 1863 to 1894— New Charter Adopted in 1894— Trustees In- 
creased to Nine. 

CHAPTER XV 
Floods 105 

Reclamation of River Lands Costly— Efforts of Aborigines to Provide Safety 
from Floods— Overflow of 1850— Levee Hurriedly Built by Biglow— Flood 
of 1852- Optimism of People— Flood of 1853 Less Destructive— Heavy Mis- 
fortunes Attending Flood of 1861— Another Flood Early in 1862— J and K 
Streets Raised for Protection Against Floods— Last Flood of Any Conse- 
quence in 1904. 

CHAPTER XVI 

Sacramento County Senators HT 

Changes in Districts— .John Bidwell Elected Senator in 1849— Republican 
Nominee for Governor in 1875— Prohibition Nominee for Governor in 1890 
and for President in 1892— Elisha O. Crosby a Senator in 1849— Henry E 
Robinson a Prominent Pioneer Legislator— Bequeathed Large Sum to" the 
Poor of San Francisco— Ferguson Senator in 1856-58— Other Pioneer Legis- 



CONTENTS V 1 1 

lators— Curtis Senator Three Terms and Assemblyman One Term— Creed 
Raymond Senator 1875-78— Pioneer Orchardist, Joseph Routier, a Senator in 
1883-85— The Popular Judge, Elijah C. Hart, Elected Senator in 1893— Gillis 
Doty Elected in 1897— The Pioneer Physician, J. C. McKee, Elected in 1905— 
Charles B. Bills Chosen in 1909. 

CHAPTER XVII 

Sacramento County Assemblymen 122 

Cornwall Elected to Assembly in 1849— A Pioneer of 1848 in Sacramento- 
Assemblyman Henley a Pioneer Banker— McKinstry Later Justice of the 
Supreme Court— Assemblyman Bigler Later Elected Governor of California- 
Charles Robinson Later Governor of Kansas— Assemblyman J. Neely 
Johnson Governor of California in 1855— Other Influential Men m Assem- 
bly—Contested Election of Charles Buncombe- Charles Crocker an Assem- 
blyman in 1861- Stephens a Member in 1869— Clunie, Member in 1875, After- 
ward Congressman— Judge Anderson Assemblyman in 1893— Recent Repre- 
sentation in Assembly. 

CHAPTER XVIII 

California State Library - - 

First Steps Toward Library— Gradual Development— Seven Departments- 
Books for the Sightless Sent Throughout the State— County Libraries of 
Great Helpfulness. 

CHAPTER XIX 



City Free Library 

Association Organized in 1857— Building Erected in 1872— Turned Over to 
City— Leading Papers on File— Books Increasing in Number— Library Sup- 
ported by Public Tax— Residents of Entire County Given Library Privileges- 
Librarian Has Management of Institution. 



.132 



.133 



.135 



.137 



CHAPTER XX 

Government Offices 

Sacramento Postoflice— Facilities Always Less Than Needs— City Deliv- 
ery Service— Rural Service— United States Land Oflice— Internal Revenue 
Office— United States Weather Bureau Station. 

CHAPTER XXI 

Charit.vble Institutions . . ..- 

Need of Relief for Early Emigrants— First Organized Relief Instituted by 
Odd Fellows— Hospital Built in 1850 by Masons and Odd Fellows— Other 
Pioneer Hospitals— First Public Hospital— County Physicians— Southern Pa- 
cific Hospital— Protestant Orphan Asylum— The Marguerite Home— Other 
Hospitals— Mater Misericordiae Hospital— Wentworth-Igo Hospital— ^} hite 
Hospital— Home of the Merciful Saviour— Howard Benevolent Association- 
Catholic Ladies' Relief Society No. 1— The Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion — Cemeteries. 

CHAPTER XXII 

The Press -. 

Monterey Californian First Newspaper of California— California Star Second 
Newspaper— Two Papers United in 1848— Pacific News the Third Newspaper 
— Alta California Started in 1849— Sacramento Transcript Started in 1850— 
First Dailv Outside of San Francisco— Consolidated with Placer Times- 
Removed to San Francisco— Absorbed into the Alta California— Settlers and 
Miners Tribune— Sacramento Index— Sacramento Daily Union— Launched in 
1851_Weekly Started in 1852— Consolidation of Union and Record— Sunday 
Edition Added— Many Expensive Improvements in Union Plant— Democratic 
State Journal— Brief Life of a Baptist Paper— California Statesman— Other 
Early Sheets— State Tribune Appeared in 1855-56— Daily Morning Bee Born 
February 3, 1857— Wide Influence of Paper— Many Sheets of Brief Lite— Sun- 
day Leader First Appeared in 1875— Occidental Medical Times Started as 
Sacramento Medical Times in 1887— Nord California Herold (German) an 
Influential Paper in its Field— Folsom Telegraph an Old and Proniinent 
Journal— Gait Gazette in Southern End of County— The Sunday News Begun 
in 1893— Now Widely Read a^d Influential— Tlie Sacramento Star of Modern 
Inception and Growing Prosperity. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Educational Matters 165 

Schools Have Shown Steady Growth — School in Sacramento in Summer 
of 1849 — C. T. H. Palmer Taught in August — Rev. J. A. Benton His Suc- 
cessor in October — First Public School Opened February 20, 1854 — Attend- 
ance Increased Rapidly — City Schools First Controlled by Assessor — 
Accommodations Insufficient — Colored Schools Apportioned Funds in 1856 — 
Enrollment of One Thousand in All Schools in 1860 — Twelve Hundred Pupils 
in 1864 — Fourteen Schools and Fifteen Hundred Pupils in 1866 — School Li- 
brary Started in 1867— Twenty-two Hundred Pupils and Seventeen Schools 
by End of 1869— Thirty-four Hundred Pupils Enrolled in 1880— Later 
Boards — The High School — The Colored Pupils — Other Items — Sacramento 
Business College. 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Railroads 182 

First Railroad in State — Previous Attempts — Judah the First to Demon- 
strate Feasibility of Sierra Nevada Route — Convention Held in 1859 — Judah 
Sent to Washington to Promote Railroad Enterprise — More Thorough Sur- 
veys with Barometer — Judah Discouraged by San Francisco Capitalists — 
Stock Largely Subscribed by Sacramento Citizens — Topographical Features 
of the Sierras — Government Assistance to Railroad- — Donation by California 
— Ability of Originators of Movement — First Train Schedule — Celebration at 
Shoveling of First Dirt — Equipment for Road — Difficulties Many — Courage 
of Promoters Undaunted — Last Spike Driven — Western Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany — Other Important Roads — Enthusiasm on Entrance of California Pacific 
in Sacramento — The Sacramento Valley Railroad — Various Railroad Enter- 
prises — Southern Pacific Shops — First Shop Erected in 1863 — Magnitude of 
Present Plant — Electric Roads. 

CHAPTER XXV 
Navigation 201 

Sacramento River First Medium of Transportation— -Immense Amount of 
Traffic on the River — Red Bluff the Head of Navigation — Russians the First 
to Navigate the River — Crowning Success with Sailing Vessels in Trip of 
the Whiton — Little Sitka the First Steamboat on the River — ^Voyage of the 
Steamer New World — Twenty-eight Steamers on River in 1850 — California 
Steam Navigation Company Organized in 1854 — Bought in 1869 by Central 
Pacific — Sacramento Wood Company — Sacramento Transportation Com- 
pany — California Transportation Company — Farmers Transportation Com- 
pany — Explosions Frequent in Early Days — Yolo Bridges. 

CHAPTER XXVI 

Local Judiciary and Attorneys 211 

Common Law Established in Sacramento — Alcaldes and Justices of the Peace 
— Superior Tribunal and Courts of First Instance — Court of Sessions Created 
in 1850— Early Courts Superseded by Superior Court — Jurists Identified 
with County — Deceased Attorneys of County — Attorneys Now Practicing 
in Sacramento. 

CliAPTER XXVII 

Members ok the Bar .219 

Early Lawyers Eminent in Public Affairs — E. B. Crocker Supreme Court 
Justice and Founder of Crocker Art Gallery — Governor Johnson— Chief Jus- 
tice W. H. Beatty — United States Senator Cornelius Cole — Col. E. D. Baker 
Killed in Civil War — H. W. Halleck Commander-in-Chief of Union Army- 
Col. E. J. C. Kewen Financial Agent for the Noted William Walker— J. C. 
Zabriskie the First City Attorney — Frank D. Ryan, A Native Son, One of 
Sacramento's Finest Lawyers— The Name of George Cadwalader Prominent 
in Supreme Court Reports — Successful Career of A. C. Freeman — Peter H. 
Burnett the First Governor of California— TTie Genius of Albert M. John- 
son — Judge Catlin Influential in Securing State Capitol for Sacramento^ 
Henry Edgerton, Orator, Statesman, Lawyer — Remembered Now by Few — 
Never Attained the Goal of His Ambition — A Pioneer of 1853 — Prosecuting 
Attorney of Napa County — Orator at Reception of General Grant— Presi- 
dential Elector — State Senator— N. Greene Curtis a Pioneer of 1850 from 
Tennessee — True to Union in Civil War, Senator Several Terms — Counsel 
in Many Important Cases — James W. Coffroth, Senator from Old Tuolumne — 



CONTENTS i x 

Fond of Humor — Helpful to Young Lawyers — John H. McKune a Factor in 
Constructing Law and Ethics of California — ^A Pioneer of Sacramento- 
Land Commissioner, State Assemblyman, District Judge and Code Commis- 
sioner — Newton Booth, Governor of State — Entertained Many Famous 
Guests — William A. Anderson — Success Reached by Sterling Qualities of 
Mind and Heart — Resident of Sacramento from 1849 — City Attorney, As- 
semblyman and Police Judge. 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

Fraternal Societies - 246 

Masons Among Early Trappers in West — Peter Lassen the First Masonic 
Missionary — Connecticut No. 75 the First Lodge in Sacramento — Grand Lodge 
of California Organized in 1850— Present Lodges of City— Chapter, Council, 
Commandery and Scottish Rite — Eastern Star — Colored Lodges — Lodges of 
Odd Fellows — Encampment, Grand Canton and Sovereign Grand Lodge — 
Rebekahs— Knights of Pythias— L O. R. M.— A. O. U. W.— U. A. O. D.— N. S. 
G. W.— K. of H. — Y. M. I. — Hebrew Benevolent Association — Sons of Veter- 
ans — Other Organizations. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Criminal Records ...::-— - - - 264 

The Fate of Roe — First Lynching in Sacramento — Robbery and Grand Lar- 
ceny Punishable with Death in Early Days— Chinaman Hanged for Murder 
of His Wife— Other Executions— Unknown Fate of William Wells — Quick 
Justice for Murder of Sailor— Killing of Officer Scott— Mysterious Murder 
of a Rancher on Grand Island — Grocer and Wife Murdered— Escape of 
Convicts — A Later Attempt Foiled — A Sicilian Murder. 

CHAPTER XXX 

The Great Railroad Strike -■- ...279 

Disastrous Results of Strike of 1894— Begun in Pullman Near Chicago-- 
Extended to Coast — Baggage and Freight and Mail Delayed — Troops Ordered 
Out— Incidents of the 4th of July— Troops Camped in Capitol Park on 5th 
of July — More Soldiers on the 11th — Train Wrecked and Several Killed — 
Revulsion of Feeling — Trial of Wreckers. 

CHAPTER XXXI 

The Churches 291 

Grace Episcopal the First Church in Sacramento — Organization and His- 
tory — Foreclosure of Mortgage in 1877 — Organization of St. Paul's — Present 
Stone Edifice — Other Episcopal Churches— Roman Catholic Organizations — 
Majestic Cathedral the Most Spacious Church in California— First Congre- 
gational Church— Presbyterian Churches— Methodist Episcopal Activities 
Started by "Father" Owen— German Evangelical Lutheran Organized in 1867 
— Handsome Edifice of Scientists — Other Denominations and Their Useful 
Services to the Community. 



.308 



CHAPTER XXXII 

Reminiscences - 

Railroad Building in Early Days — Experiences of James G. Patterson — 
Experiences of McConnell as Storekeeper — The Great Ball of 1849 — Refresh- 
ments Unique — Interesting Incidents at the Ball. 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

Township History -' 317 

Township Alabama — American— Brighton — Center— Cosumnes — Dry Creek 
— Franklin — Georgiana — Lee — Mississippi — Natoma — San Joaquin — Sutter — 
Riverside— Granite— Origin of Local Names — Levees — Funded Debt. 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

Capital and Capitol '^■^^ 

Constitutional Convention of 1849— Election of Senators, Assemblymen and 
Two Congressmen in 1849— First Legislature at San Jose— Gwin and Fremont 
First United States Senators — Proclamation of General Riley — Seat of State 
Government at San Jose and Then at Vallejo— Removed to Sacramento Jan- 
uary 12, 1852 — Legal Technicalities Involved in Removal of Capital — All Ses- 
sions in Sacramento Since 1854 Excepting That of 1862— Later Attempts to 



CONTENTS 



Remove Capital — Building of Capitol — Total of Ten Blocks in Capitol Park — 
Most Attractive Grounds of Any Capitol Park — Group of Statuary — Trees and 
Shrubbery of Every Kind — Grand Army Plat with Trees from Battlefields of 
Civil War — Sacramento's Contribution to the List of Governors. 

CHAPTER XXXV 

TiiK Military 36-1 

State Militia Organized in 1850— Four Divisions and Eight Brigades — • 
Changed in 18r>2 to Seven Districts — Six Divisions and Twelve Brigades 
Created in 1855 — One Division and Six Brigades in 1862 — Successive Briga- 
dier-Generals — Fourth Regiment — Sutter Rifle Corps — Sacramento Guards — 
Young Men's Pioneer Guard — Sacramento Cadets — Independent City Guard — 
Sacramento Hussars — Other Companies — Grand Army of the Republic — Span- 
ish War Veterans. 

CHAPTER XXXVI 

Fire Department 373 

Organized in 1850— Fires of That Year— Great Fire of 1853— Catastrophe of 
1854 — Loss of Western Hotel in 1875 — Other Fires — First Fire Company in 
State — Mutual Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 — Other Volunteer Organiza- 
tions — Paid Fire Department — Established 1872 — Three Companies — Chief 
Engineers — Services of Guthrie — Stations 4 and 5 — Most Modern Equip- 
ment — Exempt Firemen. 

CHAPTER XXXVII 
Early Business Enterprises 381 

Pioneer Business and Professional Men — Every Line of Industry Represented 
— Groceries and Provisions — Breweries — Beet Sugar Factory — Broom Fac- 
tories — Wagon and Carriage Shops — Foundries — Flouring Mills — Wheat No 
Longer the Principal Crop — Land Now Too Valuable for Grain — Export Flour 
Trade an Industry of the Past. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 
Banks and Bankers ...: 388 

Banks of Sacramento Second to None in Stability — National Bank of D. O. 
Mills & Co. — Early History of the Bank — Capital Savings Bank — Odd Fellows 
Savings Bank — California National Bank — People's Savings Bank — Farmers 
and Mechanics Savings Bank — Sacramento Savings Bank One of Oldest in 
City — Capital Banking and Trust Co. — ^Sacramento Valley Bank and Trust 
Co. — Fort Sutter National Bank — Banks and Bankers 1851-1871 — Sacra- 
mento Clearing House. 

CHAPTER XXXIX 

Public I'tilities 398 

First Franchise for Gas Works — City First Lighted With Gas December 17, 
1855 — Various Changes in Companies — Advance in Methods of Manufactur- 
ing Gas — The Telephone — First Appearance of Sunset Telephone Company — 
First Express System of Telephone — Early Rate $6 per Month — Capital Tele- 
phone and Telegraph Company — Water Works — First Bonds Issued in 1853 — 
Original Plant Soon Too Small for Needs of City — New Works Started in 
1872 and Completed in 1873. 

CHAPTER XL 

The Crocker Art Cillery 404 

Gathered in Europe at Great Expense — Deeded to City in 1885 — Building 
Adequate to House Magnificent Collection — California Artists Represented — 
Portraits of Prominent Californians — California Museum Association — First 
Exhibition a Social and Financial Success — Appreciation of Mrs. Crocker's 
Gift — Festival in Her Honor — Ladies Museum Association. 

CHAPTER XLI 

Associations .vnd Clubs 400 

Sacramento Pioneers — Chamber of Commerce —Sacramento Valley Develop- 
ment Association— The Saturday Club— The Tuesday Club— The Sutter Club 
— Dramatic and Musical — State Agricultural Society — Sacramento Athletic 
Club — Sacramento Boat Club — Other Clubs. 



INDEX 



A 

Adams, Harry W 961 

Ahern, David 546 

Ahern, William M 809 

Albriglit, Sidney S 690 

Amaya, Daniel D 760 

Anderson, Alden 789 

Anderson, Andrew 878 

Anderson, Charles W 819 

Anderson, Lars P 1023 

Anderson, Ludwig 1026 

Andrew, William J 654 

Angrave, Joseph W 991 

Aram, Eugene 883 

Armstrong, Robert 676 

Arnold, Alphonse 962 

Atkinson, Edmund C 833 

Atkinson, F. L 746 

Azevedo, Joseph F 857 

B 

Baker, Harry W 992 

Barfoot, Spencer 993 

Bassett, W. Walter .-. 997 

Beckman, William 1020 

Beckwith, Charles M 782 

Bedwell, John F 667 

Beede, Jeremiah K 653 

Bellmer, Edgar H 1055 

Bennett, Harrison 963 

Bethel, Frank J 609 

Bettens, R. M 1022 

Bickle, Thomas V 858 

Bills, Charles B 994 

Bishop, Fred J 776 

Bock, George 1019 

Boggess, Jiles S 661 

Bohl, Peter 964 

Bonte, H. S 1042 

Borchard, Alfred 680 

Boss, Ira C 808 

Bostwick, George W 829 

Bowsher, Amos L 774 

Bradford, William B 574 

Bramhall, Robert N., M. D 860 

Brauer, Herman 723 

Breuner, Louis F 692 

Brickell, Jerome F 620 

Brickell, Thomas E 638 

Brown, Alfred J 967 

Brown, Edward S 861 

Brown, Egbert A 864 



Brown, John Q 863 

Brunschwiler, Joseph 1 866 

Bullock, George S 867 

Burns, George A 975 

Butler, Guy W 870 

C 

Calligori, Vincent 841 

Cameron, Archibald M 980 

Campbell, Alden W 825 

Caples, George W 1024 

Carlaw, Andrew 871 

Carmichael, Daniel W 445 

Carraghar, Will J 872 

Carroll, Daniel H 793 

Carroll, Jeremiah 773 

Gate, Daniel R 873 

Cavitt, George W 932 

Chambers, Vactor T 981 

Chaplin, William 874 

Chinn, Frederick C 766 

Christian, James T., M. D 979 

Cippa, Fred T 670 

Clark, George H 788 

Clayton, Marion F 803 

Clayton, Mrs. Sarah E 803 

Clifton, Archie W 875 

Coffin, Edward M 1018 

Cohen, Isidor 571 

Cohn, Philip C 475 

Coolot, Augustin E 1053 

Cooper, John F 558 

Cope, O. Harold 813 

Cornell, Joseph D 504 

Cox, Frederick 976 

Coyle, Thomas J 842 

Crocker, Charles H 877 

Croke, Frank C 683 

Crowell, Montfort K 811 

Cuff, Clarence C... 820 

Cutter, George H 996 

D 

Dalton, Alfred, Jr :.- 843 

Dargitz, J. P 580 

DaRoza, Edward L 732 

Davis, Charles K 627 

Day, Stephen S 780 

Dehn, Henry 702 

Derby, Charles M 983 

Derby, Frank M 933 

Diepenbrock, Melchior H 462 



INDEX 



Dike, Uburto L 1000 

Doan, Warren E 998 

Donahue, John 934 

Donnelly, James H 1017 

Donnelly, Peter F 895 

Dozier, Melville, Jr 657 

Driver, Elisha S 648 

Dunn, Chauncey H 484 

E 

Ebel, Mark H 759 

Eckhardt, Henry 689 

Ehret, Louis D 770 

Eldred, Charles H 1013 

Elkus, Louis 999 

Elliott, James F 935 

Ellis, Charles J 982 

Ellis, Rev. John H 1001 

Ellis, Rev. William F 752 

Emigh, Clay W 797 

Emigh, James L 796 

F 

Fairbank, Herbert A 523 

Fairfield, Willard A 936 

Fancher, Frederick B 801 

Farren, John 937 

Flcal, Charles A 1042 

Ficks, George W 750 

Filcher, Joseph A 1014 

Fischer, Jacob J 897 

Fisher, J. Hayes, M. D 1047 

Fisk, Katherine B 745 

Fitzgerald, Peter A 573 

Folger, Alfred G 898 

Foster, Stephen 938 

Foster, Walter T 884 

Fox, David F .'. 685 

Frasinetti, James 747 

Fratt, Francis W 1043 

Frommer, Bernard 941 

G 

Gallup, William R 1025 

Gardner, Mrs. Anna G 951 

Geary, William 887 

Geiger, Charles C 788 

Gerber, Edward H 888 

Gerber, John A., Jr 1016 

Gerber, William E = 947 

Gibson, Francis 985 

Gillespie, Edward, Sr 950 

Godard, Charles W 986 

Gore, William R 886 

Gormley, William F 891 



Goulden, James 942 

Grace, TTiomas 427 

Graham, Charles H 987 

Grant, William E 771 

Green, Charles F 436 

Green, George 988 

Gregory, Frank 705 

Gregory, T. T. C 1029 

Griffeth, Clarence M 664 

Griffin, M. W 989 

H 

Hall, Thomas B 839 

Halloran, Martin 837 

Harlow, John M 736 

Hart, James V 488 

Hartmann, George P^ 696 

Haynes, Edward 818 

Haynie, Stephen W 695 

Hencken, William 472 

Henry, L 1011 

Hicks, John B 949 

Hinkle, Isaac 917 

Hinsey, William W 743 

Hippie, George W 545 

Hobrecht, Joseph C 956 

Hodson, Burton M 767 

Hook,. George 955 

Hopkins, A. S 831 

Hopkins, O. G 491 

Hotchkiss, George W 647 

Hulings, Burton F 798 

Hullin, Nicholas J 762 

Humbert, Hubert J 524 

Hummel, Joseph F 952 

Huntress, James S 513 

Hutton, Frank 1012 

I 

Irvine, Richard C 900 

J 

Jacobs, Julius S 850 

Jenks, William M 733 

Johns, Fred J 614 

Johnson, Grove L 500 

Johnson, Hiram W 836 

Johnson, Joseph W 588 

Johnston, John W 953 

Johnston, William A 529 

Jones, Edward S 849 

Jones, Thomas R 507 

Junior, Eugene A 493 

K 

Kaufman, August 768( 

Kaufman, Carl 763 



INDEX 



Kavanaugh, Edward C 619 

Keach, George 919 

Kennedy, William M 663 

Kessler, Adam B 1056 

Kestler, Gustave A 739 

Keyes, Henry C 880 

Kiesel, Frederick W 815 

Kilgariff, Henry J 503 

Kimball, Moses N 881 

Kitt, Fred T 946 

Kleinsorge, Charles E 1003 

Klune, J. Bernhard - 830 

Knight, Ralph 499 

Knight, William L 622 

Koch, Bernhardt ■ F 892 

Koch, Otto J 784 

Kohler, Ferdinand 890 

Krebs, Harry G 944 

L 

Lafferty, Frank A "87 

Langley, William A 636 

Larkin, John N 644 

LaRue, Hon. Hugh M 729 

LaRue, Hugh M., Jr 435 

Latourrette, Johnl 757 

Lavenson, Gus 942 

Lawton, John 847 

Lawton, William D 814 

Leonard, Albert 1010 

Leonard, Harry W 893 

Levering, Charles D 1045 

Lewis, Thomas 715 

Limbaugh, Leonard M 735 

Lindsay, Arthur H 894 

Lindsay, William K., M. D 816 

Lothhammer, Charles 928 

Lowry, Felton 628 

Lubin, David 833 

Lubin, S. J 434 

Luce, Niron 922 

M 

McCurdy, Arthur H 466 

McDougal, George 835 

McDougall, Donald 1008 

McElwaine, R 901 

McEwen, Edward J 1009 

McFarland, Ray D 625 

McKenzie, Francis R 590 

McKevitt, Frank B 510 

McKinstry, J. K 459 

McMahon, John 471 

McWilliams, Hugh 764 

Mackinder, Willis A 970 



Mangan, James 709 

Manning, Frank J 4bl 

Martin, Fred L 699 

Marty, Benjamin 447 

Mathews, Herschel B 441 

Mauldin, Hugh 778 

Mayden, John L 781 

Mayer, George H 526 

Mealer, Thomas J 724 

Meister, Albert 800 

Meredith, Craddoc 973 

Meyer, Frank 906 

Meyer, William A 777 

Mikle, Pleas G 578 

Mikulich, Andrew 907 

Mill, Russell W 749 

Miller, Frank C 972 

Miller, John H., Jr 449 

Miller, O. H 668 

Morrill, William D 921 

Morris, Edward 481 

Morrison, Alexander W 785 

Muddox, Harry C 478 

Muddox, Ralph H 1048 

Murphy, Patrick H 1027 

N 

Nagle, John L 497 

Nathan, Charles P 651 

Nauman, Harry A 587 

Nelson, Jacob 627 

Nethercott, George H 482 

Noble, George W 518 

Noyes, Charles T 508 



O'Kelly, T. J 1051 

O'Neil, Thomas W 822 

Owen, Harry D 740 

P 

Patterson, John L 552 

Paule, Charles 442 

Peck, F. S 783 

Perkins, Charles C 806 

Pfund, Edward F 1030 

Phillips, Sidney M 494 

Phinney, Cassius M 902 

Phinney, George A 1035 

Pierce, John A 684 

Pike, John E. T 742 

Pipher, Joseph E 456 

Powers, William M 610 

Prouty, Simon 1031 

Prouty, William H 1037 



INDEX 



Q 

Quaas, William H 457 

R 

Raiff, Otto 978 

Randle, George N 452 

Raper, Robert 641 

Read, Herbert J 1004 

Rees, Frederick G 663 

Reese, Edward E 603 

Reese, John -. 9^5 

Reynolds, Aaron B 863 

Richards, William F 721 

Riley, John 718 

Robb, Charles S 532 

Roberts, John H 455 

Rooney, Stephen J 693 

Ross-Roan, Mrs. Mary 469 

Ruhstaller, Frank J 851 

Runyon, Solomon 903 

Russell, Samuel W 460 

Rutter, James 556 

Ryan, Frank D 520 

Ryan, Henry P 670 

Ryan & Cippa 670 

Rydberg, Herman 675 

s 

St. Joseph's Academy 606 

Saner, Joseph 635 

Sargent, Franklin H 856 

Sawyer, John H 1038 

Schad, Isidor 539 

Schad, Thomas 540 

Schaden, Alfred 1039 

Scheld, Philip ■■ 547 

Scheunert, Wilhelm R. H 550 

Schneider, Casper V 1049 

Schnetz, Henry 701 

Sellinger, George P 802 

Sellon, George C 828 

Seymour, Henry 1 826 

Shannon, Hunter W. S 940 

Sharpe, Elton D : 958 

Shaw, F. E., M. D 613 

Sheehan, Edgar M 549 

Shields, Peter J 755 

Silva, Charles F 439 

Silva, Manuel S., M. D 709 

Sisson, Benjamin L 876 

Slight, Samuel B 960 

Smiley, Hugh J 557 

Smith, Mrs. Anna 924 

Smith, Herbert F 669 

Steffens, .Joseph 853 

Stewart, Louis H 562 



Strachan, Hugh M 971 

Strachan, James 845 

Strand, William A 673 

Studarus, John 565 

Sullivan, Daniel D 753 

Swinney, John A 605 

Switzer, Herbert C 1007 

T 

Taverner, George M 595 

Telfer, C. Allison 846 

Thisby, George 632 

Thomson, Frederick F 795 

Thorp, Harry 433 

Thorp, Sidney G 541 

Timm, Richard 717 

Townsend, George H 908 

Trainor, Isaac J 531 

Twitchell, Edward 535 

u 

Uren, Stephen 925 

w 

Wachhorst, Eugene 1005 

Wahrhaftig, Moses S 968 

Walke, Adolph 931 

Walker, Joseph E 594 

Walton, Frederick S 1050 

Warner, Willard 913 

Warren, Lloyd G 600 

Washburn, O. F 930 

Watson, William S, M. D 915 

Weisman, William J 910 

Welch, Benjamin 567 

Wentz, John H 711 

Wentzel, Charles E 928 

Werner, Charles 616 

Wiesenhofer, Frank X 792 

Wilder, James A 598 

Wiley, David E 916 

Williams, Lincoln P 969 

Willis, William L 593 

Wilson, Jesse W 517 

Wise, Philip 929 

Woodburn, Elwood J 794 

Woods, John L 597 

Wulff, Henry F. G 911 

Y 

Yardley, Herbert E 637 

Yell, Archibald 1040 

Yoerk, Charles A 727 

Young, Charles J 811 

Younger, Andrew 643 

Yule, William 1002 



HISTORICAL 

INTRODUCTION 

"Serene I fold my hands and wait, 

Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;. 
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate, 
For lo ! my own shall come to me. 

"The stars come nightly to the sky, 
The tidal wave nnto the sea; 
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, 
Can keep my own away from me. ' ' 

— John Burroughs. 

Such has been for many years the attitude of a large part of this 
grand state, the empress that sits throned on the shores of the Pacific, 
conscious of her charm and confident of the future that awaits her, 
and that is drawing as a magnet the dwellers of colder climes and 
more inhospitable shores to the land of sunshine and flowers. And 
such has long been the attitude of Sacramento county, the peer of any 
in California. But a transformation has begun and the future will 
witness the unfolding of the bud of beauty into a perfect flower that 
shall surpass the most sanguine expectations. With a city that will 
expand in the future into the largest inland city on the coast, all her 
advantages will keep pace with her evolution and she will take her 
proper place among the gems that grace the diadem of the great 
empire of the Pacific coast, the magnificent state that took for her 
motto "Eureka," and might well have added to it "Excelsior." 

It may be safely said of Sacramento county that she has played 
a more important ])art in the history of the state than any other 
county within the liorders of California. Embracing in her confines 
the most precious gifts of the lofty Sierras and the foothills at their 
base — the fertile alluvial soil washed down from their hillsides and 
canyons to fill up the inland sea of which she was once a part — making 
her a second valley of the Nile, no whit inferior to the original in 
fertility and productiveness, she is almost without a peer. But the 
mountains and foothills were not niggardly in their munificent gifts, 
for in addition to her splendid soil they S})rinkled it liberally with 
golden dust and nuggets that enriched many a one of the Argonauts 
and of the generation that succeeded them, and is to this day pouring 
millions into the pockets of the men who are mining the precious metal 
on the lands adjoining the American river. 

Sitting majestically on the banks of the magnificent river that 
forms her western boundary, she has beheld for half a century barges 



6 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and steamers briii.i>iiig her choicest products down tlie bosom of the 
river to the sea, to supply the markets of the coast cities and of lands 
beyond the ocean. AVith the summer's sun and the winter's rain, aided 
by the balmy winds of s])rin,ii- and autumn, her crops follow each other 
in annual succession, and are sent abroad to feed the less fortunate 
dwellers of Occident and Orient and to spread the fame of her wealth 
of resources to distant lands. \Yell has she played her part so far, 
but it is an insignificant one compared to that which she will play in 
the near future, when instead of a few thousands, this magnificent 
valley of the Sacramento shall su])port millions of liappy, i)rosperous 
men, women and children of the mighty empire that is develv>ping so 
rapidly on the western coast of our country. And now has come to her 
a quickening of perception that will have far-reaching results. Tier 
own has come to her. She realizes the value of her birthright and will 
take advantage of it to the fullest extent. Agriculture, horticulture, 
commerce and manufacturing all feel the impulse resultant on the real- 
ization of her power and opportunity, and her watchword is "Onward." 

In the days before the American occupation. Gen. John A. Sutter, 
the pioneer of pioneers of the state, saw with the vision of a pro]ihet 
the futui'e of the country, and built his fort near the confluence of the 
Sacramento and American rivers, to become, a few years later, the 
objective point of the wagon trains which wended their weary way 
across the trackless wilderness of this vast continent. Here many a 
company of immigrants, worn out with their long journey and often 
half starved and in distress, arrived and were fed and relieved from 
the stores of the generous-hearted old pioneer, and rested and recu- 
perated under the protection of his fort. Here was for many years 
the point where the gold seekers, landing from their long and danger- 
ous voyage around the Horn, arrived on boats from San Francisco, 
and fitted themselves out for the mines. Here, too, was the sui)ply 
point for these seekers for gold after they had begun with pick, shovel 
and rocker, to delve their fortunes from the rich placers of the foot- 
hills. Here, then, began the making of the history of the Golden state. 

It was to Sacramento, too, that Marshall, long before the irrup- 
tion of the dwellers of every clime hastening to be first on the ground 
to gather the treasure, brought for Sutter's inspection the bright 
pieces of yellow metal found in the race at Coloma, and it was from 
Sacramento that, after that conference, the news went forth to the 
world that the gold placers of California held out the opportunity of 
acquiring wealth to all wlio ])ossessed the nerve and confidence to come 
and seek for it. 

The history of a nation, a state, a country or a city, has a numbei- 
of natural divisions, each interdependent with regard to the others, 
and which form a harmonious whole when brought into proper relation 
to each other. Political, governmental, industrial and commercial, 
each has its province in ])romoting the general welfare of a community 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 7 

Not more interesting and romantic was the search of Jason hn^i 
his Argonauts for the Golden Fleece than was that of his prototypes 
who braved the wilderness with its hostile Indians, or endured the 
tedium and the dangers of the voyage round the Horn in search of the 
precious metal with which California was endowed. There is a fas- 
cination which never grows old or lessens as one listens to the remin- 
iscences of the old pioneers and their tales of their journeyings to the 
new Eldorado under the lure of gold; and one lives over again with 
them the exciting experiences they met with, both on their way and 
after their arrival. Such a polyglot community never was drawn to- 
gether, surely, banded in one common aim, but still each one pursuing 
his own way independently and striving to acquire wealth as quickly 
as possible and return to his old home. A few did so, but with the 
majority the case was different. They never dreamed that they were 
to be founders of a great state which would hold their memory in 
reverence and respect them for their sturdy, earnest qualities. Alas, 
they are fast dwindling in numbers and only a few brief years will see 
them among us no more. 

The lure of gold is one of the strongest incentives to man, induc- 
ing him to leave home and its loved ones, to brave well-known and 
certain danger and to tempt fate in the most daring manner. Perhaps 
the spice of danger and adventure lends force to the lure, although 
optimism must necessarily be the most potent factor. Other men have 
made fortunes quickly and comparatively easily, why not he f W*e hear 
only of the successful ones, but rarely of the unsuccessful, their priva- 
tions or sufferings, and the dazzle of gold blinds us to the reverse side 
of the question. The struggles and privations of the thousands who 
joined in the mad rush to Alaska in the last decade are very little 
known or considered. Rotten ships, condemned years before, were 
chartered to take them on the treacherous sea voyage, laden to the 
gunwales with passengers and freight, and with the chances against 
their proceeding a hundred miles on their journey before experiencing 
shipwreck. And yet men fought and pleaded for a chance to brave 
the perils of the journey and the certain suffering from cold and 
hunger and other perils after their arrival in the land of the Great 
White Silence. So it was in the days of '49. The long six months' 
journey across the plains and lofty mountains, with only a trail to 
follow, the dangers of Indians, floods, fire and starvation could not 
deter the dauntless ones who took up their journey of more than two 
thousand miles through the wilderness, many of them with their wives 
and children. 

Right here it is only just to give their due to the women — the 
pioneer m.others of whom we hear so little — the women who forsook 
home and kindred to follow their husbands through all trials and 
dangers to the unknown lands and to assist with their labors and coun- 
sel, and with the children of the rising generation, in the shaping and 



8 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

moulding of a great empire whose fame was destined to reach the 
uttermost parts of the earth. Like the pioneer women of the great west 
and the Mississippi valley, they have not received their meed of praise 
and recognition of the important part they played in empire building. 
While the men labored, the women had to make the home as comfort- 
able as conditions allowed, to rear and care for and clothe the children 
and to endure all sorts of privations. Theirs the test of patience and 
courage to meet and overcome, to cheer and encourage under adverse 
circumstances, and well the pioneer women did their part. Not the 
least of their tests was the scarcity of female companionship, as for 
several years but few women came to this coast, and they were widely 
scattered after their arrival. The coming of a woman to a mining 
camp was a great event and roused all the latent chivalry of the rough 
men of the community, who vied in doing her honor and making her 
comfortable and mitigating the conditions around her. She was placed 
upon a pedestal and surrounded by adoring subjects. A man would be 
safer in committing murder than in insulting or injuring her. 

Pioneers have told the writer of the appearance of the country 
adjoining Sacramento on the south in the days of '49 and '50. "A 
man could ride over the plains on horseback," they say, *'and tie the 
wild oats across his saddle bow, as they rose often above the head of a 
man on foot. Droves of antelope were to be seen on the plains and 
deer were to be found in the groves along the river, while in the tules 
and along the sloughs and lakes in the southern part of the county 
herds of elks passed most of their time." And yet, with those fertile 
plains at their doors, such was the fixity of the idea that had taken 
hold of men's minds and impelled them to the mines, that they scoffed 
at the few wise ones who planned to take up land and go to farming. 
' ' What ! ' ' they would say, ' ' would you go out there and drudge, when 
you could go to the mines and pick up gold? Why, you would starve 
to death out there ! Not any land for me. ' ' 

But among them were men who had left the farm in the east to 
come to California. These men saw that while many lucky ones made 
their fortunes more or less quickly in the mines, there were thousands 
of others who lived from hand to mouth or went broke in quest for 
gold. They looked on the face of the country and, like the Israelites, 
''found it good." They realized that the soil that would produce such 
crops without cultivation would produce bounteously when properly 
cultivated. They realized too that the gold diggers must be fed, and 
that feeding them would bring its reward in rich profits. They knew 
the stock must have hay in the winter as well as in the summer, when 
every spear of grass was dried up in the absence of rain. So the wise 
men took up tracts of land. Some of them purchased large grants 
which had been given by the Mexican government, as had Sutter's. 
They prepared to feed the hungry, and their descendants are carrying 
out their plans today. The land which the miners, in their ignorance 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 9 

of the effects of climatic conditions in the valley, designated as a 
desert, has proved "a land flowing with milk and honey," and has 
promoted the growth of an industrious and prosperous community 
which has done its share in the upbuilding of the great commonwealth 
that extends along the shore of the Pacific for a distance almost as 
great as that of the Atlantic states on the ocean that washes the east- 
ern shore of our country. 

The great possibilities of our county are only in their first stage 
of development. The days of the stock and cattle men and of the 
herds that covered the land are gone. The days of wheat-raising that 
followed them are almost past and the era of intensive farming has 
come. The small home of a few acres, where the work that in the days 
of the wheat farmers was distributed over a quarter or half section 
is now concentrated on ten or twenty acres, has begun to take the place 
of the big ranch. Instead of sparsely settled plains where the farm 
house, barns and corrals were the only signs of habitation, and the 
rancher depended on the peddler's wagon to supply him with vege- 
tables and fruit ; where perhaps a few straggling fowls were to be seen 
around the barn yard, and the rancher brought out from the town his 
butter, eggs, condensed milk and bacon, are now to be seen the orchard 
and vineyard, with perhaps a patch of alfalfa yielding green feed the 
year around for the cows and chickens. "The old order changeth, 
yielding place to new." The country is daily growing nearer to the 
city. The telephone, the parcels post, the rural delivery which brings 
to the farmer his daily paper and his letters and keeps him in touch 
with the markets on which he depends for the sale of his products — 
all are making the farm more attractive to the rising generation. The 
immense holdings of the wheat barons are passing away and in place 
of the scattered bunk-houses where in winter the men who ran the 
gang-plows and sowed the seed and in summer the harvester gangs 
passed their nights, are the small farms of settlers, with • comfortable 
homes growing in beauty and attractiveness and the children are to 
be found who will grow up as the next generation of our citizens. The 
schoolhouse, the cornerstone of our nation's greatness, begins to dot 
the landscape and the church and postoffice soon are seen, a nucleus 
for the thriving communities that are springing up and will soon cover 
the state thickly, as they do in the east. We are coming into our own 
at last. 



10 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

CHAPTER I 
SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Sacramento county is situated on the river from which it is 
named (Rio Sacramento, river of the Sacrament), being bounded on 
the north by Placer county, on the east by Eldorado and Amador, on 
the south by San Joaquin and on the west by Yolo and Solano. Sacra- 
mento City is the county town as well as the capital of the state. The 
city is in 38° 35' north latitude and 121° 30' west longitude from 
(ireenwich. Tlie county contains nine hundred and eighty-eight square 
miles, only a little less tlian the area of Rhode Island. The popu- 
lation of the county according to the census of 1910 is sixty-seven 
thousand eight hundred and six, but it is rapidly increasing, owing 
to the era of rai)id development which has set in during the past five 
years. The coming of a new transcontinental railroad — the Western 
Pacific — and the approaching entry of the Great Northern and Santa 
Fe, as well as several interurban electric lines either already con- 
structed or in course of construction, have greatly hastened its rapid 
progress and prosperity. The magnificent river that flows along its 
western boundary bears on its bosom, it is stated, almost as much 
freight annually as the mighty Mississippi does. While the figures 
are not at hand to verify this statement, it is certain that the tonnage 
of grain, wood, fruit, vegetables and other products of the State which 
are carried on the river by steamers and barges totals an immense 
amount and relieves the railroads of a very great amount of freight dur- 
ing the busy season, and is a decided factor in keeping down freight 
charges in the valley. The river flows through a country unsurpassed in 
fertility in tlie whole world and producing a vast variety of grain, fruit 
and vegetables. On the river and the islands bounded by its various 
channels and tributaries, in addition to the fruit orchards that have 
been celebrated for their fine fruit for nearly a half century past, 
asparagus and celery growing have of late years become a most 
important and yearly increasing interest, the former furnishing many 
thousands of cases of canned product, which is shipped all over the 
world. 

Sacramento County was one of the large wheat growing counties 
many years ago, but as wheat growing became less profitable and the 
land became more valuable, it gradually became utilized for vineyard 
and orchard production, for which most of the land in the county is 
admirably ada])ted. Jience of late years Sacramento has become the 
chief shipping point for all kinds of fruit except the citrus varieties, 
and as its soil and climate have been found to be of the best for the 
citrus fruits, their production has been rapidly increasing, both in 
quantity and quality, the latter being found to be inferior to none 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 11 

raised elsewhere. A peculiar feature of the climatology of Sacramento 
and the adjoining counties on the east and north is found in what 
is known as the thermal belt in the foothills and higher portion of 
the plain, where the citrus fruits ripen to perfection and so much 
earlier than in other sections that they are from a month to six weeks 
earlier than those in the southern part of the State. They are there- 
fore marketed before the frosts come, reaching the eastern markets 
before the holiday season and of course bringing the highest prices. 
Besides these, all varieties of deciduous fruit grow in profusion and 
perfection, the shipments in 1909 reaching as high as two hundred 
carloads in one day, and on one day in July, 1912, totaling two hundred 
and twenty carloads. 

The city of Sacramento is thirty-one feet above the sea level, 
the river below Colusa having a very gradual fall. The mountains 
which form the walls of the valley are visible on both sides of the city, 
and the panorama of the river, plain, foothills and mountains as seen 
from the dome of the capitol is a grand one, Mt. Shasta and Lassen 
Peak, more than two hundred miles away, being visible on some clear 
days. The climate of the city and county is tempered by the Sierra 
Nevadas and the Coast Range, and the humidity of the air in the 
summer is perceptibly lessened by being shut out from the ocean to 
a large degree by the Coast Range. For this reason, while the ther- 
mometer on some days in summer shows a high reading', the absence of 
moisture in the atmosphere renders it much more comfortable 
than in a moister climate, and sunstrokes and heat prostrations are 
practically unknown. Sacramento valley is about one hundred and 
fifty miles long, with a breadth of about fifty to sixty miles, and is 
walled in by two ranges of mountains, the Sierra Nevadas on the 
east, and the Coast Range on the west. They gradually approach 
each other until they come together in Shasta county. At the head 
of the valley Mount Shasta stands, looking down from his snowy 
heights like a hoary sentinel placed there to watch over the welfare 
of the country ])elow. Beneath him winds the Sacramento river, on 
its way to water the fertile plains to the south. The alluvial lands 
along the river slowly merge into the plains, and they gradually rise 
until they meet the foothills with which the valley is fringed, the foot- 
hills in turn giving way to the higher ranges, the loftiest peaks of 
which are Pyramid Peak, ten thousand and fifty-two feet in altitude, 
and Al]nne, ten thousand and twenty-six feet, in the Sierra Nevadas; 
and Mount Johns, eight thousand feet high, in the Coast Range. To 
the southwest fifty-three miles rises Mount Diablo, in a detached 
range, three thousand eight hundred and fifty-six feet high, while the 
Marysville Buttes, from forty to fifty miles north, rise two thousand 
feet out of the level ]ilain and cover an area of fifty-five square miles. 
Adjoining the alluvial lands along the river are the plains, the soil of 
which is a sandv loam, a reddish land containing some clay, and a 



12 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

heavy black clayisli soil knowu as adobe. There are also gravelly 
ridges running nearly north and south through the center of the 
county and also east of the Cosunmes river, which comes down from 
Amador county and entering the eastern part of Sacramento county, 
flows into the Mokelumne river on the southern boundary. Around 
Folsom, on the eastern edge and three miles from the Eldorado 
boundary, the soil becomes of a deep red color and is a gold-bearing 
gravel which turned out many millions in the early days, and is still 
inined with great profit. All these varieties of land grow fine grapes 
and other fruits, which are mostly shipped to the east, bringing good 
prices. Along the rivers, corn, hops and vegetables are grown in 
large quantities, the hop cvo]) being an important industry in the 
county. Tjarge quantities of vegetables are shipped to Utah, Idaho 
and Montana, and some even as far east as Chicago and New York. 
The American river, coming down from Eldorado county, runs 
through Folsom and empties into the Sacramento just above Sacra- 
mento City. 

The greater })art of the surface of the county is level, or nearly 
so. As it a])proaches the Cosumnes it becomes more hilly, falling 
again to Deer creek, which runs along the west side of the Cosumnes 
river bottom, and becoming rolling land on the other side of the 
Cosunmes, until it reaches the lower foothills. On the Cosumnes are 
hop yards, orchards, corn and alfalfa fields. Dry creek on the south 
forms part of the southern boundary and empties into the Mokelumne, 
which also forms a part of the southern boundary. Thus the county 
is abundantly watered in its various localities by four rivers and their 
tributary streams. The American, Cosumnes and Mokelumne are all 
torrential streams rising in the high Sierras and with a large area 
of land contributing to their watershed. Down the canyons, there- 
fore, through which they flow, rushes annually an immense volume of 
water on its way to the ocean. In the early days this often over- 
flowed the alluvial lands along the Sacramento river, carrying death 
and destruction along its course. Several of these floods were disas- 
trous to Sacramento C^ity in its early history. Judging from the t^les 
of the pioneers, the flood in the winter of 1862 must have covered not 
only the river Ijottoms, but also a large portion of what is familiarly 
known as ''the plains," for the writer has heard old settlers tell of 
trans])()rting their ]irovisi()ns and other merchandise from Sacramento 
during that winter on flatboats or barges almost to the town of Elk 
Grove. An idea of the immense volume of water that found its way 
to the sea on that occasion may be gained from the fact that it not 
only covered the great tule basin of Yolo county, but also a large 
portion of the plains east and south of the city to a width of many 
miles. Since that time the settlers have learned the lesson that 
safety can be found only in high and wide levees, ])roi)erly constructed 
to withstand the wind and water. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 13 

But man, while always striving against the elements and the 
forces of nature, often succeeds in the herculean task of subduing 
them and turning the master into the servant. These same torrential 
streams, which, unbridled, sweep man and his works from their path 
like feathers, are being harjiessed and confined to do his bidding and 
foster his prosperity. The great dam at Folsom, built by the state, 
furnishes power to the state's prison as well as electricity for light- 
ing the grounds. It has also for many years supplied Sacramento 
city and county with light and power. In the near future the water 
of those streams will be used again and again to turn mills and 
machinery for factories, and the electrical power generated by the 
rivers will be, even more than in the past, transmitted to long 
distances — a factor in building up the prosperity of many a com- 
munity. 

The day will come, moreover, when imnaense reservoirs will be 
constructed, either by the government or the state, for the impound- 
ing of the flood water from the rain and melting snow and its dis- 
tribution during the long, dry summer over the thirsty land, doubling 
and trebling the crops and bringing greater prosperity to the valley. 
Then too will the rivers, instead of bringing down destructive torrents 
upon the valley, remain within their banks and the Sacramento, with 
its channel deepened, will once more see the ships of distant nations 
bringing their commerce to our door. 

Many centuries ago a vast sea occupied the place now known as 
the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. The action of sun, rain 
and air slowly disintegrated the surrounding mountains and erosion 
set in, the detritus forming soil which was washed down into the 
inland sea, eventually filling up the great basin. It is no wonder then, 
that, like the valley of the Nile, which was formed in the same way, 
the valley of the Sacramento became one of the richest and most fer- 
tile in the world. For nearly half a century it was one of the great 
wheat-])roducing sections of the United States. As the soil became 
exhausted for wheat-raising under the one-crop system, the farmer 
began to find it necessary to change the crop. He found that it would 
not only raise all varieties of fruit and berries, but that on a much 
smaller acreage he could raise a far more jDrofitable crop, as well as 
a more certain one. So in a few years Sacramento developed into a 
great fruit ship]iing center and today the Florin district is one of the 
largest, if not the largest of the strawberry-growing centers in the 
state. Sacramento also leads in the production of the Tokay grape, 
the color and quality of which always secures for it in the eastern 
market the highest price. 

Nor must the tule lands along the Sacramento river in the south- 
western part of the county be overlooked. Alluvial lands of the richest 
quality, for some distance back from the river they have been re- 
claimed and thousands of acres planted with orchards of deciduous 



14 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

fruits or sown with alfalfa and used as dairy farms. Of late years 
they are beini>- reolaimed faster and asparagus and celery have been 
found to be very successful and profitable crops, the former being 
canned in immense quantities and sent east to supply the markets of 
the world. 

In fact everything that can be produced in a semi-tropical country 
can be grown in the Sacramento valley, and even some fruits and 
other products that really belong to tropical climes. Rice is being 
grown with great success and of the finest quality in Butte county, as 
well as to a limited extent in Sacramento county, a large portion of 
the soil of which is admirably fitted for its culture. Hemp and ramie 
bid fair to become profitable textile jiroducts and much of the land 
is suitable for flax. Hops are also an important product, being grown 
of the finest quality along the Sacramento and the Cosumnes rivers. 

A large portion of the area of Sacramento, which is now in pri- 
vate ownership through subdivision, was in the early days comprised 
in the old Spanish grants. The boundaries and other matters were 
the cause of nuich costly and vexatious litigation. The grants were 
as follows : 

The Rancho Rio de los Americanos, or Leidesdorff grant, lying 
along the American river and country around Folsom. 

The Sutter Grant, or New Helvetia. 

The Sheldon Grant, embracing the estates of Jared Sheldon and 
William Baylor, on the Cosumnes river, originally known as the 
Rancho Omochumnes. 

The Hai'tnell Grant, also on the Cosumnes river. 

The Rancho San Jon de los Moquelumnes, generally known as the 
Chabolla Grant, on the lower Cosumnes around Hicksville and running 
to the Mokelumne river. 

The Arroyo Seco Grant, in Alabama township, on Dry creek. 

The Rancho San Juan, on the north side of the American river 
and embracing the Carmichael colony, Fair Oaks and a part of 
Orangevale. 

The Rancho del Paso, formerly known as the Norris Grant and 
now generally spoken of as the Haggin Grant. This stood for more 
than fifty years as a barrier to the extension of the city on the north 
and has only been subdivided within the past three years, the last of 
the great land holdings in this county. 

The Rancho Sacayac, on the north side of the Cosumnes, between 
the Sheldon grant and the east line of the county. 

The Rancho Cazadores, on the northwest side of the Cosumnes, 
opposite the Chabolla grant. 

Sacramento is fourth among the counties of the state in point of 
property valuation, Los Angeles standing first, according to the re- 
port of State Controller Nye for the year 1912, San Francisco being 
second and Alameda third. The re])ort states that the valuation of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 15 

property in Sacramento county is $86,589,795, an increase of over 
$5,000,000 al)ove the valuation for 1911. The increase is largely due 
to the increase of values of property in Sacramento City, and also the 
subdivision, sale and improvement of many tracts in the county. Thus 
is evidenced a steady growth of property in the county, which is really 
just beginning to exhibit the advantages of soil and climate, coupled 
with comparatively low prices of acreage land and the opportunity 
for a home market in a large city close by, which it has for many 
years possessed, but has only recently advertised. 

The pioneer who in the early days crossed the dark river to the 
'* undiscovered bourne from which no traveler returns," would look 
with astonishment on the present city. The city of tents has grown 
to large dimensions, covering many square miles and containing many 
stately edifices and blpcks of beautiful homes. The cottonwoods and 
willows of the early days have given place to long lines of stately and 
umbrageous elms that embower in a grateful shade the residences 
along the streets, tempering the heat of the smmner days and afford 
ing a restful prospect to the eye. Strangers visiting the city generally 
remark on the l)eauty thus enhanced, and a visit to the Capitol dome 
often induces them to say: "What a beautiful city!" Even old resi- 
dents who have been absent for the ])ast ten years look in astonish- 
ment at the rapid changes. For in the past five years especially has 
the place doffed the garb of a country town and blossomed out as a 
live, progressive city. The ways of '49 have disappeared. Finely 
improved streets have rapidly come to the front, nearly one hundred 
miles of asphalt, oiled macadam and some old graveled streets having 
taken the place of the mud holes of twenty years ago. A splendid 
system of electric car service has sprung up, connecting the old city 
with the suburbs, and is still extending its ramifications. The old one 
and two-story buildings of early days are fast giving way to edifices 
of five to eight stories, of the most modern style of architecture. The 
new courthouse, costing nearly $600,000, is nearing completion, and 
the splendid new city hall houses the various departments of the city 
government. The stately Capitol with its magnificent park is the ad- 
miration of all visitors, and the art gallery and Sutter's Fort are al- 
ways points of attraction to our visitors. Modern hotels furnish ac- 
commodation to thousands of tourists and others and the city is often 
spoken of as the "loveliest city on the coast." Investors from the 
east and elsewhere are looking over the ground and several large 
firms are starting extensive business adventures here. The recent an- 
nexation of the suburbs has greatly widened Sacramento's prospects 
and the fact becomes more evident each day that she is destined in 
the near future to become a great city. Her geographical situation, 
the immensely rich lands that surround her, the great quantities of 
fruit and other products grown around her and shipped from here all 
over the country, are all advertising her to the world and bringing 



16 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

people to her from the frozen east to enjoy her climate and other 
advantages. 

To sum lip its advanta,J4es : Sacramento has the geographical ad- 
vantage not only of river transjiortation, but of being the natural 
center for all transcontinental railroads entering Northern California. 
Two already pass through the city, two more will certainly do so in 
the near future and two more now projected will probably do so. It 
will be the center of many radiating electric roads which will bring 
city and country into close touch and settle thickly adjacent territory. 
The logical shipping point of all the fruit and other products of two 
great valleys is here. The richest and most productive area in the 
world is naturally tril)utary to Sacramento. The three great alluvial 
basins of the Sacramento river, capable when reclaimed of supporting 
several millions, are adjacent to or near Sacramento, their natural 
market or shipping point. The immense amount of power capable of 
being developed in the Sierra Nevadas renders it certain that many 
factories will ultimately be centered here, giving emplo^^ment to thou- 
sands. 



CHAPTER II 

MINING 

The discovery of gold at Coloma on the South Fork of the Ameri- 
can river was soon heralded to the world and a cosmopolitan assembly 
soon poured into California hy land and sea and in a frenzied race for 
riches overspread the land, ])eopling the gulches and ravines that had 
never before been trodden by the foot of white man. Reasoning 
logically that the gold on the river bars had some source more or less 
distant, they explored every gully and canyon above and below 
Coloma, finding diggings in all of them and many of them very 
rich. The country around Folsom was especially rich, and a large 
population soon centered there, making it a lively mining camp, which 
at one time cast considerably over two thousand votes. The bars and 
banks on the American river for miles above and below the town 
were very rich and were worked over by the early miners and later 
by hydraulic process. In the past few years gold dredging has be- 
come prevalent in that territory as well as in Butte county. While it 
is impossible to obtain statistics of the amount of gold obtained by 
dredging, the owners being secretive, it is known that it runs into the 
millions. While the amount is so large, it is regrettable that it cannot 
be obtained except at the sacrifice of much of the best land in the 
state, which is transformed by the dredgers from rich orchards and 
vineyards into unsightly heaps of cobblestones, and practically re- 
moved for many years from the assessment rolls of the county as a 
revenue producer for the pulilic weal. Much damage, it is claimed. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 17 

has been done to the American and other rivers by the "slickens" 
from the dredges tilling up the river beds and fouling the water, and 
there are many who advocate the passage of laws regulating, if not 
restraining, the operation of dredger mining. 

Hydraulic mining succeeded the pick, shovel, rocker and long torn 
of the early miners and was continued for a number of years. The 
shoaling of the river beds and the frequent floods and breaking of 
levees that covered the adjacent lands with sand and debris, aroused 
the attention of the dwellers in the valley and a bitter controversy 
was begun between the hydraulic miners and the citizens of the coun- 
ties affected. An association was formed, denominated the "Anti- 
Debris Association," composed of citizens of the counties along the 
Sacramento river. It was pointed out that valuable orchards were 
being destroyed along and below the entry of the tributaries of the 
Sacramento which carried down the detritus from the hydraulic 
mines; that the bed of the Sacramento and its tributaries was being 
raised by the deposits of the debris and navigation was impeded, if 
not utterly destroyed in the summer, while the floods, the result of 
the raising of the river plane, carried destruction to the low lands 
and the towns along their banks. Marysville was a great suiferer 
from broken levees and inundations and today the town lies below 
the level of the bottom of the river on which it is situated, while 
thousands of formerly fertile acres of adjacent lands are a waste of 
gravel and sand many feet deep. The association secured ap]n"opria- 
tions for its support from the supervisors of the counties of which its 
meml)ership was composed and a long legal battle was begun with 
the object of compelling the hydraulic miners to cease their opera- 
tions. 

At last its contest was successful and finally an injunction was 
obtained, prohibiting hydraulic mining unless the debris could be suc- 
cessfully impounded to the satisfaction of the association. 



CHAPTER III 
CLIMATE 

The climate of Sacramento county cannot be surpassed in the 
state. To the denizen of the east, where frost, snow and ice reign 
for from four to six months; where the farmer works for six months 
in the year to provide for his stock during the other six, our climate 
is a revelation. True he misses the merry jingle of the sleigh bells, 
the exhilarating sport of gliding over the ice on skates, and the other 
winter sports ; neither is he frozen to death in blizzards, nor does he 
have to build cyclone cellars to which he may retreat while his house 
is being picked up and blown into the next county. His winter sports 
he can easily enjoy, if he desires, by boarding the cars and riding a 



18 HISTORY OF SACBAMENTO COUNTY 

few hours into the Sierras. But as a general tiling, when he has once 
settled in Sacramento county, he prefers to remain where three-quar- 
ters of the winter is sunshine and the rest supplies him with rain for 
the ground to stoi'e up and utilize in ])roducing crops. Seldom indeed 
does the thermometer fall below the freezing point, and many children 
grow up in Sacramento without having ever seen any snow, except on 
the far distant Sierras. With a climate rivaling, if not excelling, the 
far-famed climate of Italy, in a land that, like Italy, produces the or- 
ange, the lemon, the olive and the vine, why should not the emigrant 
from the east pronounce it perfect and sit down content to enjoy his 
life here? Is the picture too highly drawn? Ask the man from Maine, 
or the states bordering on the great lakes, or the northwest, who, 
after traveling through cold and storm, crosses the lofty Sierras- 
sentinels on the east that ward off the snow from the great central 
valleys of California — droits down in a couple of hours from the sum- 
mit, to find the peach and almond trees in blossom in the foothills and 
the earth green with the footprints of the spring, who hears the 
hum of the bees, and inhales the air, fragrant with blossoms, almost 
before his eyes have become used to the absence of the glittering crys- 
tals of the snow and ice of the mountain ranges. 
"What is so rare as a day in June, 
Then, if ever, come perfect days." 
Thus wrote Lowell, the sweet singer. But Sacramento does not need 
to wait till June. She has perfect days, yes, many of them, while the 
streams of the New England states and the western states are still 
prisoned in icy fetters, and the ]ieople snowbound or delving in the 
great snow drifts that make the roads impassable. 

We hear much of the vaunted climate of southern Italy and Los 
Angeles. There is no wish to disparage the merits of either. The 
dwellers of Sacramento county are glad to know that those places are 
so blessed in climatic conditions. However, we present a few fig-ures 
in comparison. They are authentic and furnish food for reflection. 

Statistics, gathered from United States Government Weather 
Bureau for ])ast fifteen years : 

Southern Italy. — Average winter temperature, 47.3; average 
spring tem])erature, 57.3; average sununer temperature, 73.7; average 
autumn tem])erature, 61.9; average yearly temperature, 60.0; average 
highest temperature, 85; average lowest temperature, 20; average 
clear days, 220. 

Los Angeles. — Average winter tem])erature, 52.0; average spring- 
temperature, 60.0 ; average summer temperature, 70.0 ; average autumn 
temperature, 65.0; average yearly temi)erature, 62.0; average hitihest 
temperature 109; average lowest temperature, 28; average clear 
days, 250. 

Sacramento. — Average winter temi^erature, 48.0; average spring 
temperature, 60.0; average summer temperature, 75.0; average au- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 19 

tiimn temperature, 61.0; average yearly temperature, 61.0; average 
highest temperature, 100; average lowest temperature, 29; average 
clear daj^s, 238. 

The record of the blossoming of fruit trees for twenty-tive years 
previous to 1894 showed the earliest date to have been January 20, 
1888, and the latest March 8, 1871. No later data are at hand, but 
the seasons have varied very little for cycles of ten years since the 
settlement of the state and the growing of fruits, so that these figures 
may be regarded as a fair average of conditions. Cherries ripen and 
are shipped from here in April and on exceptional seasons a few 
boxes have been shipped earlier, the usual period of blossoming, how- 
ever, being about the 15th of February. The long, dry summer ripens 
all kinds of fruit perfectly, and but rarely do the autumn rains come 
early enough to damage the fruit crop not already marketed. The 
farmer leaves his hay or grain in the stack for months if necessary, 
secure that it will not be damaged by untimely rains. Each season 
thus brings its own work. As the fall months advance and the winter 
begins, the rains make their appearance. The summer fallow is mois- 
tened and the grain is sown and harrowed. The winter plowing is 
begun as soon as the rain has penetrated the soil to the proper depth 
and when the seeding is completed the farmer leaves the rainfall to 
complete the work. 

In the matter of rainfall, Sacramento county enjoys the happy 
medium, the average rainfall being nearly twenty-one inches. Taken 
in connection with the fertility of the soil, and the conditions sur- 
rounding the valley and influencing its climate, the fact is that a crop 
failure in this county has never been recorded, and that it was the 
boast of the past generation of farmers that irrigation was not nec- 
essary in order to secure a crop. That boast was made in the days 
of wheat raising and does not apply so strictly to fruit raising and 
later methods of farming. Still in most sections of the county the 
raising of grapes and deciduous fruits and nuts is in many cases made 
profitable by thorough cultivation without resorting to irrigation. 

While this is true, there are several irrigation systems of ditches 
from which water can be obtained on reasonable terms, and which 
is found necessary for the production of citrus fruit and alfalfa. 

The absence, or rather scarcity, of humidity in the atmosphere at 
Sacramento during the summer time is a great factor in making the 
heat more endurable when the thermometer shows a reading that is 
high. As is well known, a high degree of atmospheric humidity in- 
tensifies the suffering when the temperature reaches one hundred de- 
grees or more. In fact, in the country east of the Rocky Mountains, 
where showers are more or less frequent in the summer, there is more 
suffering when the thermometer rises to ninety degrees, and the air 
is charged with moisture, than there would be in Sacramento when it 
marked one hundred dea:rees or more. In one case fatalities from 



20 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

.sunstroke are very eonimou, while in the other sunstroke is unknown. 
The breeze from the ocean which ascends the Sacramento river in the 
summer afternoons has a cooling effect on the atmosphere and renders 
the evenings delightful for outdoor amusements. It is a rare thing 
in Sacramento, in fact not more than two or three nights in the year, 
that a j^erson cannot sleep comfortably under a sheet or even under 
a l)lanket or two. The spring and fall weather are delightful and 
winter almost seems a misnomer when one enjoys the sunny days 
when a coat seems almost a burden. No wonder, in such a climate, 
that the fruit trees haste to break into blossom and till the air with 
their fragrance. To the easterner, impelled by the cold of his native 
state to seek a more balmy climate, Sacramento offers one not to be 
excel led l)y any other place, in winter or summer. 

Sacramento presents further advantages to the settler. As has 
))een stated, all kinds of fruits of the temperate zone, all semi-tropical 
fruits, and even some tropical fruits ripen here in ]:)erfection. But a 
peculiar climatic condition prevails in the foothill section of the 
Sierras of Sacramento and the adjacent counties. It is known as the 
thermal belt. The southern part of the state has been extensively 
advertised as the home of the orange and the lemon. While this is 
true, it is equally true that Sacramento and adjoining counties are 
also the home of the orange and all other citrus fruits and the ship- 
ment of such fruits is a constantly increasing factor in their pros- 
perity. Many hundreds of carloads of oranges, lemons and pomelos 
or gra])e fruit are shipped to the east annually. The very decided 
advantage that Sacramento has over the southern part of the state is 
that her oranges ripen from a month to six weeks earlier than in the 
south and her crop is practically disposed of in the eastern market for 
the Thanksgiving and holiday trade at high prices, before the southern 
•^ranges are ripe enough to begin shipment. Such being the case, the 
freezing of the orange crop is a thing unknown in Sacramento county, 
nor do the later varieties ever suffer from frost. 

Olives thrive and bear profitable crops in Sacramento county, 
where there are many orchards of them. As fine a quality of oil as 
is to be found in the state is made at Fair Oaks, and both there and 
in several other places is the business of pickling the ri]ie olive made 
a ]iaying industry. 

We are indebted to Nathaniel R. Taylor, local forecaster of the 
United States Weather Bureau in this city, for very valuable data 
concerning the climate and rainfall in this country from 1849 until the 
present time. We often hear persons make the assertion that our 
climate is changing; that this thing or that is not as it was forty or 
fifty years ago. While it is true that there is a different amount of 
rainfall and temperature during individual years, it will be seen that 
taken in cycles of five or ten years, the average weather of the seasons 
shows but little variation, and there is no great amount of change for 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 21 

the past fifty years. The increase in irrigation which has been made 
during the past few years, and which will increase rapidly within the 
next decade may make a perceptible change in the course of time, as 
the creation of the Salton sea has brought about an increased rainfall 
in the southern ])art of the state, but as yet no noticeable change has 
occurred here. As will be seen by the foregoing table, our climate is 
if anything better than the vaunted climate of Italy and is not mate- 
rially different from that of Los Angeles, upon which so much stress 
is laid by the inhabitants of the south. Taken all in all, the climate 
of our glorious state is unequaled by that of any similar extent of 
country in the world, and the Californian who desires a change of 
climate can easily obtain it in a few hours, without leaving his own 
state. 

As will be seen by the table of absolute maximum and absolute 
minimum temperature for the last thirty years, taken in cycles of ten 
vears, the average maximum for the ten years from 1881 to 1891, in- 
clusive, is 103.4'; that from 1891 to 1901 is 104.2'; and that from 
1901 to 1911 is 103.6'. On the other side, the average minimum from 
1881 to 1891 was 26.5'; from 1891 to 1901, it was 27.6'; and from 
1901 to 1911 it was 29.4'. 

The following table gives the monthly, seasonal and annual rain- 
fall from 1849 to January 1, 1912, and will be found a very valuable 
one for reference. As will be seen by it, the average seasonal rainfall 
for the sixty-two years is 19.48 inches, and the annual rainfall is 19.24 
inches. 

Sacramento rainfall, monthly, seasonal and annual, 1849-1911: 

1849-50.— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.25; October, 1.50; No- 
vember, 2.25; December, 12.50; January, 4.50; February, 0.50; March, 
10.00; April, 4.25; May, 0.25; June, 6; seasonal, 36.00; year, 1850; 
annual, 19.50. 

1850-51. — July, 0; August, 0; September, 0; October, 0; No- 
vember, T. ; December, T.; January, 0.65; February, 0.35; March, 
1.88; April, 1.14; May, 0.69; June, 0; seasonal, 4.71; year, 1851; 
annual, 15.10. 

1851-52.— July, 0; August, 0; September, 1.00; October, 0.18; No- 
vember, 2.14; December, 7.07; January, 0.58; February, 0.12; March, 
6.40; April, 0.19; May, 0.30; June, 6; seasonal, 17.98; year, 1852; 
annual, 26.99. 

1852-53. — July, T. ; August, ; September, T. ; October, ; No- 
vember, 6.00; December, 13.40; January, 3.00; February, 2.00; March, 
7.00; April, 3.50; May, 1.45; June, T. ; seasonal, 36.35; year, 1853; 
annual, 19.99. 

1853-54.— July, 0; August, 0; September, T.; October, T.; No- 
vember, 1.50; December, 1.54; January, 3.25; February, 8.50; March, 
3.25; April, 1.50; May, 0.21; June, 0.31; seasonal, 20.06; year, 1854; 
annual, 19.83. 



22 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1854-55.— July, 0; August, T. ; September, T.; October, 1.01; No- 
vember, 0.65; December, 1.15; January, 2.67; February, 3.46; March, 
4.20; April, 4.32; May, 1.15; June, 0.01; seasonal, 18.62; year, 1855; 
annual, 18.56. 

1855-56.— July, 0; August, 0; September, T.; October, 0; No- 
vember, 0.75 ; December, 2.00 ; January, 4.92 ; February, 0.69 ; March, 
1.40; April, 2.13; May, 1.84; June, 0.03; seasonal, 13.76; year, 1856; 
annual, 14.26. 

1856-57.— July, 0; August, 0; September, T.; October, 0.20; No- 
vember, 0.65; December, 2.40; January, 1.38; February, 4.80; March, 
0.68; April, T. ; May, T. ; June, 0.35; seasonal, 10.46; year, 1857; 
annual, 12.91. 

1857-58. — July, 0; August, T. ; September, 0; October, 0.66; No- 
vember, 2.41; December, 2.63; January, 2.44; February, 2.46; March, 
2.88; April, 1.21; May, 0.20; June, O.iO; seasonal, 14.99; year, 1858; 
annual, 16.80. 

1858-59.— July, 0.01; August, T. ; September, T. ; October, 3.01; 
November, 0.15; December, 4.34; January, 0.96; February, 3.91; 
Marcli, 1.64; April, 0.98; May, 1.04; June, 0; seasonal, 16.04; year, 
1859; annual, 16.86. 

1859-60.— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.02; October, 0; No- 
vember, 6.48; December, 1.83; January, 2.31; February, 0.93; March, 
5.11; April, 2.87; May, 2.49; June, 0.02; seasonal, 22.06; year, 1860; 
annual, 19.79. 

1860-61.— July, 0.63; August, 0; September, 0.06; October, 0.91; 
November, 0.18; December, 4.28; Januarj", 2.67; February, 2.9i;; 
March, 3.32; April, 0.48; May, 0.59; June, 0.14; seasonal, 16.18; year, 
1861; annual, 21.48. 

1861-62.— July, 0.55; Augiist, 0; September, 0; October, T. ; No- 
vember, 2.17; December, 8.64; January, 15.04; February, 4.26; March, 
2.80; April, 0.82; May," 1.81; June, 0."oi ; seasonal, 36.10; year, 1862; 
annual, 27.44. 

1862-63.— July, 0; August, 0.01; September, 0; October, 0.36; No- 
vember, T. ; December, 2.33 ; January, 1.73 ; February, 2.75 ; March, 
2.36; April, 1.69; May, 0..36; June, "O; seasonal, 11.59; year, 1863; 
annual, 12.20. 

1863-64.— July, 0; August, 0; September, T.; October, 0; No- 
vember, 1.49; December, 1.82; January, 1.08; February, 0.19; March, 
1.30; April, 1.08; May, 0.74; June, 0.09; seasonal, 7.79; year, 1864; 
annual, 19.27. 

1864-65.— July, 0; August, 0.08; September, T. ; October, 0.12; 
November, 6.72 ; December, 7.87 ; January, 4.78 ; February, 0.71 ; 
March, 0.48; April, 1.37; May, 0.46; June,'0; seasonal, 22.59; year, 
1865; annual, 11.15. 

1865-66.— July, T.; August, 0; September, 0.08; October, 0.48; No- 
veml)er, 2.43; December, 0.36; January, 7.70; February, 2.01; March, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 23 

2.02; April, 0.48; May, 2.25; June, O.IU; seasonal, 17.91; year, 1866; 
annual, 26.52. 

1866-67.— July, 0.02; August, 0; September, 0; October, T.; No- 
vember, 2.43; December, 9.51; January, 3.44; February, 7.10; March, 
1.01; April, 1.80; May, 0.01; June, 0; seasonal, 25.32; year, 1867; 
annual, 30.03. 

1867-68.— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.01; October, 0; No- 
vember, 3.81 ; December, 12.85 ; January, 6.04 ; February, 3.15 ; March, 
4.35; April, 2.31; May, 0.27; June, T.; seasonal, 32.79; year, 1868; 
annual, 19.50. 

1868-69. — July, 0; August, 0; September, 0; October, 0; No- 
vember, 0.77 ; December, 2.61 ; January, 4.79 ; February, 3.63 ; March, 
2.94; April, 1.24; May, 0.65; June, 0.01; seasonal, 16.64; year, 1869; 
annual, 18.19. 

1869-70.— July, 0; Aug-ust, 0; September, T.; October, 2.12; No- 
vember, 0.85 ; December, 1.96 ; January, 1.37 ; February, 3.24 ; March, 
1.64; April, 2.12; May, 0.27; June, T.; seasonal, 13.57; year, 1870; 
annual, 10.21. 

1870-71.— July, T.; August, T.; September, 0; October, 0.02; No- 
vember, 0.58; December, 0.97; January, 2.08; February, 1.92; March, 
0.69; April, 1.45; May, 0.76; June, T. ; seasonal, 8.47; year, 1871; 
annual, 18.92. 

1871-72. — July, 0; August, 0; September, T. ; October, 0.21; No- 
vember, 1.22; December, 10.59; January, 4.04; February, 4.74; March, 
1.94; April, 0.61; May, 0.28; June, 0.02; seasonal, 23.65; year, 1872; 
annual, 19.17. 

1872-73. — July, 0; August, 0; September, T. ; October, 0.22; No- 
vember, 1.93; December, 5.39; January, 1.23; February, 4.36; March, 
0.55; April, 0.51; May, 0; June, T. ; seasonal, 14.19; year, 1873; 
annual, 18.20. 

1873-74.— July, 0.02; August, T.; September, 0; October, 0.31 
November, 1.21; December, 10.01; January, 5.20; February, 1.86 
March, 3.05; April, 0.99; May, 0.37; June, T.; seasonal, 22.92; vear 
1874; annual, 17.92. 

1874-75. — July, T. ; August, 0; September, 0.05; October, 2.26 
November, 3.80; December, 0.44; January, 8.70; February, 0.55; 
March, 0.80; April, T. ; May, T. ; June, 1.10; seasonal, 17.70; year, 
1875; annual, 23.31. 

1875-76 — July, ; August, ; September, ; October, 0.44 ; Novem- 
ber, 6.20; December, 5.52; January, 4.99; February, 3.75; March, 4.15; 
April, 1.10; Mav, 0.15; June, 0; seasonal, 26.30; vear, 1876; annual, 
18.12. 

1876-77^July, 0.21; August, 0.02; September, T. ; October, 3.45; 
November, 0.30; December, 0; January, 2.77; Februarv, 1.04; March, 
0.56; April, 0.19; May, 0.64; June, 0.01; seasonal. 9.19; year, 1877; 
annual, 8.44. 



24 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1877-78 — July, T. ; August, T. ; September, 0; October, 0.73; Nov- 
ember, 1.07; December, 1.43; January, 9.26; February, 8.04; March, 
3.09; April, 1,07; May, 0.17; June, 0; seasonal, 24.86; year, 1878; 
annual, 23.45. 

1878-79— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.29; October, 0.55, Nov- 
ember, 0.51; December, 0.47; January, 3.18; February, 3.88; March, 
4.88; April, 2.66; May, 1.30; June, 0.13; seasonal, 17.85; year, 1879; 
annual, 22.37. 

1879-80— July, T. ; August, T. ; September, ; October, 0.88 ; Nov- 
ember, 2.05; December, 3.41; January, 1.64; February, 1.83; March, 
1.70; April, 14.20; May, 0.76; June, 0; seasonal, 26.47; year, 1880; 
annual, 31.99. 

1880-81 — July, T. ; August, 0; September, O;0ctober, 0; Novem- 
ber, 0.05; December, 11.81; January, 6.14; February, 5.06; March, 
1.37; April, 1.64; May, T.; June, 0.50; seasonal, 26.57; year, 1881; 
annual, 20.71. 

1881-82— July, T.; August, 0; September, 0.30; October, 0.55; Nov- 
ember, 1.88 ; December, 3.27 ; January, 1.89 ; February, 2.40 ; March, 
3.78; April, 1.99; May, 0.35; June, 0.10; seasonal, 16.51; year, 1882; 
annual, 18.06. 

1882-83— July, T.; August, 0; September, 0.57; October, 2.63; Nov- 
ember, 3.22; December, 1.13; January, 2.23; February, 1.11; March, 
3.70; April, 0.67; May, 2.85; June, 0; seasonal, 18.il; year, 1883; 
annual, 13.48. 

1883-84— July, ; August, ; September, 0.90 ; Octol^er, 0.97 ; Nov- 
ember, 0.61; December, 0.44; Januarv, 3.43; February, 4.46; March, 
8.14; April, 4.32; May, 0.06; June, 1.45; seasonal, 24.78; year, 1884; 
annual, 34.92. 

1884-85— July, ; August, T. ; September, 0.60 ; October, 2.01, Nov- 
ember, 0; December, 10.45; Januarv, 2.16; Februarv, 0.49; March, 
0.08; April, 0.68; May, T. ; June, 0".ll; seasonal, 16.58; year, 1885; 
annual, 20.72. 

1885-86— July, T. ; Augaist, ; September, 0.08 ; October, 0.02 ; Nov- 
ember, 11.34; December, 5.76; January, 7.95; February, 0.29; March, 
2.68; April, 4.08; May, 0.07; June, 0; seasonal, 32.27; year, 1886; 
annual, 18.17. 

1886-87— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0; October, 0.68; Nov- 
ember, 0.21; December, 2.21; Januarv, 1.12; Februarv, 6.28; March, 
0.94; April, 2.53; May, T. ; June, o'- seasonal, 13.97; year, 1887; 
annual, 13.43. 

1887-88— July, 0; August, T. ; September, 0.02; October, 0; Nov- 
ember, 0.45; December, 2.09; Januarv, 4.81; Februarv, 0.57; March, 
3.04; April, 0.10; May, 0.40; June, 0.08; seasonal, 11.56; year, 1888; 
annual, 18.46. 

1888-89— July, T.; August, T. ; September, 0.55; October, 0; Nov- 
ember, 4.28; December, 4.63; Januarv, 0.15; Februarv, 0.33; March, 
6.25; April, 0.26; Mav, 3.25; June, 0.25; seasonal, 19.95; year, 1889; 
annual, 27.48. 

1889-90- July, 0; August, 0; Se])tember, 0; October, 6.02; Nov- 
ember, 3.15; December, 7.82; January, 6.62; February, 4.06; March, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 25 

3.00; April, 1.33; May, 1.80; Jniie, 0; seasonal, 33.80; year, 1890; 
annual, 20.95. 

1890-91— July, ; August, T. ; September, 0.80 ; October, T. ; Nov- 
ember, 0; December, 3.34; January, 0.53; February, 6.61; Marcli, 
1.78; April, 2.04; May, 0.66; June," 0.05; seasonal, 15.81; year, 1891; 
annual, 15.63. 

1891-92— July, T. ; August, ; September, 0.10 ; October, 0.10 ; Nov- 
ember, 0.48; December, 3.28; January, 1.78; February, 2.84; March, 
3.02; April, 1.20; May, 2.38; June, T.; seasonal, 15.18; year, 1892; 
annual, 23.60. 

1892-93— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.18; October, 0.70; Nov- 
ember, 6.60, December, 4.90; January, 3.27; February, 2.66; March, 
3.51; April, 1.08; May, 1.05; June, 0; seasonal, 23.95; year, 1893; 
annual, 16.59. 

1893-94— July, T. ; August, T. ; September, 0.22 ; October, 0.12 ; Nov- 
ember, 2.92; December, 1.76; January, 4.17; February, 3.92; March 
0.74; April, 0.34; May, 1.70; June, 0.46; seasonal, 16.35; year, 1894; 

1894-95— July, T. ; August, T. ; September, 0.88 ; October, 1.06 ; Nov- 
ember, 0.48; December, 8^.86; January, 8.42; February, 1.84; March, 
1.20; April, 0.86; May, 0.51; June, 0; seasonal, 24.11; year, 1895; 
annual, 17.38. 

1895-96— July, 0.04; August, T.; September, 1.26: October, 0.17; 
November, 1.54; December, 1.54; January, 9.76; February, 0.09; March, 
2.57; April, 5.34; May, 0.92; June, 0; seasonal, 23.23; year, 1896; 
annual, 25.06. 

1896-97— July, T. ; August, 0.20; September, 0.31; October, 0.55; 
November, 3.56 ; December, 1.76 ; January, 3.66 ; February, 4.15 ; March. 
2.54; April, 0.25; May, 0.30; June, 0.04; seasonal, 17.32; year, 1897; 

1897-98— July, ; August, 0.01 ; September, 0.16 ; October, 1.96 ; Nov- 
ember, 0.61; December, 1.64; January, 0.98; February, 3.19; March, 
0.04; April, 0.28; May, 1.50; June, 0.14; seasonal, 10.51; year, 1898; 
annual, 10.04. 

1898-99— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.36; October, 0.64; 
November, 0.61; December, 2.30; January, 3.94; February, 0.04; March, 
6.02; April, 0.10; May, 0.54; June, 0.49; seasonal, 15.04; year, 1899; 
annual, 21.14. 

1899-00— July, ; August, 0.02 ; September, ; October, 4.46 ; Nov 
ember, 2.62; December, 2.91; January, 3.54; February, 0.32; March, 
1.61, April, 1.88; May, 2.88; June, T. ; seasonal, 20.24; year, 1900: 
annual, 17.91. 

1900-01— July, T.; August, 0; September, 0.06; October, 1.74; Nov 
ember, 4.50; December, 1.38; January, 3.70; February. 5.32; March,, 
0.48; April, 2.23; May, 0.80; June, T.; seasonal, 20.21; year, 1901; 
annual, 18.52. 

1901-02— July, 0; August, T. ; September, 0.56; October, 1.56; Nov- 
ember, 2.68; December, 1.19; January, 0.95; February, 6.52; March, 
1.99; April, 1.36; May, 0.45; June, 0.01; seasonal, 17.27; year, 1902; 
annual, 17.88. 

1902-03— July, 0; August, T. ; September, 0; October, 1.67; Nov- 



26 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ember, 2.02; December, 2.91; January, 3.05; February, 1.70; March, 
4.81; April, 0.46; May, T.; June, T.;" seasonal, 16.62; year, 1903; 
annual, 14.70. 

1903-04— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0; October, 0.12; Nov- 
ember, 3.44; December, 1.12; January, 0.45; February, 5.26; March, 
5.43; A])ril, 1.02; May, 0.03; June, T. ; seasonal, 16.87; year, 1904; 
annual, 20.99. 

1904-05— July, T. ; August, 0.07; September, 3.62; October, 1.86; 
November 2.05 ; December, 1.20 ; January, 3.33 ; February, 2.47 ; March, 
3.75; Ai)ril, 1.18; May, 2.45; June, 0; seasonal, 21.98; year, 1905; 
annual, 14.97. 

1905-06— July, 0; August, T. ; September, 0.03; October, 0; Nov- 
ember, 1.20; December, 0.56; January, 6.63; February. 3.02; March, 
8.45; April, 1.21; May, 2.24; June, 0.59; seasonal, 23.93; year, 1906; 
annual, 30.70. 

1906-07— July, 0; August, T.; September, 0.20; October, T. ; Nov- 
ember, 0.99; December, 7.37; January, 4.63; February, 2.37; March, 
7.28; April, 0.25; May, 0.10; June, 0.85; seasonal, 24.04; year, 1907; 
annual, 20.05. 

1907-08— July, 0; August, 0; September, T. ; October, 1.20; Nov- 
ember, 0.04 ; December, 3.33 ; January, 3.84 ; February, ' 2.75 March, 
0.42; AiH'il, 0.08; May, 0.54; June, T.; seasonal, 12.20; yeai, 1908; 
annual, 11.21. 

3908-09— July, T. ; August, 0; September, 0.05; October, 0.26; Nov- 
ember, 1.23; December, 2.04; January, 9.65; February. 6.68; March, 
1.84; April, T.; May, T. ; June, 0.03;' seasonal,, 21.78; year. 1909; 
annual, 24.87. 

1909-10— July, 0; August, 0; September, 0.21; October, 1.27; Nov- 
ember, 1.32; December, 3.87; January, 1.48; February, 0.83; March, 
3.06; April, 0.11; May, 0.03; June, T. ; seasonal, 12.18; year. 1910; 
annual, 7.78. 

1910-11— July, T.; August, 0; September, 0.20; October, 0.28; Nov- 
ember; 0.17; December, 1.62; January, 12.72; February, 1.88; March, 
4.30; Ai)ril, 0.66; May, 0.03; June, 0.12; seasonal, 21.98; year. 1911; 
annual, 21.11. 

1911-12— July, 0; August, 0; September, T. ; October, 0.18; Nov- 
ember, 0.15; December, 1.07; January, 0; February, 0; March, 0; 
April, 0; May, 0; June, 0; seasonal, 0; year, 1912; annual, 0; 

Means (62 years), July, 0.02; August, 0.01; September, 0.22; Oct- 
ober, 0.83; November, 2.02; December, 3.95; January, 3.96; February, 
2.89; March, 3.00; April, 1.58; May, 0.80; June, 0.12; seasonal, 19.48; 
annual, 19.24. 

TEMPERATURES 

P\)llowing is a table of absolute maximum and minimum tempera- 
tures since 1878: 

Year, 1878: Absolute maximum, 100 in August; absolute minimum, 

24 in December. 

Year, 1879 : Absolute maximum, 103 in August ; absolute minimum, 

25 in December. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 27 

^'ear, 1880: Absolute maximum, 98 in July; absolute minimum, 
25 in January. 

Year, 1881: Absolute maximum, 98 in July; absolute minimum, 
32 in November and December. 

Year, 1882 : Absolute maximum, 100 in August and September ; 
absolute minimum, 27 in December. 

Year, 1883: Absolute maximum, 104 in July; absolute minimum, 
22 in January and February. 

Year, 1884: Absolute maximum, 100 in August; absolute mini- 
mum, 21 in February. 

Year, 1885 : Absolute maximum, 105 in August ; absolute mini- 
mum, 34 in January. 

Year, 1886: Absolute maximum, 105 in July; absolute minimum, 

28 in January. 

Year, 1887: Absolute maximum, 100 in June, iVugust and Sep- 
tember; absolute mininmm, 28 in November. 

Year, 1888 : Absolute maximum, 108 in August ; absolute minimum, 
19 in January. 

Year, 1889: Absolute maximum, 104 in July, absolute minimum, 
31 in January and February. 

Year, 1890: Absolute maximum, 102 in July; al)solnte minimum, 

29 in January. 

Year, 1891: Absolute maximum, 106 in June, July and August; 
absolnte minimum, 26 in December. 

Year, 1892 : Absolute maximum, 106 in August ; absolute mini- 
mum, 26 in December. 

Year, 1893: Absolute maximum, 103 in July; absolute minimum, 
28 in December. 

Year, 1894: Absolute maximum, 108 in August; absolute mini- 
mum, 26 in December. 

Year, 1895: Absolute maximum, 102 in June; absolute minimum, 
28 in December. 

Year, 1896: Al)so]ute maximum, 104 in July, absolute minimum, 
28 in January. 

Year, 1897: Alisolute maximum, 105 in July; absolute minimum, 

28 in December. 

Y^ear, 1898: Absolute maxinmm, 110 in August, absolute mini- 
mum, 26 in January. 

Year, 1899 : Absolute maximum, 102 in July ; absolute mininuun, 

30 in February. 

Year, 1900: Absolute maximum, 102 in August; absolute mini- 
mum, 30 in December. 

Year, 1901: Absolute maximum, 105 in August; absolute mini- 
muni, 26 in January. 

Year, 1902: Absolute maximum, 107 in July; al>solute minimum, 

29 in January. 

Year, 1903 : Absolute maximum, 102 in September ; absolute mini- 
mum, 29 in January. 

Year, 1904: Absolute maximum, 102 in September, absolute mini- 
mum, 32 in Januarv. 



28 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Year, 1905: Absolute maximum, 110 in July; absolute minimum, 

28 in December. 

Year, 1906: Absolute maximum, 104 in July, alisolute mininnun, 

30 in December. 

Year, 1907: Absolute maxinuim, 99 in Aui>ust; a))Solute minimum, 

31 in January, 

Year, 1908: Absolute maximum, 103 in August; absolute mini- 
mum, 28 in December. 

Year, 1909 : Absolute maximum, 101 in July ; absolute minimum, 

29 in December. 

Year, 1910: Absolute maximum, 103 in May; absolute minimum, 
28 in January. 

Year, 1911: Absolute maximum, 100 in July; aljsolute mininuim, 

30 in December. 

The following tallies will be found of interest in relation to climate: 

TEMPERATURE, RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND PERCENTAGE OF SUNSHINE. 

Average Conditions by Months 

Humidity 24 years. Sunshine mean for 5 years. 

January: Humidity, 5 a. m., 86; 5 p. m.. 71; per cent of sunshine, 
37; hours of sunshine, 111.5. 

February: Humidity, 5 a. m., 83; 5 p. m., 61; per cent of sunshine, 
54; hours of sunshine, 162.2. 

March : Humidity, 5 a. m., 81 ; 5 p. m., 55 ; per cent of sunshine, 63 : 
hours of sunshine, 234.5. 

April: Humidity, 5 a. m., 79; 5 p. m., 46; ]^ev cent of sunshine, 81; 
liours of sunshine, 323.4. 

May: Humidity, 5 a. m., 78; 5 p. m., 44; per cent of sunshine, 83; 
hours of sunshine, 368.0. 

June: Humidity, 5 a. m., 75; 5 p. in., 38; per cent of sunshine, 87; 
hours of sunshine, 390.4. 

July: Humidity, 5 a. m., 75 ; 5 p. m., 34; per cent of sunshine, 96; 
hours of sunshine, 434.3. 

August : Humidity, 5 a. m., 75 ; 5 p. m., 35 ; per cent of sunshine, 96 ; 
hours of sunshine, 405.4. 

September : Humidity, 5 a. m., 72 ; 5 p. m., 36 ; per cent of sunshine, 
88; hours of sunshine, 329.3. 

October: Humidity, 5 a. m., 74; 5 p. m., 43; per cent of sunshine, 
77 ; hours of sunshine, 265.7. 

November: Humidity, 5 a. m., 76; 5 p. m., 53; ]ier cent of sunshine, 
60; hours of sunshine, 180.0. 

December: Humidity, 5 a. m., 82; 5 p. m., 40; per cent of sunshine, 
38; hours of sunshine, 111.2. 

EXTREME TEMPERATURES. 

1878 to 1911, Inclusive. 

Januar.x- : Absolute maxinmui, 72 ; year and date, 3)0, 1899 ; absolute 
minimum, 19; yeai- and date, 14,1888. 



HIISTORY OF SACKAMENTO COUNTY 29 

February : Absolute maximum, 76 ; year and date, 28, 1889 ; abso- 
lute luinimum, 21 ; year and date, 13, 1884. 

March: Absolute maximum, 80; year and date, 30, 1882; absolute 
minimum, 29 ; vear and date, 15, 1880. 

April: Absolute maximum, 89; year and date, 24, 1910; absolute 
minimum, 35; vear and date, 4, 1901. 

May: Absolute maximum, 103; year and date, 30,1910; absolute 
minimum, 39 ; year and date, 9, 1896. 

June: Absolute maximum, 106; year and date, 30, 1891; absolute 
minimum, 44; year and date, 1, 1890. 

July: Absolute maximum, 110; year and date, 8, 1905; absolute 
minimum, 47 ; year and date, 3, 1901. 

Au.oust : Absolute maximum, 110 ; year and date, 11, 1898 ; absolute 
minimum, 48; year and date, 30, 1887. 

September : Absolute maximum, 106 ; year and date, 11, 1888 ; abso- 
lute minimum, 44; year and date, 18, 1882. 

October: Absolute maximum, 98; year and date, 3, 1885; absohite 
minimum, 36 ; year and date, 14, 1881. 

November : Absolute maximum, 81 ; year and date, 5, 1898 ; absolute 
minimimi, 27; year and date, 28, 1880. 

December : Absolute maximum, 69 ; year and date, 8, 1893 ; alisolute 
minimum, 24; year and date, 14, 1883. 

EXTKEMES OF WIND. 

1895 to 1911, Inclusive. 
January : Maxinumi velocity, 60 ; direction. Southeast ; year, 1901 ; 

" ' February : Maximum velocity, 60 ; direction. Southeast ; year, 1902 ; 

day, 25. 

" March: Maximum velocity, 65; direction. Southeast; year, 1904; 

' 'April : Maximum velocity, 46 ; direction, South ; year, 1902 ; day, 7. 
May: Maximum velocity, 45; direction. Northwest; year, 1902; 

dav, 18.' __ 

June: Maximum \'elocity, 42; direction. Northwest: yen.r, l^K); 

dav. 12. 

July: Maximum velocity, 40; direction, Northwest; year, 19J.^; 

Auoust: Maximum velocity, 38; directiim. Southwest; y^^ar, liK».^; 

day, 9. 

September: Maximum velocity, 40; direction. Northwest; yea)-, 

1903; dav, 11. _,., 

October: Maximum velocity, 48; direction. South; year, 18 M; 

dav, 20. 

November: Maximum velocity, 48; direction. North; year, l«>o; 

dav 22 

■ 'December : Maximum velocity, 60 ; direction, Southeast ; year, 1894 ; 

day, 9. 



30 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 



CHAPTER IV 

GEN. JOHN A. SUTTER 

No man's name is so intimately connected with the settlement of 
Sacramento city and county as that of Gen. John A. Sutter, the first 
permanent white settler within its limits and the pioneer of civiliza- 
tion here. Born of Swiss parents, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, 
February 28, 1803, and educated there, he entered the French military 
service as ca]itain under Charles X and remained there until he was 
thirty years of age. Embarking for New York, he arrived there in 
July, 1834, having come to select a place and prepare the way for a 
colony of his countrymen in the west. His first location was at 
St. Charles, Mo., but having lost his property through the sinking of 
a vessel, he abandoned the place. Leaving St. Louis, where he had 
stayed for a time, he went to New Mexico. There he met some hunters 
and trappers, who told him of U]iper California, whither they had 
journeyed, of its fertile and beautiful valleys, its verdant foothills 
and its lofty mountain ranges, covered with magnificent pine and 
redwood forests. He at once resolved to go to this state and make 
it his future field of labor. There being no lines of steamers running 
to California ports, the only way of arriving here was to cross the 
})lains and mountains with one of the trapping expeditions of the 
American or English fur companies. Accordingly, April 1, 1836, he 
joined Captain Tripp, of the American Ftir Company, and traveled 
with him to the rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains. Crossing the 
mountains with six horsemen, after a long and dangerous trip, he ar- 
rived at Fort Vancouver. Embarking on a vessel bound for the 
Sandwich Islands, he hoped to find an opportunity to sail thence to 
the Pacific Coast and sailed from the islands in a vessel bound for 
Sitka and from there down the coast. July 2, 1839, the vessel was 
driven by furious gales into the bay of Yerba Buena (as San Fran- 
cisco was then called), and there was boarded by a government officer 
with an armed force, who ordered him to leave, saying that Monterey, 
ninety miles south, was the port of entry. Sutter, however, obtained 
leave to stay forty-eight hours in order to procure supplies. 

When he reached Monterey he succeeded in meeting Governor 
Alvarado, whom he told that he wished to secure and colonize a sec- 
tion of country in Upper California on the Sacramento river. The 
governor, who was desirous that the country should be subdued and 
settled, warinly a]iproved Sutter's plan, but warned him that the In- 
dians were hostile and would not allow the whites to settle there; 
further, that they had robbed the people of San Jose and the lower 
country of their cattle and other property. However, he gave Sutter 
a passport with authority to explore and occupy any territory he 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 31 

might consider desiia])le for his colony, and requested him to return 
in one year, when lie should have his citizenship acknowledged and 
receive a grant of such lands as he might desire to secure. 

Returning to Yerba Buena, which at that time contained scarcely 
fift\ inhabitants, Sutter secured a schooner and several small boats 
with which to explore the interior, and started with ten whites to 
ascend the river. He could secure no guide, as no one could be found 
who had ever ascended the Sacramento river. However, in eight days 
he discovered the mouth of the river. Reaching a point about ten 
miles l)elow the present city of Sacramento, he came on a party of 
about two hundred Indians who showed hostility. As some of the In- 
dians fortunately understood Spanish, Sutter was able to assure them 
that there were no Spaniards (against whom the Indians showed par- 
ticular hostility) among his party, and explained that he was simply 
a peaceful citizen, coming among them to settle and trade. Finally 
he was guided by two Indians who spoke Spanish, up the river to the 
Feather river. He made his way up this river for some distance, but 
some of his white men became alarmed and discontented and he was 
constrained to return. Reaching the mouth of the American river, he 
ascended it a short distance, and August 15, 1839, landed at a point 
on the southern side, where he afterward established his tannery, 
within the limits of the present city. After landing his effects on the 
following morning, he informed the discontented whites that if they 
wished to return to Yerba Buena they could do so, but that he was 
determined to remain, and that the Kanakas were willing to remain 
with him. Three of the whites determined to leave and he put them 
in possession of the schooner, with instructions to them to deliver it to 
its owners when they reached Yerba Buena. They started the next 
day. 

Three weeks later he moved to the spot where he afterwards con- 
structed Fort Sutter, which was destined in a few years to become 
the nucleus of civilization in the Sacramento valley. He encountered 
many troubles with the Indians in the early days of his settlement, 
and a number of idiots were laid to massacre him and his men and 
secure the goods which were such a great temptation to the aborigines. 
These plots were foiled, several of them, as the Indians afterwards 
confessed to him, through the vigilance of his favorite bulldog. After- 
ward manv of the Indians, at tirst most hostile to him, became his 
firmest friends and co-operated with him in his work. He now de- 
voted himself to agriculture and raising cattle and soon became 
wealthy and prosperous. His companions at this time were six no- 
madic whites of various nationalities, and eight Kanakas, who always 
remained faithful to him, and who constituted his ''colony" and his 
army. They aided him in subduing and colonizing a large area before 
totally unknown and inhabited by roving tribes of hostile Indians. 
The nearest white settlement was at Martinez, and the Indians around 



32 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

him were known as "Diggers," from tlieir habit of digging roots for 
food. 

In the fall of 1839 he bought from Senor Martinez three hmidred 
head of cattle, thirty horses and tliirty mares. During the fall eight 
more white men were added to his colony. Having l)een considerably 
handicapped by the lack of lumber and timber during his construction 
of the fort, he floated some down the American river, and was also 
compelled to send for some to Bodega, on the coast, a distance of sev- 
eral hundred miles. In 1840 five white men who had crossed the 
Rocky Mountains with him and whom he had left in Oregon, joined 
him, swelling his colony to twenty-five, seventeen being white men and 
the others being Kanakas. During the fall of that year General Sut- 
ter was forced to make open war on the Mokelumne Indians, who had 
become troublesome, stealing live stock from the settlers and render- 
ing themselves obnoxious by their acts and menaces. He marshalled 
his army of "six brave men and two baqueros," as his diary quaintly 
states, and marched against the Indians in the night time. Coming to 
the camp where they had concentrated over two hundred warriors, he 
attacked them so determinedly that they retreated and sued for peace. 
He granted it readily and it was ever afterward mutually maintained. 
In time he made the Indians cultivate the soil, help build his fort, 
care for the stock and be useful in various other ways. In the mili- 
tary history of California at a later date, he and his Indians were an 
important factor. He purchased a thousand more cattle and seventy- 
five more horses and mules, and his herds began to increase in num- 
bers and value. He sent hides to San Francisco, kept supplies for the 
tra})pers and purchased their skins and either employed all the me- 
chanics and laborers or found work for them. 

In June, 1841, General Sutter visited Monterey, the capital, where 
he was declared a Mexican citizen and received from Governor Alva- 
rado a grant for his land, under the name of New Helvetia, he having 
caused a survey of it to be made for him. He was also honored with 
a commission as "represendente del Govierno en las fronteras del 
norte y encargado de la justicia." He was visited shortly after by 
Captain Ringgold of the United States exploring expedition under 
Commodore Wilkes. About the same time Alexander Rotcheff, gov- 
ernor of the Russian possessions. Fort Ross and Bodega, offered to 
sell to him the Russian possessions, settlements and ranches at those 
places. The terms were advantageous and Sutter ]:>urchased them at 
a price of $30,000. Besides the vast area of real estate, he came into 
possession of two thousand cattle, over one thousand horses, fifty 
mules and two thousand sheej), the most of which were driven to New 
Helvetia and added to his herds there.. In 1844 he ])etitioned Governor 
Micheltorena for the grant or i)urchase of the sobrante or surplus, 
over the first eleven leagues of land within the bounds of the survey 
of the Alvarado grant, which the governor agreed to let him have. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 33 

but the grant was not finally executed until February 5, 1845. During 
this time he had rendered valuable military services and advanced 
supplies to the government to enable it to suppress the Castro rebel- 
lion. For these considerations and personal services he obtained by 
jj'irchase the sobrante or surplus. 

When the Mexican war broke out, although Sutter was a Mexican 
citizen and an officer under that government, his respect for the citi- 
zens and the institutions of the United States was such that his un- 
bounded hospitality was extended to all Americans, civil or military, 
who visited him. When the country surrendered to the American 
forces, Sutter, being convinced that all was over, heartily hoisted the 
American flag July 11, 1846, and accompanied it with a salute from 
the guns of the fort. Lieutenant Missoon, of the United States navy, 
soon after organized a garrison for the fort and gave Sutter the com- 
mand which he held till peace was declared. He was appointed alcalde 
by Commodore Stockton and Indian agent by General Kearney, with 
a salary of $750 a year, but his first trip in discharge of his duty cost 
him $1600 and he naturally resigned his office. During all these years 
his hand and his fort were always open to relieve the distressed. As 
he said afterwards, "I have never turned a man away hungry or re- 
fused him shelter." Many a party of immigrants who had arrived 
near the fort half-starved and destitute, sent one of the party in ad- 
vance to ask assistance, and Sutter always granted it, often sending 
an expedition out to In-ing in the exhausted. On one occasion Captain 
Fremont, who had been exploring farther north with a party, man- 
aged to reach the fort and announced that his party was exhausted 
and destitute some distance away. General Sutter immediately dis- 
patched an expedition which relieved them and brought them in. A 
handsome fortune was expended by him in like charitable acts and he 
was a great favorite among the pioneers on account of his large- 
hearted generosity. The hungry he never turned away. Often they 
were nursed back to health and strength on his place. On one occasion 
a solitary starving immigrant reached the fort and announced that his 
party some distance behind were starving. Immediately General Sut- 
ter ]iacked seven mules with supplies and sent them in charge of two 
Indian boys to the rescue of the party. On their arrival everything 
was seized and devoured by the famished wretches. Other starving 
immigrants arriving on the scene, they killed the seven mules and ate 
them, then killed and ate the two Indian boys. Afterwards Sutter 
said with much feeling, "They ate my Indian boys all up." 

However, evil days were at hand. "Ingratitude, more strong than 
traitor's arms" was to reduce the old pioneer to poverty. Gold was 
discovered. While a boon to the country and hailed with delight all 
over the world, this proved the ruin of the grand old man. His la- 
borers and mechanics deserted him. His mill was forced to cease 
operation. He could not liire labor to plant his crops or cut his 



34 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ripened grain. Laborers would not work for Jess than an ounce of 
gold a day, as they could often make more in the mines. The influx 
of immigration had brought men of all nations. Among them were 
many who had no respect for the property of others. Convicts from 
Australia, thieves and murderers from the east, flocked to the coast. 
Both as a Mexican citizen and as a citizen of the United States by 
the treaty with Mexico, General Sutter considered himself doubly pro- 
tected in his property rights and felt that he held a strong claim on 
his country's justice. But many of the newcomers took forcible pos- 
session of his land and l)egan to cut his wood, claiming that it was 
vacant and unappropriated land of the United States. Up to Janu- 
ary, 1852, the settlers had occupied all of his land capable of settle- 
ment and appropriation, while another class had stolen all of his cat- 
tle, horses, mules, sheep and hogs, except a few that he himself had 
sold. During the high water of 1849-50 one party of five men killed 
and sold enough of his cattle (which were surrounded by water near 
the river) to amount to $60,000. Despoiled of his property, he re- 
moved to the west bank of the P^ather and took up his residence at 
Hock farm, where, in the midst of his family, recently arrived from 
England, he led a quiet life. Later he went to Washington to press 
his claims upon the government for the losses sustained by him from 
the immigrants in the early days. During 1873 he removed to Lititz, 
Pa., and June 18, 1880, he died at Washington, D. C, after having 
devoted his last years to endeavoring to obtain from congress redress 
for his wrongs. It is to the honor of California that in 1864 a bill 
was introduced in^the state senate by Hon. J. P. Buckley and became 
a law, appropriating $15,000 to be paid in installments of $250 per 
month, for the benefit of Sutter and his heirs. In 1870 another bill 
by Hon. W. E. Eichelrotli was passed, providing $250 a month for two 
years, and in 1872 a similar bill by Hon. B. C. Northrup. Thus the 
state he founded, more grateful than the country to which he was 
instrumental in giving an empire whose gold saved the Union in the 
Civil War, made the latter days of the noble-hearted old man com- 
fortable. 

CHAPTER V 
THE FORT RESTORED 

As time rolled on after General Sutter removed to his farm, and 
afterwards to the east, the decay of tlie old fort set in. Wind and 
storm did their work. The adobe bricks became loosened, and the 
tiles of the roof became broken and loosened. The property had 
passed into other hands and was used for other purposes than had 
been originally intended. The two blocks on which the fort stood had 
been cut up into lots by John A. Sutter, Jr., and sold to different 
parties, but had finally all come into the ownership of Benjamin Mer- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 35 

rill, who was residing in the east. Like many non-residents, he took 
no care of the property and allowed it to deteriorate. Some enter- 
prising individual stuck a long hop pole, bearing an old red flannel 
shirt, through the roof like a flag pole. The underpinning became 
dilapidated and the venerable ruin was used as a chicken house and 
hog pen. The walls cracked open, and it was evident that the days of 
the historic relic would soon be ended by its collapse. Many citizens 
regretted its passing, but as usual nothing was done to preserve it. 
Finally the board of city trustees decided to open Twenty- seventh 
street from K to L. The street would run through the old fort and 
necessitate its destruction. Still the community was apathetic and 
the historic building seemed doomed. But Sacramento contained one 
patriotic citizen who was determined to avert this disgrace, if possible. 
Gen. James G. Martine, whose brain was always filled with ideas for 
promoting the progress and prosperity of the city, took immediate 
action. As a result the following open letter was published, June 4, 
1889, in the Rccord-Uniuu, and later in the press of the coast, and 
also in many newspapers in the east, where it would come to the 
notice of pioneers : 

"To the Pioneers of the Pacific Coast, Gentlemen: In the year 
'49, and even before that date, you left home, friends and all that was 
dear to you, and journeyed to the shores of the broad Pacific in search 
of fame and fortune. After many months of toil and hardship you 
finally reached her golden shores, both tired and hungry. Who was 
the first to reach you a helping hand and say to you : ' Come, my sons, 
you are strangers in a strange land, and while you are here make my 
house your home, and what is in it is yours'? Pioneers, do you re- 
member how grateful you felt tlien for the shelter given you by Sut- 
ter's fort? Well, gentlemen, that was nearly forty years ago, and the 
old fort is still in the same place, but in a most wretched condition, 
and while most of your noble band have been blessed with good health, 
wealth and happiness, this old friend has fared badly. It is now old 
and can hardly stand, and unless you come to the rescue it will soon 
fall by the wayside. Pioneers, there are many of you on the Pacific 
Coast, and a few dollars from each of you would buy the ground and 
fix u]) the old Sutter's fort as it was in the old days of '49. Once re- 
]>aired, it would be a lasting monument to you all long after you have 
crossed the silent river. I am not rich by any means, but if the Pio- 
neers or Native Sons do not take this worthy object in hand at once, 
I suggest that a subscription be raised among the citizens of Sacra- 
mento to purchase the ground and repair the old fort. I will sub- 
scribe fifty dollars towards it. Sacramento has but few historic relics 
left, and it would be a burning shame to have Sutter's fort torn down. 
The city authorities have already announced their intention of pulling 
it down unless something is done with it, and there is no time to lose." 

(Signed) J. G. MARTINE. 



36 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The aj)peal coiiniianded attention and responses came from in- 
dividnals tlironi^liont the state, commending Mr. Martine's pro])osal, 
and makini>" donations toward carrying it out. Mr. Martine ol)tained 
a snbscription from Col. C. F. Crocker of $15,000 on behalf of himself 
and family, and $500 from Mrs. Leland Stanford, the governor stating 
later that he would make up any existing deficiency. The Native Sons 
took np the matter, and Mr. Merrill finally set a price of $20,000 on 
the property, subscribing $2,000 of the amount himself. It was found, 
when the first payment was made, September 12, 1889, that John Rider 
and the city of Sacramento owned an interest in a part of the fort, 
but the title was cleared and the jmrchase made, the Native Sons' 
canvassing committee and others having secured the necessary funds. 
The ]iro])erty was deeded to the Native Sons and by them to the 
state. 

In 1891 tlie legislature passed a bill appropriating $20,000 for 
the restoration of the fort, and it is worthy of remembrance that in 
the assembly Beecher and Phillips, l)oth members of the order of 
Native Sons, voted against it, the latter moving to cut down the ap- 
]iropriation to $10,000. The governor appointed as the first board of 
trustees to manage the property, which had been conveyed to the 
state: C. E. Grrunsky, of San Francisco; E. E. Gaddis, Woodland; 
Frank D. Ryan, Sacramento; Charles E. HoUister, Courtland, and 
Eugene J. Gregory, Sacramento, all natives of California. Consider- 
able feeling was engendered among the Pioneers, who had worked and 
contributed to the purchase of the fort, that no member of their so- 
ciety had been appointed on the board. 

The first adobe In-ick for the restoration of the fort was laid Sep- 
tember 21, 1891, the bricks being made from the soil on which the 
fort stands, mixed witli straw, and of the same material which Sutter 
used in its construction. The same cannon which guarded the fort 
after its completion are to be seen on the grounds today, as well as 
the heav\ cannon which General Sutter purchased from the Russians 
with Fort Ross, one of which was presented to John Stuber in 1855 
by General Sutter, and which for many years guarded the entrance 
of Pioneers' Hall on Seventh street. The original adobe bricks were 
made by the Digger Indians, who used their hands for molding them, 
and their finger marks were to be seen when they were again used. 
One of them was dislodged from the wall during the restoration, and 
was found to be the corner-stone, on which was chiseled signs of the 
''Indian Masonic" order which was known to exist among the tribes. 
The tiles used in the restoration were of ancient Spanish manufac- 
ture, such as were used in the early days. The fort as restored is 
constructed with double adobe bricks, covered with concrete ]il aster 
to preserve them from the ravages of the weather. 

Some years later the Native Daughters of the local parlors 
planted trees and flowers on the grounds, and within the past three 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 37 

years the state has hiid out a park, made a small lake and beautified 
the grounds, which are under the care of a gardener. Within the 
court inside of the fort are found a numl)er of relics of the early days: 
an old Wells-Fargo coach with the marks of Indian bullets on it, an 
ohl prairie schooner that came across the plains, an old Mexican cart 
witli solid wooden wheels sawed from the trunk of a tree, and other 
things. There is also a museum containing many old-time relics. The 
rooms of the old fort have been restored as nearly as possible to their 
original status by the trustees of the fort, after consultation with 
Gen. John Bidwell, who was General Sutter's financial agent, and 
Charles Stevens of San Francisco, who was Sutter's bookkeeper in 
1847 and 1848. 

CHAPTER VI 
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 

We generally speak of the discovery of gold in California as 
having l)een made by James Marshall at Coloma, in January, 1848, 
and while this is true in a practical sense, resulting in the stampede 
that brought adventurers from all over the world to this state, there 
is no doubt that the existence of gold had been known many years 
before. 

The first mention of gold in California is found in Hakluyt's ac- 
count of the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, who spent five or six weeks 
in June and July, 1579, in some bay on the coast of California, the 
locality of which has never been settled as to whether it was San 
Francisco Bay or one of those farther north. Hakluyt wrote : "There 
is no part of the earth here to be taken up wherein there is not a 
reasonable amount of gold or silver." As neither gold or silver has 
ever been found in the vicinity of the point where Drake landed, 
Hakluyt's story must be classed with other tales of the early ex- 
plorers and as mere conjecture regarding an unknown land. 

However, other early explorers stated that gold had been found 
long before the discovery by Marshall and there is no doubt that the 
opinion existed that gold was to be found in California. The country 
had been explored by Spanish, Russian and American parties since 
the sixteenth century and was visited by Commodore Wilkes while 
on an exploring expedition in the service of the United States. Mem- 
bers of his party ascended the Sacramento river and visited Sutter at 
his fort, while others made explorations by land. James D. Dana, the 
author of several well-known works on geology and mineralogy, was 
the mineralogist of the expedition and journeyed by land through the 
upper part of the state. He says in one of his works that gold rock 
and veins of quartz were observed by him in 1842 near the Um]Kiua 
river, in southern Oregon; also, that he found gold in the Sierra Ne- 
vadas and on the Sacramento river, also on the San Joaquin river and 



38 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

between these rivers. In the report of the Fremont exploring expe- 
dition also, there is an intimation of the existence of gold. A state- 
ment has been made also tliat a Mexican was shot at Yerba Bnena 
(now San Francisco) in October or November, 1845, on account of 
ha\ing a bag of gold dust, and that when dying he pointed toward the 
north and said, "Legos! Legos!" (yonder), indicating where he had 
found it. 

Coming nearer liome, into our own county, we find a claim that is 
l)acked by strong iirobability that the Mormons who came to San 
Francisco on the ship Brooklyn, and settled at Mormon Island, found 
gold before Marshall did. It was a series of circumstances that 
brought them to this coast. Persecuted in the east, where Joseph 
Smith, their founder, claimed to have found the plates that he trans- 
lated into the "Book of Mormon," generally spoken of as the Mormon 
bible, his followers had settled at Nauvoo, 111., where they believed 
they would be free from further persecution. But the people who had 
settled around them became antagonistic to them and in the riots that 
occurred. Smith was shot and killed by a mob. They then determined 
to remove beyond the jurisdiction of the United States and selected 
California as their future place of abode. They divided into two 
parts, the land expedition starting to cross the Rocky mountains, while 
the other party came around the Horn on the ship Brooklyn. Among 
the believers in their faith was Samuel Brannan, one of their leading 
men, who afterwards became prominent in the early history of Sac- 
ramento and San Francisco. When the Brooklyn arrived, the 
Mormons found that their hopes were frustrated, (California having 
passed into the possession of the United States. Couriers were 
sent over land to meet the other party, and found them at the place 
where Salt Lake City now is located. They determined to stay there, 
although the country was sterile and unpromising. Those who came 
on the Brooklyn scattered through the state, some of them settling 
above Folsom at the place now known as Mormon Island. It is 
claimed that they had found gold long before it was found at Coloma, 
Init had kept it a secret. Certain it is, that mining was carried on 
by them about the time of Marshall's discovery, and that the digiiings 
at Morn^on Island were very profitable. 

On January 18, 1878, the Associated Pioneers of the tei-ritorial 
days of California gave a banquet in New York city, at which 
Col. T. B. Thorpe, a veteran of the Mexican war who had been on 
General Taylor's staff, was present. He stated that while he was 
employed as a journalist in New Orleans several years before the 
discovery of gold at C^oloma, a Swede, evidently far gone into con- 
sum])tion, called on him and stated that he was what was called in 
Sweden a "King's Orphan;" that he had been educated at an institu- 
tion maintained by the government, on condition that after he had 
received his education he would travel in foreign countries, ol)serve 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 39 

and record what lie had seen and transmit his records to the govern- 
ment. He further stated that he had visited California and remained 
several days at Sutter's .Fort, enjoying Sutter's hospitality; that 
while there he had closely examined the surrounding country and be- 
came convinced that it was rich in gold. General Sutter was present 
at that banquet and Colonel Thorpe asked him if he had any recollec- 
tion of the Swedish visitor. General Sutter replied that he did recol- 
lect the visit, which occurred about thirty-fOur years before, and 
that he also remembered that the Swede spoke regarding the presence 
of mineral wealth in the neighboring hills, "but," added the General, 
"I was too much occupied at the time with other concerns to devote 
any time or attention to it. My crops were ripe, and it was impera- 
tive that they should he gathered as soon as possible, but I do 
recollect the scientific Swedish gentleman." 

The report of the remarks at the banquet was published, and in 
it is contained a copy of the manuscript to which Colonel Thorj^je 
referred, in which the "King's orphan" wrote: "The Calif ornias 
are rich in minerals. Gold, silver, lead, oxide of iron, manganese 
and copper ore are all met with throughout the country, the precious 
metals being the most abundant." 

Still another account of an early discovery of gold was pub- 
lished in September, 1865, in the New Age, in San Francisco, the 
official organ of the Odd Fellows. It purports to have been an article 
written by the Paris correspondent of the London Star. He wrote 
that while in Paris he visited a private museum, the owner of which 
exhibited to him a gold nugget and stated that twenty-eight years 
1)efore a poor invalid had called on him, and taking out of his tattered 
coat a- block of quartz, asked him if he would purchase it, assuring 
him that it was full of gold. He stated that the stranger said: "I 
have come to you to apply to the government to give me a vessel 
and a crew of a hundred men, and I will jn-omise to return with a 
cargo of gold." The proprietor of the museum thought the man 
was mad, but gave him a napoleon as a matter of charity, retaining, 
however, a piece of the quartz. Afterwards the (juartz was analyzed 
and was proved to contain pure gold. After a lapse of fifteen years 
a letter and a parcel were left at his door. The parcel was heavy 
and was wrai)ped in a handkerchief and the letter was worn and 
almost illegible. He deciphered it and it proved to be the poor 
invalid's dying statement, which the lodging-house keeper, where 
he died after his interview with the proprietor of the museum, had 
neglected to deliver. The package contained a block of quartz and 
the letter read as follows: "You alone listened to me; you alone 
stretched out a helping hand to me. Alas, it was too late! I am 
dying. I bequeath my secret to you. The country from which I 
brought this gold is called California." 

All these statements being true, the credit for the ]iractical dis- 



40 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

covery of gold beiougs to Marshall. While it is true that a gold 
mine in the lower |)art of the state was worked in 1841, and that gold 
from that mine liad been sent to P]nladeli)hia for coinage as early 
as July, 1843, the mine proved unprofitable and was abandoned. 
The precise date of Marshall's discovery will probably never be set- 
tled. He was working for General Sutter, in charge of a gang of 
men erecting a sawmill at the present site of Coloma, Eldorado county. 
The raceway was dug and the water turned in. As Marshall was 
examining the race, his attention was attracted by a piece of shining 
stuff and he picked it up and took it to the house, where it was 
lioiled in lye, and thought to be gold. He took it with other particles 
down to Sutter, where it was submitted to crude tests and declared 
to be gold. Afterward specimens were sent to Monterey and exhibited 
to General Mason, the military governor, and W. T. Sherman, after- 
wards one of the most famous generals of the Civil war. It was 
proved to be gold and the news went forth to the world that caused 
immigration to pour into California from every clime. 

James W. Marshall was born in Hope township, Hunterdon 
county, N. J., October 8, 1810. When he reached manhood he removed 
to Indiana and afterward to Illinois and Missouri. He arrived in 
California in 1844 and came to Sutter's Fort in 1845 and was em- 
ployed by Captain Sutter. He took an active part in the revolution 
of 1846. In consideration of his discovery of gold the legislature 
allowed him a pension for some years before his death. He settled 
on a small piece of land at Coloma, near where he discovered the gold, 
and partly supported himself by farming. On the 10th of August, 
1885, he was found dead in his cabin and was buried near the spot 
where gold was first found by him. Marshall never married. After 
his death the state erected a fine monument to him, a statue in the 
early miner's garb, with his finger pointing to the place where the 
old millrace stood in which his discovery was made. The late John H. 
Miller, for many years a well known journalist of this city, was 
appointed the first guardian of the monument, which office he held 
for a number of years. 

The discovery of gold gave a great impetus to the growth of 
Sacramento City when the influx of gold-seekers commenced, making 
it the point of departure for the mines as well as the depot for 
supplies. A part of the latter business it lost when the Folsom and 
Placerville Railroad was built, but its progress was only delayed, as 
it still continued to be the sup|)ly point for distribution to a vast 
territory, including a large portion of Nevada. Seldom now are the 
jingling bells of the mule team heard on its streets and the '^ prairie 
schooner" laden with freight has become a very rare sight on its 
streets, Folsom being on the American river and having proved to 
be surrounded by rich placers, grew quickly to an important town, 
polling at one time in the early days over two thousand votes. Of 




NEW COURT HOUSE 




NEW (MTY IIAEL 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 41 

late years the gold dredge lias taken the place of hydraulic mining, 
since the latter was prohibited, and large areas of the rich lands along 
the American river have been turned into unsightly piles of cobble 
stones, and the gold extracted from it. Even the great Natoma 
vineyard, at one time the largest in the world, has been invaded by 
the machines and is being rapidly destroyed and left desolate, and 
Ijractically wiped off the' assessor's map. The village of Dredge has 
grown up, the home of the company's employes, and the cobble piles 
are of late l)eing crushed for road material. 

There are other accounts of gold discovery. Joseph Aram of 
New York, and Sarah A. Aram of Vermont, his wife, were mem- 
bers of a party of immigrants to California which, in September, 
1846, ])itched tlieir cami) near the mouth of a little stream emptying 
into the south fork of the Yuba river where it was crossed by the 
old overland trail, near where the boundary line between Placer and 
Nevada counties has been established. It is related that Mrs. Aram 
desired to wash some articles of apparel and in scooping out an 
improvised washtub in the bed of the brook noticed several little 
yellow pieces in the tine gravel. They were examined by the members 
of the party and pronounced to be gold. On the same day, however, 
news of the declaration of war against Mexico by the United States 
reached the party, and they made all possible haste in pushing on 
to gain the shelter of Sutter's Fort instead of stopping to make any 
further investigation of their discovery. In the " smmner of 1848, 
after Marshall's discovery had l)een published, Mr. Aram returned 
to his old camping ground only to find the ground already occupied 
by miners. Mr. Aram was a member of the first constitutional 
convention, 1849, and a member of the assembly at the first session 
of the legislature. He died at San Jose, March 30, 1898. His son, 
Eugene Aram, born at Monterey, January 14, 1848, it is claimed 
was the first white child born in California of American parents, 
and was a state senator from Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties during 
the thirty-first and thirty-third legislative sessions. For some years 
he has been a practicing attorney in this city. 

CHAPTER VII 
CITY AND COUNTY ELECTIONS 

The first election under the city charter and in the county was 
held April 1, 1850, there being three tickets in the field. Canvassing 
had been going on for several weeks, both in the city and through the 
county, and an immense number of tickets and handbills had been 
circulated. The polls remained open until late in the evening; there 
were lively times around the ballot boxes and plenty of whiskey 
was drunk, l)ut there was no rioting. 

The whole number of votes polled for Mayor was two thousand 



42 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

four hundred and niuety-tliree, and Hardin Biglow, the people's 
candidate, had a majority over all the others of three hundred and 
twenty-three. Following is a list of the city and county officers 
elected, with the number of votes received by each : 

Mayor, Hardin Biglow, 1521 ; city recorder, B. F. AVashington, 
885; city marshal, N. C. Cunningham, 1323; city attorney, J. Neely 
Johnson, 1()S)7; city assessor, eJ. W. Woodland, 792; city treasurer. 
Barton Lee, 2310 ; Councilmen : C. A. Tweed, 1629 ; V. Spalding, 1621 ; 
Demas Strong, 1420; T. McDowell, 1462; J. McKinzie, 1182; C. H. 
Miller, 887; J. R. Hardenbergh, 862; Jesse Moore, 869 ; A. P. Petit, 804; 
county treasurer, William Glaskin, 1104; district attorney, William C. 
Wallace, 2011 ; county attorney, J. H. McKune, 2021 ; county jndge, 
E. J. Willis, 1818; county clerk, Presley Dunlap, 1567; county recorder, 
L. A. Birdsall, 714; county sheriff, J. H. McKinney, 619; county sur- 
veyor, J. G. Cleal, 1152; county assessor, D. W. Thorp, 1224; county 
coroner, P. F. Ewer, 569 ; clerk supreme court, E. H. Thorp, 1313. 

On the morning of April 4th, a meeting of the council-elect was 
held at the courthouse and on motion of Jesse Moore, C. A. Tweed 
was called to the chair, as president pro tem. On motion of Volney 
Spalding, Charles H. Miller was requested to act as secretary pro 
tem. The council proceeded to the election of a president and 
Demas Strong was declared elected. A committee was also a])])ointed 
to wait u]3on the mayor-elect, Hon. Hardin Biglow, and inform him 
that the council was duly organized and ready to receive any com- 
munication he might desire to make. He appeared before the council 
and delivered a short and pertinent address, and the council adjourned. 
It met the next morning pursuant to adjournment and a message from 
the mayor was read, accepted and referred to the select conuuittee. 
The regular meetings of the board were ordered to be held on each 
Tuesday evening at the courthouse. 

Mayor Biglow in his message urged the immediate raising of a 
levee to protect the city from future inundations, suggesting the 
building of a cheap railway track along the bank of the river, so 
that material for the levee could be hauled from a distance and the 
natural bank of the river be left undisturbed; that an election be 
called to vote the necessary amount as estimated by the city engineer 
for the levee; that the three small lakes be included in the limits 
of the city and the whole of the ])resent corporation be included within 
the levee, and levee regulations be adopted, similar to those at New 
Orleans. Other recommendations were relative to the storing of 
powder, establishment of fire com])anies, a city hosi^ital, a city prison 
and provision for the removal of garbage. Also that every aid pos- 
sible be given to public schools. 

The election of Mayor Biglow is attributed by Dr. Morse in 
his interesting historical article published in Colville's Directory 
in 1853-4, to his foresight and energy in saving the city from a second 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 43 

flood in March, 1850. Fears liad been ex])ressed that the city ini.^lit 
he again inundated, l)nt there seemed to he an aversion to raising 
a levee for protection and the idea was unpopular. Says Mr. Morse: 
"In the month of March following, heavy rains occurred, which with 
the action of the sun upon the snowy summits, caused another flood. 
The rivers rose with great rai)idity, the sloughs filled u]) to over- 
flowing, and the city must have been nearly as severely flooded as in 
January, but for the masterly and herculean efforts of one Hai'din 
Biglow, This man had declared from the first the practicability of 
defending the city by a levee. Having thus connnitted himself to 
the proposition, he was determined to demonstrate his theory in this 
second flood. With the moiety of means and handful of men, he 
commenced dannning up the intruding waters at every low point, 
and finally extended his temporary levee almost to its present limits. 
Night and day he was in his saddle, going from one ])oint to another, 
and stimulating his men to an almost superhuman action. For a few 
days this man met tide and torrent, mud and darkness, and croaking 
discouragement that few men in the world would have endured, and 
to the utter astonishment of all, he saved the town from a severe 
inundation. J, Front, Second, I and a |)ortion of K streets, he ke]it 
open for the uninterru})ted transaction of business. As a natural 
consequence everybody praised him, and on the first Monday of 
April succeeding, at an election pursuant to the new legislative charter, 
adopted February 27, 1850, he was elected by a most cordial vote 
as the chief magistrate of this city. 

In a few weeks after the abatement of the waters of the second 
inundation everything seemed almost transformed into business and 
money making. The council busied itself with the subject of a levee 
and surveys were made, the tents gave way to large and commodious 
buildings, built of good material and embellished with ornamental 
architecture. Business began to be reduced to a system, and developed 
some of the most substantial mercantile houses and manufacturing- 
firms and some of the strongest banking houses in the country. 
Disease abated and everything i^ointed to prosperity. 

The assessor's rej)ort on the value of property — real and ])er- 
sonal — gave an aggregate of $7,968,985 that summer, an important 
feature in the light of the pecuniary revulsion that followed. The 
real estate of the city was assessed at $5,586,000, ])robably $5,000,000 
over its real value. Hence, following the financial reaction in the 
fall of 1850, some of the shrewdest men in the city found themselves 
embarrassed by immense losses on loans on real estate, which on 
foreclosure often brought not more than one-fourth to one-eighth 
of the loans. The three heaviest banks and many of the prominent 
merchants were swept suddenly into bankrui)tcy in the fall and a 
general prostration of business was the result. The city had survived 
the struggle with Sutterville, the distress and poverty of immigration 



44 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in 1849, tlie floods of ISf)!) and now, in the midst of this iinancial 
storm, a new calamity Ix'fcll lier — the Squatter riot of August 15, 
1850. 

February 27, 1850, tlie first legislature i)assed an act to incor- 
porate Sacramento City, and defined its boundaries as follows : 

"All that tract of land lying within the following boundaries: 
Beginning at the junction of the American Fork and the Sacramento 
river to Y street, as designated on the map or plan of Sacramento 
City on file in the recorder's office in said city; thence along said Y 
street east to the i^oint where said Y street intersects Thirty-first 
street as designated on said map; thence along the said Thirty-first 
street till the same intersects the American Fork; thence along the 
American Fork to the place of beginning, the said boundaries extend- 
ing to the middle of Sacramento river and American Fork." 

The act further provided that there should be a mayor, a recorder, 
and a council of nine members for the government of the city, and 
that one of the members of the council should be elected president. 
It ])]'ovided further that on the thirtieth day after the i)assage of the 
act a city election should be held for the election of the first officers, 
to wit : A mayor, recorder, nine councilmen, city marshal, city 
attorney, assessor and treasurer. After the first election the officers 
mentioned were to be elected on the first Monday in May in each 
year, and in case of a vacancy a spepal election should be ordered 
by the council to fill the same. The mayor was clothed with complete 
executive power. The recorder performed the dnties now imposed on 
the police judge, and the marshal those belonging now to the chief 
of police and the collector. The common council was empowered to 
create the offices of city collector, harbor-master, and such other 
offices as might become necessary. 

An amendatory act was passed by the same legislature, March 
13, 1850, providing that, on the first Monday of Aj)ril following, a 
city election should be held to fill the offices created ])y the charter, 
making it fall on the same day as the first county election. The 
officers chosen at that election were to hold office till the first Monday 
of May, 1851. This amendment affected the first election only. 
A])ril 10, 1850, an act was ])assed providing for the appointment by 
the governor of a port warden for the port of Sacramento. 

The second legislature passed a new charter for Sacramento 
City, and it became a law March 26, 1851, by operation of time, and 
without the approval of the governor. Governor McDougal said con- 
cei-ning it: "The within bill is regarded as oppressive and extraor- 
dinar\ iii many of its features, but not regarding it as infringing 
on any parti(^ular principle of the constitution, jind as it is the act 
of the i-ei)resentatives of Sacramento, county, and i)resuming it to be 
tlie wish of the ]K^ople of Sacramento City, 1 ])ermit it to become a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 45 

law, by the operation of time, without approving it, or returning it 
to the body in which it originated." 

The act in question provided that the then existing government 
should continue in office until the election of the officers provided 
for by the new charter. The council was to divide the cit.v into three 
wards, from each of which three councilmen were to be elected. 
Vacancies were to be filled by special election, unless one should 
occur within sixty days of a regular annual election, when it was to 
be filled by the council. The first election under the act was to take 
place on the first Monday of May following, for officers to hold office 
until the first Monday of April, 1852. All city elections after that 
were to be held on the first Monday of April in each year. The 
fixing of salaries was left to the council, but they were not permitted 
to fix the salary of any officer at over $3,000, except the mayor or 
recorder, the limit of whose salary was fixed at $5,000. 

The legislature enacted a law April 26, 1853, providing for a 
special tax of one-fourth of one per cent., for the support of the free 
common schools, to be expended under the direction of a board of 
trustees, consisting of one from each ward, to be annually appointed 
by the council. 

March 31, 1855, a law was enacted striking the harbor-master 
from the list of the elective officers. It fixed the salaries as follows : 
Mayor, $2,000; recorder, $4,000; marshal, $3,000; deputy city marshal, 
$1,500; city attorney, $2,000; treasurer, $1,500; superintendent of the 
water works, $2,000; assessor, $1,500; recorder's clerk, $1,500; each 
policeman, $125 per month. In case of death, sickness or leave of 
absence of the recorder, the mayor was to attend to the duties of 
that office also. It was further provided that at the next subsequent 
election there should be chosen a superintendent of common schools 
and two school commissioners from each ward, who, with the super- 
intendent of schools, should constitute the school board. 

April 2, 1856, the legislature enacted an act to regulate the 
fire department. It provided for the election of officers and the 
res>ulation of the de])artment in general. 

CONSOLTDATIOiSr 

On April 24. 1858, a law was passed which consolidated the 
government of the city and county and gave to the board of super- 
visors the authority which had heretofore rested in the county council. 
On the first Monday of May following, five supervisors were to be 
elected, to hold office until October 5, 1858. There was also to be 
elected at the same time a president of the board, to continue in 
office until the general election of 1859, the term of office thereaftei" 
to be two years. After the first Monday of October, 1858, the board 
was to consist of a president and eight members, and the meml)ers 



46 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

were to be elected at the general election in tliat year, four to hold 
office for two years, and four for one year. After the first election 
the term was to be two years. At the general election in 1859, and 
every two years thereafter, there were to be elected the other officers, 
who were to perform their duties for both city and county. The 
president of tlie board was to be ex-officio mayor of the city, and 
superintendent of the streets and the water-works. Tlie then county 
officers were required to ])erform such city duties as miglit be allotted 
to them by the board, and the board was given power to create and 
fill by appointment the minor city offices. Some changes were also 
made in the fire and scliool departments. 

The consolidation act was repealed April 23, 18()o, and a new 
charter adopted. It provided that the government of the city should 
be vested in a board of trustees, to consist of three. The first trustee 
was to be ex-oficio mayor ; the second, street commissioner, and the 
third, superintendent of the water-works. There would also be an 
auditor, an assessor, a collector, a police judge, and such other officers 
as might be appointed by the board. The trustees' term of office 
was fixed at three years, and that of the other officers at two. It 
was further ])rovided that on the tenth day after the passage of 
the act a city election should be held, at which the offices above desig- 
nated should be filled, and that annually thereafter, on the second 
Tuesday in March, city elections should be held. At the election in 
1864, a third trustee should be elected; in 1865, a second trustee, 
assessor, auditor, collector, and judge, and in 1866, a first trustee, 
each to liold for the time indicated. Any vacancy in the board was 
to be filled by a s])ecial election, and a vacancy in any otlier office was 
to be filled by appointment by board. Provision was also made for 
the school and fire departments. 

A slight change was made in the boundaries of the city, and a 
change in the time of electing officers other than members of the board 
during the life of this charter. In 1872 a bill was enacted creating 
a paid fire department, another to provide a new system of water- 
works, and a third for the reorganization of the police force. 

As has been stated elsewhere, Hardin Biglow was elected the 
first mayor of Sacramento. He was badly wounded in the Squatter 
riot, and before he had recovered, was seized with cliolera and 
died in San Francisco, Novemlier 27, 1850, at the age of forty-one. 
Born in Michigan, he was a man of great courage and fine executive 
ability. After his death the president of the council acted as mayor. 

A special election was held December 14, 1850, for the ]niri)Ose 
of choosing a mayor. Although there was no excitement in the 
morning, later it became intense, in spite of a heavy rainfall. Bands 
of music paraded and both parties struggled hard to elect their 
candidates. Horace Smith (Whig) was elected by a vote of 9X->. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 47 

Other votes were: J. R. Hardenbergh (Democrat), 865; James Mc- 
Clatchy, 183; Wesley Merritt, 25; and Joseph Grant, 19. The last 
three were independents. May 5, 1851, J. R. Hardenbergh (Democrat) 
seciired 1264 votes for mayor, against 1224 for Joseph H. Nevett 
(Whig). A great conflagration in San Francisco on the dav of 
election destroyed $7,000,000 worth of property, and the reception 
of the news rather dampened the ardor of the voters. 

April 5, 1852, C. I. Hutchinson (Whig) defeated Hardenbergh 
his vote being 1450 to 1234. It was a particularlv exciting election 
mass meetings being held at different points in the citv, and it was a 
campaign of nuid-throwing. 

Hardenbergh turned the tables, however, April 4, 1853, defeating 
W. H. McGrew, his Whig opponent, by a vote of 2046 to 1382. Dr. 
Volney Spalding had been nominated by the Whig convention March 
28, but he declined, and on the 30th McGrew received the nomination. 

April 3, 1854, R. P. Johnson (Whig) was elected bv a vote of 1798 
to 1693 over his opponent. Col. John P. Hall (Dem.). 

April 2, 1855, James L. English (American) defeated Hiram 
Arents (Anti- American) l)y a vote of 1523 to 504, R. P Johnson 
(Whig) getting 78 votes. The latter had published a card of with- 
drawal a few days before the election. 

April 7, 1856, B. B. Redding (Dem.) was elected mavor over 
L. B. Harris (American) by a vote of 1743 to 1654. 

April 6, 1857, J. P. Dyer (Dem.) defeated Dr. R. B. Ellis 
(People's Independent) by a vote of 1955 to 788. George Rowland 
(Rep.) received 501 votes. Dyer held office until under the consoli- 
dation act he was succeeded by the president of the board of 
supervisors. 

May 3, 1858, Dr. H. L. Nichols (People's Independent) was 
elected president of the board of supervisors, defeating J L Craig 
(Dem.) by 3584 to 1877. 

September 7, 1859, William Shattuck (Lecompton Dem.) was 
elected president by a vote of 3233 to 2802, over B. B. Redding (Dem.), 
and 5 for George Rowland (Rep.). 

Sei^tember 4, 1861, Shattuck was re-elected on the Douglas Dem- 
ocratic and Settlers' ticket over C. H. Grimm (Republican) V a vote 
of 3633 to 3258, E. P. Figg (Breckenridge Dem.) getting 14 votes. 

After the repeal of the Consolidation Act mavors were elected 
under the charter adopted at that time, as follows : 

May 5, 1863, Charles H. Swift (Union) over William Shattuck 
(Dem.) ])y a vote of 1640 to 742. 

March 13, 1866, Charles H. Swift (Union) over William F. Knox 
(Dem.) 1321 to 915. 

March 9, 1869, Charles F. Swift (Rep.) by a vote of 1232 to 749 



48 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

over Archibald Henley (Tnd.) and 71 for P. H. Rnssell, (Dem.). The 
latter withdrew on the niornini^: of election in favor of Henley. 

March ^'2, 1872, Christopher Green (Rep.) over John Q. Brown 
(Dem.) by a vote of 1629 to 1245. 

March 9, 1875, Christopher Green over John Q. Brown (Dem. and 
Ind.) by a vote of 1815 to 1271. 

March 12, 1878, Jabez Tnrner (Workingman) by a vote of 1203 
to 1063 for James I. Felter (Rep.), 1056 for Hn,<>h M. La Rue (Dem.) 
and 726 for Ezra Pearson (Workingman"). 

March 8, 1881, John Q. Brown (Dem.) over Christopher Green 
(Rep.) by a vote of 1925 to 170^. 

March 11, 1884, John Q. Brown over Joseph Steffens (Rep.) by 
a vote of 1912 to 1875. Dr. A. B. Nixon (Prohibition) received 344 
votes. 

March 8, 1887, Eugene J. Gregory (Rep.) over John Q. Brown 
(Dem.) by a vote of 3202 to 1283; and 39 for F. H. L. Weber (Pro- 
hibition). 

March 17, 1890, W. D. Comstock (Dem.) over Eugene J. Gregory, 
(Rep.) by a vote of 2415 to 2374. March 14, 1893, B. U. Steinman 
(Rep.) over John Weil (Citizens and Dem.) by a vote of 2505 to 
2328, and 279 for C. M. Harrison (Rep., Dem. and People's). 

The new charter went into effect in 1893 and on the 7th of Novem- 
ber of that year B. U. Steinman (Reorganized Dem.) defeated W. F. 
Knox (Rep., Dem. and Citizens') by. a vote of 3203 to 2052, with 
Dittmar (People's) 250. 

November 5, 1895, the vote ^vas: C. H. Hubbard (Citizens') 2526; 
J. W. Wilson (Rep.) 2280; B. U. Steinman, (Ind.) 1487; and W. D. 
Lawton (Dem.) 209. 

November 2, 1897, William Land (Rep.) 3190; C. H. Hubbard 
(Citizens') 2106; R. D. Stephens, (Ind.) 801; C. E. Leonard, (Dem.) 
145. 

November 7, 1899, George H. Clark (Re]).), 4012; R. D. Stephens, 
(Dem.) 2193. 

November 5, 1901, George H. Clark (Ind.) 3018; William Land 
(Rep.) 1755; J. H. Devine, (Dem.) 879; Llewellyn Tozer (Ind.) 315; 
Mr. Alderman (Soc.) 181. 

November 3, 1903, W. J. Hassett (Dem.) 3076; Albert Elkus 
(Rep.) 2522; W. J. McDowell (Soc.) 263; D. J. Simmons (Ind.) 14. 

November 7, 1905, M. R. Beard (Dem.) 2435; Albert Elkus 
(Rep.) 2200; Henry E. AVright, (Soc.) 781; E. I. Woodman (Tnd.) 
145. 

November 5, 1907, C^linton L. White (Rep.) 2835; M. R. Beard 
(Dem.) 2702. 

November 2, 1909, M. R. Beard (Dem.) 3522; John E. Sullivan 
(Rep.) 2965; H. E. Wright (Soc.) 163. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 49 

November 7, 1911, M. R. Beard (Dem.) 3966; Allen W. Stuart 
(Soc.) 2649; Frank B. Sntliff (Rep.) 2367. 

In 1911 the new charter was adopted for a commission for city 
government with five commissioners, as follows: M. J. Burke, five 
years; J. A. Filcher, four years; C. A. Bliss, three years; Dr. E. M. 
Wilder, two years; and Mrs. Luella B. Johnston, one year. 

CHAPTER VIII 
THE SQUATTER RIOT 

Many of the immigrants arriving in 1849 were imbued with the 
idea that Sutter possessed no valid title to the land where the city 
stands, as his title was founded on the grant by Governor Alvarado, 
and the United States had subsequently conquered and taken posses- 
sion of the state. They considered the ground public land and subject 
to settlement. Moreover, they claimed the boundaries of Sutter's 
grant, as defined, did not cover the site of the city, but ended some 
distance above it. Also that it could not embrace the site of the city, 
as by its stipulations it should not be subject to annual inundations, 
and tliat by improving Hock Farm he had overstei)ped the boundaries 
of his possession under the grant either to the north or the south; 
his engineer's lines, when correctly drawn, placed his southern bound- 
ary considerably above the city. These claims were not accorded 
much attention liy those who had purchased from Sutter. 

But when tlie immigrants across the plains arrived a few months 
later, things took on a different appearance. Weary with the long 
journey, and many of them without money or homes, the idea that they 
could own the land by simply taking possession of it was an alluring 
one and the ranks of the "Squatters", as they were called, increased 
rapidly. Lots were staked off in various parts of the city and those 
taking possession boldly declared the squatter title was superior to 
that from Sutter. 

An association was formed, and the first meeti'ng was called by 
John H. Keyser, and held at the house of a man named Kelley, on 
Front street, above J. A number of meetings were held there prior 
to the flood of the ensuing winter. At first the members of the 
association were mostly ignorant and uneducated men, but later men 
of tact and talent succeeded them and their addresses began to be 
viewed with anxiety by those holding Sutter titles. Their speeches 
were incendiary and in May a talented engineer, Col. John Plumbe, 
joined them and became their surveyor and recorder. After the floods 
of January and March, their organization was made more thorough 
and a feeling of hostility grew up between them and the holders of 
Sutter titles. The members of the association began to demonstrate 



50 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

their views by taking possession of lots in various parts ol' the city. 
Contests ensued and removals were made from time to time. 

May 10, 1850, John P. Rodgers and Dewitt J. Burnett began 
action in the Recorders Court against James J. Madden, B. F. Wash- 
ington jjresiding. The lot settled upon and claimed by Madden was 
on the Southeast corner of Second and N streets. The defendant 
claimed that the land was owned by the United States, and therefore 
subject to a title by settlement and improvement. The case was 
argued and the recorder decided against defendant, fining him $300 
and costs, and ordering restitution. 

The defendant appealed to the county court, but Judge Willis 
sustained the lower court. The defendant asked to appeal to the 
supreme court, but there being no law then to sustain the appeal, the 
motion was denied. Both parties grew excited during the trial, and 
the Squatters as a body declared against the restitution of the 
property pursuant to the judgment of the courts. After the decision 
the Squatters issued a ])()ster, chiiming that tlie laws passed by the 
Legislature were not recognized by congress and not binding and 
that the settlers would resist and disregard all decisions of the courts 
in land cases and also all summonses or execution by the sheriff or 
other officers, and resolved to appeal to arms on the first show of 
violence to their persons or ])roperty by the sheriff. The card caused 
great excitement and many wlio had hitherto passively approved of 
the Squatters enlisted against them. On August 11, the Squatters 
held a meeting on the levee and the proceedings were reported in the 
Transcript the iiext morning. Dr. Robinson was the chairman 
and the meeting was much excited, both sides of tlie controversy be- 
ing heatedly debated. J. H. McKune, who afterward became promi- 
nent in county affairs, James McClatchy, afterward editor and pro- 
prietor of the Bee, and others spoke in defense of the Squatters' 
action, while Samuel Brannan and Col. E. J. C. Kewen defended the 
Sutter titles. Captain Sutter claimed the land within the city limits 
by virtue of his grant from the Mexican Government, and through 
the guarantee of the treaty between the United States and Mexico. 
His claim was sustained by the settlement at Sutter's Fort, by im- 
provements made, by occasional occupation and use made of the site 
of the ctiy and by a map of the survey made for him by an engineer 
whom he supposed to be a conqietent one, locating him on the land. 

As the meeting progressed. Dr. Robinson in a speech defending 
the Squatters' resolutions, said that, as for him, he meant at all 
hazards to defend the pro])erty he had settled u]ion. 

Madden retained the ])ossession of the property in litigation for 
some time, by the defense of the members of the association, and the 
house itself became a sort of garrison, containing a variety of weapons. 
In his endeavors to execute the writ of restitution, the sheriff dis- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 51 

covered a. iiuniber of persons, whom lie knew, among the party who 
were resisting his authority. He reported the names of James Mc 
Clatchy, Charles Robinson and others to the court and warrants for 
their arrest were issued by Justice Sackett. McClatchy delivered 
himself up and was confined in jail during the subsequent conflicts. 
Madden was finally ousted from the house, but recovered possession 
on August 14. 

The T'uiics of August 15th gives an account of the fatal riot on 
tlie })reeeding day us follows: 

"At two o'clocl: a body of Squatters numbering about fortv 
|)roceeded to the foot of I street, on the levee, and undertook to re- 
gain possession of a piece of ground which had lately been in the 
occupation of one of their party. They were fully armed and a 
general understanding prevailed that their object included the liber- 
ation of the two men committed the day before to the prison ship, 
upon the charge of being concerned in a riotous assemblage on the 
morning of the 12th, for the purpose of forcibly resisting the process 
of law. After the displacement of some of the lumber on the ground 
the })arty of Squatters were deterred from proceeding further in their 
intent. The mayor had meantime requested all good citizens to aid in 
suppressing the threatened riot, and very large numbers had gathered 
about the spot — several citizens also, armed, proceeded to the prison 
ship, but no demonstration was made in that direction. 

"The Squatters retreated in martial order, and passed up I street 
to Third, thence to J and up to Fourth, followed by a crowd of per- 
sons. They were here met by the mayor, who ordered them to de- 
liver up their arms and disperse. This they refused to do, and 
several shots were fired at him, four of which took effect. He fell 
from his horse, and was carried to his residence dangerously, if not 
mortally, wounded. J. W. Woodland, who, unarmed, stood near the 
mayor at the time, received a shot in the groin, which he survived 
but a few minutes. A man named Jesse Morgan, said to be from 
Millerville, Ohio, lately arrived, and who was seen to aim at the 
mayor, next fell dead, from the effects of a ball which passed through 
his neck. James Harper was very severely, but not dangerously, 
wounded, in supporting the sheriff. It is difficult to give an exact 
detail of the terrible incidents which followed in such rapid succession. 
It appeared from an examination before the coroner, that the party 
of Squatters drew u}i in regular order, on arriving at the corner of 
Fourth street, and that the sheriff was several times fired on before 
he dis]ilayed any weapons. Testimony was also given as to the person 
who was seen to fire upon Mr. Woodland. The mounted leader of 
the Squatters, an Irishman by the name of Maloney, had his horse 
shot under him; he endeavored to escape, but was pursued a short 
distance u]) the alley and shot through the head, falling dead. Dr. 



52 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Robiii.son, one of tlie arined j)ait\ under liis command, was wounded 
in the lower i)art of the body. Mr. Hale, of the firm of ('rowell Hale 
& Co., was siii>litly wounded in the leg. A young boy, son of Mr. 
Rogers, was also wounded. We have heard of several others, but 
are not assured of the correetness of the reports. Upon the oath of 
several gentlemen, that they saw Dr. Robinson deliberately aim at 
the mayor, he was arrested and placed in cf^ifinement. An Irishman 
named Caulfield, accused of a simila-- act witn regard to both the 
mayor and Mr. Woodland, was arrested late in the afternoon. 

"After these terrible scenes, which occupied less time than we 
have emi)ioyed to describe them, had ])assed, a meeting of the 
council was lield, tlie i)roceeding8 of which ap])ear in another column. 
The citizens gathered at the corner of Second and J streets and 
other places throughout the city, and proceeded to organize parties 
to prevent further outrage. A body of mounted men under command 
of the sheriff, hearing the report that the Squatters were reinforcing 
at the Fort, i)roceeded thither. The lawless mob were nowhere to be 
found; scouts were dispatched in all directions, but no trace of them 
could be discovered. Meanwhile several other parties had formed in 
rank and proceeded to different parts of the city, establishing 
rendezvoux at different points. Brigadier-General Winn issued a 
]iroclamation declaring the city under martial law, and ordering all 
law abiding citizens to form themseh^es into volunteer companies and 
report their organization to headquarters as soon as possible. At 
evening (piiet was fully restored throughout the city. Lieutenant 
Governor McDougal, who left on the Senator, and expects to meet 
the Gold Hunter, will bring up this morning a detachment of troops 
from Benicia. An extraordinary police force of five-hundred was 
suuir.ioned for duty during the night." 

The minutes of the council show that B. F. Washington was 
ai)pointed marshal and Capt. J. Sherwood assistant, to whom all 
persons desiring to make arrests were requested to a]i])ly for aid 
and authority. 

A letter in Dr. Robinson's handwriting was found in his tent 
after the riot, detailing what he had done and the plans of the 
Squatters for resisting the law. 

The next day brought other develoi)ments that saddened the 
connnunity and were detailed in the Times of the 16th. Sheriff Joseph 
Mc Kinney was shot down it was said by a man named Allen, who ke]it 
a hotel at Brighton. Mc Kinney had gone out with a party of about 
twentv to arrest some parties said to have been concerned in the riots. 
Mr. McDowell, of Mormon Island, who was well known at the house, 
was sent to make observations and rei^ort, but the Sheriff did not 
wait for him to return. He rode up to the door and demanded that 
Allen and the others should surrender, but they refused and several 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 53 

shots were fired immediately, mortally wounding McKinney. Several 
of the sheriff's party entered the house, where about a dozen 
Squatters were and killed three of them. Allen, though wounded, 
escaped, and a number of prisoners were taken to the city. 

When Governor Burnett heard of the trouble, he telegraphed to 
Brig.-Gen. A. M. Winn to proceed to Sacramento with his whole 
force and aid the authorities to maintain order. On the 17th two 
military companies, composing the Second Brigade, arrived on the 
Senator and General Winn offered their services to the mayor and 
council, but was informed that the citizens' organization under Wash- 
ington was thought to be able to sustain the law. The reports that 
the Squatters had enlisted the aid of the miners in the hills, who were 
coming to Sacramento to aid them, were found to be false, and quiet 
was soon restored. The funerals of Captain Woodland and Sheriff 
McKinney were attended by almost the whole city and such was the 
spirit shown by the citizens that Squatterism never reared its head 
again, although disputes over land titles continued for many years, 
making costly and annoying litigation for a long time. 

As Mayor Biglow was severely, and possibly fatally, wounded 
Demas Strong became the acting mayor for the remainder of his 
term. B. F. Washington was appointed marshal. The death of 
Woodland, who was city assessor, was due to his kindness of heart. 
He was walking up the street with a friend and when near the corner 
of Fourth and J, the Squatters ranged themselves diagonally across 
Fourth and J streets, with their guns presented toward the mayor 
and his party, who were approaching. Woodland saw their threaten- 
ing attitude and exclaimed to his friend, *'0h! it is too bad for thes 
men to take such a stand, for they will certain] v be shot down. I will 
go uj) and advise them." He went forward a few steps to attempt to 
mediate, when a liall struck him and killed him almost instantly. 

Ben McCullocli succeeded McKinney as sheriff and afterwards 
became quite a noted man in the history of the nation. He was born 
in Tennessee in 1814 and always evinced an inclination for a roving 
and adventurous life. He went with Davy Crockett to Texas, to take 
part in the revolution that freed that state from Mexican rule. In 
1836 he joined the Texan army under Gen. Sam Houston and was 
assigned to the artillery service. He served with credit at the battle 
of San Jacinto and was emj^loyed afterwards on the frontier, in sur- 
veying and locating lands in Texas. On the breaking out of the 
Mexican war he raised a company of Texan Rangers that became 
famous during that struggle. It was accepted by General Taylor and 
took a prominent ]iart in the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista 
and assisted in the cai^ture of the city of Mexico. After the war was 
over President Pierce appointed McCullocli United States marshal 
of Texas and the present efficient force of Rangers in that state is 



54 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

the outcome of his organization. The Rangers of to-day are picked 
men, noted for their iron nerve, and are the terror of evil doers, 
penetrating where the otlier officers of the hiw cannot or dare not go 
to capture criminals. 

In 1857 McCulloch was appointed, with ex-Governor Powell, 
a commissioner to Utah. It was believed that at the time of the 
inaug-uration of Pi-esident Lincoln he was in Washington for the 
purpose of taking possession of the city at the head of a band of 
secessionists. If so, the plan was abandoned, on account of the 
precautions taken by General Scott. Later on, he was commissioned 
brigadier-general in the Confederate army and assigned to the 
command of the forces in Arkansas. He issued a proclamation in 
June, 1861, to the people of that state, calling on them to assemble at 
Fayetteville to defend the state from invasion. He was in command 
at the battle of Wilson's Creek, where General Lyon was killed, and 
it is stated that he surrendered tlie command to General Sterling 
Price, on account of some misunderstanding with him. He led a 
corps of troops from Louisiana and Texas at the battle of Pea Ridge, 
and fell on the second day of the engagement, March 7, 1862. 

Henr}^ A. Caulfield, who was arrested and charged with firing on 
the mayor and Woodland during the riot, led a stormy career in this city 
afterward. He was a man of violent temper and often became involved 
in trouble. Born in Ireland, he came to the United States and in 1844 
was a member of the Emmet Guards at Albany, N. Y. During the anti- 
rent troubles in that state, his company was ordered to Columbia 
county to assist the authorities in repressing the disorder, the anti- 
renters having killed an under-sheriff, tarred and feathered other offi- 
cers and connnitted other outrages. He came to Sacramento in 1849 
worked as a carpenter and joiner and became active in Democratic poli- 
tics. He was arrested by John Cleal between here and Brighton as he 
was fleeing after the riot, and brought to this city strapped to a horse's 
back and confined on board the prison brig. With a number of others 
he was indicted by the next grand jury on a charge of conspiracy and 
murder. They were never punished, as Governor McDougal had de- 
clared lie would pardon them if they were convicted, and a nolle prose- 
qui was subsequently entered in their case. He was afterwards active 
in the squatter troubles that followed. He settled on a farm on the 
mound nortli of the American river about 1851 and lived there till the 
flood of 1852, wlien he sold the place to Patrick Bannon, and removed 
to a ranch south of the R street levee, out of which arose most of the 
subsequent troul)les. 

George Wilson was a justice of the i)eace and associate justice of 
the court of sessions and had made some remark that gave offense to 
one of the attorneys. June 19, 1851, the attorney came to the court 
room and demanded a retraction. Wilson refused and when the attor- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 55 

ney struck at him drew a sword cane and stabbed him. Caulfield was 
entering the room and fired several shots at Wilson, l)ut did not hit 
him. Wilson seized Caulfield round the neck and was about to send a 
bullet through his head when R. P. Jacobs, a policeman, rushed in and 
saved Caulfield 's life. At another time Caulfield was shot several 
times by Thomas 0. Shelby over land matters and several of the bul- 
lets he carried to his grave. On that occasion he was unarmed and 
the assault was unprovoked. As it was thought he would die, a priest 
called to see him. ' ' I am told you have been a ver^^ bad man, ' ' said he. 
'Mt is a dom lie and you are no doctor. Get out of here," was the 
reply. 

At another time, in 1856, he had a quarrel with a man named Mil- 
ler aliout politics and some mules. It was at Miller's house and he at- 
tempted to strike him with a flat iron, but Miller broke a cane over his 
head and was about to throw him out of the window. Miller's wife 
intervened and Miller let go and Caulfield fell to the ground. Miller 
sent word to the coroner that he had killed Caulfield, but when the 
dead wagon arrived the supposed corpse had walked to the county hos- 
pital. The same year he was stabbed by a man named Frank Nolan 
on Front street, and wounded so severely that for several days he 
breathed through the knife wounds in his back. August 15, 1878, he 
had a dispute with William G. English, over a lot on R street, and shot 
English, who died a couple of days later. For this murder he was sent 
to the state's prison for six years. Caulfield was short and heavy set, 
and had lost an eye in one of his encounters, giving him a truculent 
appearance; he was much feared by many citizens on account of the 
ugly scrapes in which he engaged, nearly killing some or being almost 
killed himself. July 2, 1888, while walking on the R street track near 
Fourth street, he was struck by the evening train from Folsom, evi- 
dently not having heard the whistle, and was killed instantly. 

Dr. Robinson, as will be seen elsewhere, became shortly afterward? 
a member of the legislature and subsequently governor of Kansas. 

CHAPTER IX 
FIRST THINGS 

The first mail brought to Sacramento came on the scliooner John 
Dunla]), owned jointly by Simmons, Hutchins & Co., and E. S. Marsh, 
which left San Francisco on her first trip to Sacramento, May 18, 1849, 
and brought the first mail on her second trip, June 27, having been 
forty-eiglit hours on the way. 

The first directory of Sacramento City was published in 1851, by 
J. Horace Culver, and a copy of it is in the state library. - It was print- 
ed by the Transcript press, and has ninety-six pages, with a large 
quantity of very interesting information. The names of citizens occu- 
pied less than half the space. 



56 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The first ship ever used in the state of California as a prison brig 
was the bark Strafford. It was brought here from New York in 1849, 
and was moored in the Sacramento river opposite the foot of I street. 
It cost $50,000, but while lying at the foot of street it was sold at 
auction by J. B. Starr to C. C. Hayden for $3,750. Hayden sold three- 
quarters of his interest to Charles Morrill, C'aptain Isaac Derby and 
a Mr. Whitney, and in March, 1850, they rented the vessel to the 
county for a prison l)rig. Morrill bought out the interests of the oth- 
ers in May, intending to trade between San Francisco and Panama, 
and loaded it at the levee so poorly that it nearly capsized when it 
reached San Francisco bay. The cargo was readjusted and she went 
to sea, but never came back. Soon afterwards the county purchased 
the La Grange, of Salem, Mass., and it was moored opposite H street, 
but when the big freshet of 1861-62 came down, it strained so heavily 
at its moorings that the seams opened and the water came in so fast 
that the prisoners were barely saved and conveyed to the city jail, and 
the bark filled and sank. Since then Sacramento county has had its 
jail on land. 

The first house in Sutterville was erected by Sutter, the second by 
one Hadel, and the third by George Zins, being a brick building, the 
first of the kind erected in California. Zins afterwards manufactured 
the bricks in Sacramento from which the first brick buildings in this 
city were erected. He stamped each brick with his initials. The 
Crocker Art Gallery Museum and the Museum of the Pioneer Asso- 
ciation each contain one of them. 

The first store opened in Sacramento was at Sutter's Fort, by 
C. C. Smith & Co. (Sam Brannan being the Co.), and the first ex- 
changes of American goods for California gold were made over its 
counters, it having lieen started about two months before the opening 
of the mines. 

The first projected rival of Sacramento was Sutterville, as else- 
where related. The second was known as Hoboken, north of the pres- 
ent town of Brighton, on the south bank of the American. During the 
flood of 1853, all comnmnication with the mining counties was cut off 
and some enterprising merchants moved their goods out there on the 
higli ground and laid out a town with wide streets and a steamboat 
landing, the American being at that time navigable. In ten days a 
town sprang \\\), with three steamers making daily trips to Sacramento, 
and an express office. Many firms removed there and trade flourished, 
the city newspa]iers devoting a page to Hoboken news. As the flood 
subsided, however, so did Hoboken, and its site is now occupied by a 
farm. The city of Boston was laid out on ])aper, at the junction of the 
Sacramento and American rivers, but never materialized. 

The first census taken in the state, in 1851, was under the super- 
intendence of J. Neelv Johnson, afterwards governor of the state. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 57 

The census credited Sacramento with 11,000, the state census being 
120 000. The Federal census of 1860 credited tlie city with 12,800; of 
1870, with 16,283; of 1880, with 21,420; of 1890, with 26,388; of 1900, 
with 29,282; of 1910, with 44,696. Since that time a phenomenal in- 
crease has been made, through the rapid development of the Sacra- 
mento valley, and the annexation of Oak Park and other eastern sub- 
urbs, and predictions are made that by the next census the population 
will exceed 100,000. 

The first vessel ever used to carry press and type into interior 
California was the Dice me Nana (says my mamma), which brought 
an old press and type to Sacramento in order to start the Placer 
Tiiues, in 1849, which was the first paper pulilished in Sacramento.^ 

The first public reception and banquet ever given in Sacramento 
was in 1849, to Gen. P. F. Smith, military commander on the coast. 
Commodore Jones, in command of the navy, Hon. T. Butler King, 
who had been sent out by the government to reconnoiter the Sacra- 
mento valley and report on it at Washington, and W. M. Siddons, a 
pioneer citizen of Sacramento, who accompanied them. They were 
members of an expedition that accompanied Mr. King on his trip. 
Lieutenant Stoneman, afterwards governor of this state, was with the 
expedition but was left in charge of the camp, about five miles from 
the citv. They were met by General Sutter, Sam Brannan, B. F. Gil- 
lespie, J. H. Hyer, P. B. Cornwall, Col. J. B. Starr, W. R. Grimshaw, 
and a large number of other prominent men, and were given a ban- 
quet by the citizens. General Sutter also received them at the fort 
and entertained them handsomely. 

The first grand ball was given on July 4, 1849, in honor of the 
day, at the City Hotel. The young men were sent out to scour the 
country and invite all the members of the gentler sex they could find 
to attend. From among the immigrant parties and others, they mus- 
tered eighteen females, more or less handsome. Tickets of admission 
were only thirty-two dollars and champagne flowed freely at a sump- 
tuous supper. 

The first railroad built was the Sacramento Valley railroad, from 
this city to Folsom, in 1855-56. 

The first man hung in Sacramento was a gaml)ler, Frederick J. 
Roe, who shot a man named Myers, who tried to stop a fight between 
Roe and another man. A jury was selected by the iieople, who found 
Roe guilty and a mob broke open the jail, took him out and hung him. 

The first steamboat explosion was that of the steamer Fawn, 
August 18, 1850. 

The first agricultural association in the state met in this city in 
the American theatre, October 8, 1852, and a fair was held for a week 
or two at the same time. 

The first appearance of cholera in Sacramento was on the 20th 



58 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of October, 1850, when an immigrant by steamer was found dying on 
the levee. 

The first case of smallpox in this city was in a family named 
Zumwalt, during the flood of 1850, Daniel Zumwalt, now a resident of 
Anderson, Shasta County, being the first to suffer an attack of the 
disease. 

The first steamboat that ever came up the river to Sacramento 
was the Little Sitka, in the latter part of November, 1847. She was 
]iacked on board a Russian bark from Sitka and was of forty tons 
burden. She was put together at Yerba Buena island, near San Fran- 
cisco, and was so "cranky" that the weight of a person on her guards 
would throw one of her wheels out of service. 

The first military organization in Sacramento was the Sutter 
Rifle Corps, June 27," 1852^. 

Hensley & Reading erected the first frame house in Sacramento, 
to be used by them as a store. It stood at the corner of Front and I 
streets, and was built before McDougal removed to Sutterville. 

The first brick house built in Sacramento, the Pioneer Hotel, was 
kept for years by Louis Binninger. 

The first mail for Salt Lake left Sacramento on May 1, 1850. 

The first fire department was organized in Sacramento February 
5, 1850, and was known as Mutual Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. 

The first street cars in Sacramento were run about 1860, and 
were used chiefly for hauling sand from the river. The rails were of 
wood, and the cars ran on H street from Front to Thirteenth. They 
sometimes carried passengers. 

The first regular street cars in this city were started in August, 
1870, the cars, only two in number, being built by the Kimball Manu- 
facturing Company of San Francisco. The first electric car, the 
motive power being a storage battery, was run in 1888, but the power 
applied in that manner proving too expensive, it was soon temp- 
porarily suspended and a trolley system, as at present, was later 
constructed. 

The first Thanksgiving day ever observed in California was on 
November 30, 1850. On that day J. A. Benton, pastor of the Congre- 
gational Church (known as the First Church of Christ), preached 
the sermon on "California as she was, as she is, and as she is to be." 

At that time agriculture could hardly be said to be even an ex- 
periment, but Mr. Benton uttered this remarkable prophesy: "A 
million of people cannot fail to thrive by cultivating this virgin soil, 
and in fifty years they will be here to make the demonstration; farm 
houses will dot thickly every valley; marshes will be redeemed from 
overflow and wastes will bloom in beauty and yield harvests of joy. 
The state will not fall behind the chiefest in arts and manufacturing 
and in commerce. With hundreds of miles of navigable bays and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 59 

rivers, with seven hundred miles of sea coast, with earth's broadest 
ocean at her feet, gemmed with a thousand sea isles, and having the 
shore of a continent, California is to be the Queen of the Seas, and 
within the Golden Gates are to be the docks and depots of a steam 
and electro-magnetic marine, of which all the steam marine that now 
exists is but the minutest embryo. The iron horse that has drunk 
the waters of the Mississippi will fly over mountain and plain and 
river, breathe defiance to yonder beetling cliffs and towering peaks 
of snow, as he dashes forward through the tunneled depths beneath, 
and comes through our streets to slake his thirst at the Sacramento." 

The first school in Sacramento county outside of the city was kept 
by a Mr. O'Brien, at the house of Martin Murphy, in San Joaquin 
township. 

The first ball held in Sacramento county by the white settlers was 
at Mormon island, in 1849. 

The first courthouse erected in Sacramento, at Seventh and I 
streets, was begun in June, 1850, and completed December 24, 1851. 
The sessions of the legislature of 1852 and 1854 were held in it. It 
was destroyed in the great fire of July 13, 1854, which consumed a 
large part of the business portion of the city. Immediately after the 
fire, a contract was entered into for the erection of the one on the 
same site which was recently demolished to make room for the new 
one at present being erected. The cost in toto was $240,000, al- 
though the original contract was for $100,000. The cornerstone was 
laid September 27, 1854, with Masonic ceremonies, and the building, 
which was of brick, was completed January 1, 1855, and was used by 
the state as a capitol from 1855 until the present capitol was built. 
It was eighty by one hundred and twenty feet, and sixty feet high, 
and the style of architecture was Ionic. The portico was supported 
by ten pillars, three feet six inches in diameter and thirty-three feet 
six inches in height. In April, 1870, it was raised to the high grade, 
four hundred jack screws being used for that purpose. 

Gilbert T. Witham, who lives in Washington, Yolo county, and 
who conducted the Coleman house on J street in this city in the early 
days, ran the first hack in Sacramento. It was bought in San Fran- 
cisco for $3000 cash, and his stand was at the Orleans hotel, on Sec- 
ond street. In 1855 he entered the employ of Doughty & Co., and 
for that firm ran the first steam trading and produce boat on the 
river. He was the first conductor on the first train out of Sacra- 
mento to Chico, Tehama and Red Bluff. Charles Crocker was on the 
train, and bossed the job. Mr. Witham saw Governor Stanford turn 
the first shovelful of dirt on J street for the building of the Central 
Pacific railroad. 

The first criminal trial in Sacramento occurred in Sutter's Fort 
and was a remarkable one. In January, 1849, Charles F. Pickett, 



60 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

afterwards known as "Philosopher Pickett," was a merchant in Sut- 
ter's Fort, ocenpying- apportion of the northeast l)astion, a man named 
Alderman, from Oreg-on, 0('cn))ying the rest of it. During a dispute 
about the premises Alderman advanced on Pickett witli an ax up- 
lifted. The latter was armed with a shotgun, and warned Alderman 
not to come farther, Pickett having retreated to the wall. As Alder- 
man continued to advance, Pickett fired and killed him. The cir- 
cumstances being well known, and the killing clearly in self-defense, 
no attention would have been paid to it, had not Sam Brannan, who 
was also a merchant at the fort, stirred up an excitement. He ap- 
plied to Frank Bates, who held the office of first alcalde, and then to 
John S. Fowler, second alcalde, for a warrant for Pickett's arrest, 
and both refused and resigned. The sheriff also resigned. There- 
upon Brannan called a meeting of the residents of the fort for the ap- 
pointment of an alcalde. Everyone declined, until it came to Bran- 
nan, who accepted. The nomination of a prosecuting attorney next 
went the rounds till it came to Brannan, who acce])ted it also. A. M. 
Tanner was appointed sheriff and notified Pickett to consider him- 
self under arrest. The court convened. Captain Sutter, John Sinclair, 
Capt. W. PL Warner, James PT. Toppens and Tliomas Murray being 
among the members of the jury. 

Pickett appeared, accompanied by his attorney, one Payne, also 
from Oregon. The slieriff was ordered to bring in drinks for the 
court, jury, defendant and counsel. Cigars were proi)osed, in addi- 
tion, but an objection was made and the point argued. The court 
decided that "Inasmuch as the ladies of California made a practice 
of smoking, it could not be out of place anywhere." Every time the 
defendant would ask a witness a question, his counsel would tell him 
to be silent, and these altercations became frequent, as the orders on 
the sheriff for refreshment became numerous. Midnight came, and 
Sutter and Sinclair were asleep, leaning against the wall. One of 
the witnesses was testifying that the character of Alderman was bad, 
he having killed two- men in Oregon, and Captain Sutter awoke, bs- 
tened a few minutes and said: "Gentlemen, the man is dead, he has 
atoned for his faults, and I will not sit here and hear his character 
traduced." He then started to leave the court, but was persuaded 
to stay. When the evidence was closed, Brannan started to sum up 
for the prosecution. "Hold on, Brannan," said Pickett, "you are the 
judge." "I know I am judge," retorted Brannan, "but I am prose- 
cuting too." "All right, go ahead then," said Pickett. When he 
finished, Pickett's attorney was too far gone to talk, and Pickett 
summed up for himself. Toward morning the jury announced that 
they could not agree, and were discharged. BraTmau told the sheriff 
that he reiuauded the ))risoner to his custody. "What am I to do 
with him," asked the slicj-iff? "Put him in dose confinement," said 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 61 

Brannan. "I have uo place to ]mt liim in," said the sheriff. "Then 
j)ut him in irons," was the reply. "There ain't any irons about the 
place, ' ' returned the officer. After deliberation it was agreed to admit 
Pickett to bail, which was readily furnished. At a subsequent trial, 
with a sober jury, Pickett was acquitted. 

CHAPTER X 
THE REVOLUTION 

In July, 1839, when Captain Sutter told Governor Alvarado that 
he desired to occupy and colonize the section where he afterward 
erected his fort, the governor warmly approved his plan and gave 
him authority to explore and occupy any territory he found suitable 
and told him to return in a year and have his citizenship acknowl- 
edged, when he should receive a grant of such lands as he might de- 
sire. This was done, and he received a grant of eleven leagues. At 
that time the settlement of Americans in the country was encour- 
aged by the local government. 

But by 1844 the situation had changed. The events in Texas had 
aroused the Mexican peo])le and it was well understood in the United 
States that Polk's election to the presidency in 1844 meant the an- 
nexation of Mexican territory, and that hostilities might reasonably 
be expected soon. At about the same time feelings of animosity be- 
gan to spring up in California between the Americans and the Mex- 
ican population and the former began to apprehend that the latter 
would attempt to drive them from the country. True, no declara- 
tion of war had yet been made, but it was e^ddent that both the 
United States and the Mexican government were preparing for a hos- 
tile meeting. Colonel Fremont had reached California, ostensibly 
on an ex]:>loring expedition, he having led several exploring expe- 
ditions in the western part of the continent. The existing govern- 
ment in the southern part of California had shown some opposition 
to his progress, and he had turned northward toward Oregon. 

In April, 1846, Lieutenant Gillespie of the United States army 
arrived in California, and started from Monterey in pursuit of Fre- 
mont, and overtook him in Oregon, on May 9th. Gillespie's despatch 
to Fremont has never been made public, but it is generally supposed 
that it contained orders for Fremont to retrace his steps and hold 
himself ready to assist in the conquest of California on the first in- 
timation that war was to be declared. He returned and encamjied 
at or near the place where Sacramento now stands. The ])opuhition 
of California was estimated at that time to be about ten thousand, 
exclusive of Indians. Of this number probably less than two thou- 
sand were foreigners. General Castro was at that time military 
commandant of California, and he had several times issued ])rocla- 



62 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

mations ordering all foreigners to leave the country. The American 
settlers therefore determined that the time had arrived when they 
must protect themselves, and that some decisive movement should 
be made by them. This movement was precipitated by an order from 
Castro to Lieut. Francisco de Arce to proceed with fourteen men as 
a guard to the mission of San Rafael, where there were some horses 
belonging to the Mexican governinent, and remove them to the mis- 
sion at Santa Clara. As New Helvetia (now the city of Sacramento) 
was the first point at which the horses could swim the river, de Arce 
was under the necessity of coming to that point. An Indian ob- 
served de Arce's party in its movement, and reported that he had seen 
two or three hundred men mounted and armed, coming up the Sac- 
ramento river. The settlers believed that Castro was leading a large 
party to attack Fremont. The news spread among the Americans 
by means of couriers, and they gathered for the defense at Fre- 
mont's camp, near the confluence of the Feather river with the Sac- 
ramento. There they met William Knight, who told them that he 
had seen the party of Calif ornians in charge of the horses, and 
that de Arce had told that Castro had sent for the horses for the 
purpose of mounting a battalion of two hundred men to march 
against the Americans settled in the Sacramento valley and to expel 
them from the country. The settlers held a consultation and re- 
solved that a party should pursue de Arce, and capture the horses 
and thus defeat Castro's plans. Twelve men volunteered for the 
duty, and chose Ezekiel Merritt, the oldest of the party, as their 
captain. At daylight, June 10, 1846, they surprised the Californians, 
and captured the horses without resistance. De Arce and his men 
were allowed to go, each one being allowed one horse. 

This was the first overt act committed by the foreigners and 
made it necessary that all in the country should take one side or 
the other in the revolution thus precipitated. It was followed on 
the morning of June 14. by the taking of the town and Mission of 
Sonoma. The American party, increased to thirty-three, was led 
by Ezekiel Merritt and was known afterward as the famous Bear 
Flag party. It was composed mostly of hunters and men who could 
leave their homes on short notice. They were roughly dressed and 
presented a formidable appearance. They seized the town and mis- 
sion without bloodshed and captured Gen. M. G. Vallejo, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Prudon, Don Salvador Vallejo and other prominent per- 
sons and conveyed them to Sutter's Fort, where they were kept 
prisoners for about two months. 

As nearly as can be ascertained, the names of the members of 
the Bear Flag party from Sacramento valley were: Ezekiel Merritt, 
Robert Semple, Henry L. Ford, Samuel Gibson, Granville P. Swift, 
William Dickev, Henry Booker, John Potter, William B. Ide, Will- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 63 

iam Fallou, William M. Scott, Henry Beason, William Anderson, 
James A. Jones, W. Barti (or ''Old Red") and Samuel Neal. The 
rest of the party was from Napa valley. 

A garrison of eighteen men, under command of William Ide, 
was left at Sonoma and in a few days it was increased to about 
forty. Ide issued a proclamation declaring that he and his com- 
panions had been invited to come into the country and had been 
promised protection by the government, but that they had been sub- 
jected to oppression by military despotism; that threats had been 
made, by proclamation, of exterminating them if they did not leave 
the country; that it meant they must either abandon their property 
and be driven through deserts inhabited by hostile Indians, or must 
defend themselves; and that they had been forced to inaugurate a 
revolution with a view of establishing and perpetuating a repub- 
lican government. 

The party obtained its name by adopting what was known as 
the Bear flag, and it formed a partial organization under the name 
of the Republic of California. The flag borne by them was a piece 
of cotton cloth, with one red stripe on the bottom, and on the white 
part was the figure of a grizzly bear, with one star in front of him. 
It was painted or stained with lampblack and poke berries and on 
the top were the words, "Republic of California." According to 
the history of the event filed in the office of the Society of Califor- 
nia. Pioneers, the flag was painted with paint secured from a wheel- 
right's shop, "and the execution did not excel in artistic merit." 

William L. Todd, however, in a letter to the Los Angeles Express 
under the date of January 11, 1878, makes this statement: "I have 
to say in regard to the making of the original Bear flag of Califor- 
nia at Sonoma in 1846, that when the Americans who had taken 
up arms against the Spanish regime had determined what kind of 
a flag should be ado])ted, the following persons performed the work : 
Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford, and myself. We 
procured, in the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of 
new, unbleached cotton domestic, not quite a yard wide, with stripes 
of red flannel about four inches wide, furnished by Mrs. John Sears, 
on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper left-hand corner was 
a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a grizzly 
bear, so common in this country at that time. The bear and star 
were painted with paint made of linseed oil and Venetian red or 
Spanish brown. Underneath the bear were the words, 'California 
Repulilic. ' The other person engaged with me got the materials to- 
gether, while I acted as artist. The forms of the bear and star and 
the letters were first lined out with pen and ink by myself, and the 
two forms were filled in with the red paint, but the letters with 
ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittel, with the bear rampant, was 



64 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

made, as I always understood, at Santa Barbara, and was painted 
black. Allow me to say that at that time there was no wheelwright 
shop in California. The flag- I painted I saw in the rooms of the 
California Pioneers in San Francisco in 1870, and the secretary will 
show it to any person who will call upon him at any time. If it is 
the one that 1 ])ainted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out 
the words 'California Republic' The letters were first lined out 
with a pen and I left out the letter 'I' and lined out the letter "C" 
in its place. But afterward I lined out the letter 'I' over the 'C 
so that the last syllable of 'Republic' looks as if the last two let- 
ters were blended." The giiidon used at Sonoma was in 1874 pre- 
sented to the California Pioneers by Brig.-Gen. Joseph Revere, who 
in 1846, as lieutenant, liauled down the Bear flag and substituted 
the Stars and Strij^es. 

There has been consideral)le dispute as to the causes which led 
to the revolution in California, the capture of Sonoma, Ide's procla- 
mation, the raising of the Bear flag and its design. Reliance is 
placed on the accounts which were published in the Californian in 
August and Septeml)er, 1846. This was a few months after the oc- 
currence of those events and the articles were written by Robert Sem- 
ple, the editor, who distinctly stated in them that he wrote them as 
a matter of history and for the benefit of future historians. 

Commodore John D. Sloat arrived at Monterey July 7, 1846, with 
a United States frigate. Monterey was at that time the Mexican 
capital of California. The commodore took possession of the town 
and hoisted the American flag over the custom house, and from that 
day dates the ])ossession of California by the United States. Sloat 's 
frigate had been lying at Mazatlan under orders to seize California 
on the first intimation that war had been declared against Mexico. 
The first American flag was hoisted in the Sacramento valley where 
Sacramento City now stands, Colonel Fremont being encamped there 
with about one hundred and seventy men. William Scott arrived in 
the camp on the evening of July 10, with the news of the hoisting 
of the flag at Monterey by Commodore Sloat. He also brought with 
him an American flag sent by Capt. John B. Montgomery, of the 
United States ship Portsmouth. The Californian, in speaking of the 
first receipt of the news at Sacramento, says: ''It was received with 
universal shouts by the men, and our gallant leader, surrounded by 
a number of officers and soldiers, partook of a cu]i of good brandy, 
and sang some national airs. The Star Spangled Banner was re- 
ponded to with warmth." 

With the raising of the American flag the Bear flag was sup- 
planted, and although there were several engagements between the 
United States troops and the Mexican forces in the southern part of 
the territorv of California, the Mexicans capitulated early in 1847, and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 65 

the hostilities ceased. While many events happened during the 
transition, those above recorded were all that directly affected this 
county and the territory surrounding it. 

CHAPTER XI 
IN THE BEGINNING 

The first survey of the plat of Sacramento was made in Decem- 
ber, 1848, by Capt. William H. Warner of the United States Army. 
Previous to 1844 Sutter's Fort was the principal trading post in 
Upper California. In that year Captain Sutter and some others at 
the fort determined to lay out and build a town on the river bank 
three miles below, which they called Sutter, now spoken of as Sutter- 
ville. A survey was made by Capt. William Tecumseh Sherman 
(afterwards famous during the Civil war as General Sherman), and 
building was begun. The first house was erected by Captain Sutter 
himself; the second by a Mr. Hadel and a third, a brick structure, 
said to he the first of its kind erected in California, by Mr. Zins. 
The city began to flourish unrivaled and continued to do so until the 
discovery of gold. Soon after that time, however, it came into a 
disastrous rivalry with Sacramento. Dr. Morse, the earliest historian 
of those times and a warm partisan of Sacramento, gives many in- 
teresting particulars of the struggle for supremacy between the two 
budding cities, which resulted in the ultimate downfall of the city on 
the high grounds back from the river and the success of the city on 
the k)wer level, that was doomed in a few years to be inundated by 
the rising waters, altliough one of the principal arguments used by 
the traders and speculators in their arguments for the support of 
tliis city was that the ground where it stands had never been over- 
flowed witliin the memory of the white man, and never would be. 

Bayard Taylor says in his "Eldorado," of his first visit to Sac- 
ramento in October, 1849: "The limits of the town extended to nearly 
one s(|uare mile and the number of inhabitants, in tents and houses, 
fell little short of ten thousand. The ]iirevious April there were n'ust 
four houses in place. Can the world match a growth like this ? . . . 
The value of real estate in Sacramento is only exceeded by that in 
San Francisco. Lots 20x75 feet, in the best locations, brought from 
$3,000 to $3,500. Rents were on a scale equally enormous. The City 
hotel, which was formerly a sawmill erected by Captain Sutter, paid 
$30,000 per annum. A new hotel, going up on the levee, was already 
rented for $35,000. Two drinking and gaming rooms on a business 
street paid each $1,000 monthly, invariably in advance. The value 
of all the houses in the city, frail and perishable as many of them 
were, could not have been less than $2,000,000. . . . The inhabi- 
tants had elected a town council, adopted a city charter and were 



66 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

making exertions to have the pJace declared a port of entry. The 
political waters were being stirred a little, in anticipation of the ap- 
proaching election. Mr. Gilbert, of the Alta California, and Colonel 
Stewart, candidate for governor, were in the city. A political meet- 
ing which had been held a few nights before, in front of the City 
hotel, passed off as uproariously and with as zealons a sentiment 
of patriotism as such meetings are wont to at home." 

Shortly after the great discovery that was to so influence the for- 
tunes of the world and to become the ruin of General Sutter, a num- 
ber of stores were located at the fort and an immense business was 
soon created there. The first of these was the establishment of C. 
C. Smith & Co., in which Sam Brannan was a partner. It was started 
a few months before the opening of the mines and the first exchange 
of gold dust for store goods took place over its counters. Brannan 
afterwards bought his partners out and continued the business in 
the old adobe building which was subsequently used as a hospital. 
In 1849 the building on the inside of Sutter's Fort was occupied by 
Rufus Hitchcock, the upper story being used as a boarding house. 
The front room below was used as a barroom and gambling house 
and the bar was kept open night and day. If a customer had coin, 
his drink cost him fifty cents, Init he generally opened his sack and the 
barkeeper took out a pinch of gold dust, to be regulated by size or 
amount of drink consumed, and in those days very few drank alone. 
The cost of board at this place was $40 per week. 

Hitchcock soon left the fort and went to the mines on the Stan- 
islaus. In passing it may be stated that old residents say that in 
the '50s Capt. (afterwards Gen.) Ulysses S. Grant, owned a ferry 
on the Stanislaus and they often saw him, dressed in red shirt and 
overalls, lying under a shady tree on the bank, contentedly waiting 
for a foot passenger to come along who wanted to be ferried over. 
In those days, in fact, many a man who afterwards became prominent 
in the history of his country, was a resident of California. Hitch- 
cock subsequently became the owner of the Green Springs ranch in 
Eldorado county and died there in 1851. He was succeeded in the 
boarding house by M. F. McClellan of San Francisco. By summer 
all the business had become transferred to the Embarcadero or land- 
ing place on the Sacramento river, now known as Front street, which 
loecame a lively place. The blacksmith shop at the fort was carried 
on by a Mr. Fairchild, who paid an assistant $16 a day and charged 
$64 for shoeing a horse all round, or $16 for a single shoe. 

In the freigliting to the mines, which was done by means of ox 
teams, John S. Fowler had a virtual monopoly and paid his team- 
sters from $200 to $250 per month. The rate for freighting was enor- 
mous. In the winter of 1848-49 the roads to the mines were almost 
impassable. Freight from the fort to Coloma was one dollar a pound 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 67 

— $2,000 a ton. Even at that price it was impossible to transport 
the necessaries of life fast enough to prevent serious apprehensions 
of famine in the more distant mining districts. 

The firm of S. Brannan & Co. consisted of Sam Brannan, Will- 
iam Stone, W. D. Howard, Henry Melius and Talbot H. Gfreen. The 
stores of Priest, Lee & Co., Hensley, Reading & Co., Captain Dring, 
C. E. Pickett, Von Pfister & Vaughn, and the drug store of Drs. 
Frank Bates and Ward were inside of the fort. The prices de- 
manded were enormous. One evening John S. Fowler, wishing to 
give a supper to his teamsters, saw on the shelf in Brannan 's store 
a dozen two-pound cans of oysters and asked the clerk the price. 
"Twelve dollars each," replied the clerk. "How much if I take the 
lot?" asked Fowler. "One hundred and forty- four dollars," was 
the reply. "Well, I'll take them all," said Fowler, and he carried 
off his costly prize. 

Brannan's employes were: Jeremiah Sherwood, of New York;. 
Tallman H. Ralfe, afterwards editor of the Democrat in Nevada 
City; J. Harris Trowbridge, afterwards of Newburg, N. Y. ; George 
M. Robertson, afterwards supreme judge of Oahu, Sandwich Islands; 
James B. Mitchell, subsequently public administrator of Sacramento 
county, who died in 1857 in Benicia; W. R. Grimshaw, a well-known 
resident for many years on the Cosumnes river ; and James Queen. 

The pioneers did not leave their patriotism behind them when they 
came here. The 4th of July, 1849, was celebrated in the shade of a 
grove of oak trees, the last survivor of which, hoary with age and 
covered with mistletoe, stood for many years in front of the old build- 
mg on L street which was used as a hospital. The orators of the 
day were William M. Gwin and Thomas Butler King, who after- 
wards served the state in the United States senate. 

Shortly afterward came the struggle for supremacy with Sut- 
terville. As soon as the survey of Sacramento City had been made 
George McDougall obtained a lease of the ferry at a point below 
the entrance of Sutter Lake, and located a store-ship on the river 
bank opposite I street, and in company with Judge Blackburn, opened 
it with a large stock of goods. When John A. Sutter, Jr., arrived, 
his father, the captain, transferred to him all the proprietary rights 
in the city of Sacramento. McDougall declared that his lease gave 
him control of six hundred feet along the river front, and a dispute 
arose which was carried into the courts. Being defeated, McDougall 
in a rage determined to destroy the prospects of the city, and re- 
moved his goods to Sutterville. He then came out with immense 
placards stating that he would sell goods at cost and freight, and 
made a verbal declaration that if necessary he would sell goods at 
cost. This produced a lively agitation among tlie traders and they 
patched up a scheme of purchase which broke u]) many lines of Mc- 



68 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Dougall's stock and, as it was no easy task in those days to replenish 
it, effectnally extinguished McDoiigail's enterprise and put an end to 
the budding liopes of Sutterville as well. 

The hitter end was a('Coni|)lished largely by a shrewd specu- 
Uitive move on Ihc |>art of Sam Brannan, Judge Burnett and Priest, 
Lee & Co. The Sutterville i)r()prietors had offered to donate to 
these traders eiglity lots in Sutterville if they would transfer their 
stocks and business to Sutterville. They informed young Sutter 
of the offer and persuaded him that it would be for his interest to 
give them about five hundred lots in Sacramento to induce them to 
stay here, and he did so. Such was the passing of Sutterville, and 
today tlie old brick brewery stands as a monument of its decease, 
while the l)ig brick stores which stood there until later years have 
disap))eared. 

Sacramento grew apace. Aj)ril 1, 1841), the number of inhabi- 
tants of the fort and city did not exceed one hundred and ten. An 
election had been held the ])receding fall for first and second alcaldes, 
resulting in the election of Frank Bates and John S. Fowler, re- 
spectively. Fowler resigned in the spring and Henry A. Schoolcraft 
was appointed in his place. Early in the spring a board of commis- 
sioners consisting of Messrs. Brannan, Snyder, Slater, Hensley, 
King, Cheever, McCoover, McDougall, Barton Lee, Feete, Dr. Car- 
penter, Fowler and Southard was elected to frame a code of laws for 
the district. The committee met under an oak tree at the foot of T 
street and submitted a report which recommended the election of one 
alcalde and one sheriff, who should have jurisdiction from the Coast 
Range to the Sierra Nevada and throughout the length of the Sac- 
ramento valley. H. A. Schoolcraft was elected alcalde and A. M. 
Turner, sheriff, and thus was laid the foundation of the judicial and 
]iolitical system in Northern California, under a sturdy oak on the 
banks of the Sacramento. 

Immigration was coming by sea, although as yet in not very 
great num})ers between February to June, but im])i"ovement went 
steadily on. The condition was anomalous. There was no law or 
system of government, yet there was no discord or disorder. There 
was no legal restraint imposed on citizens, yet during these months 
the community was exempt from violence, and all seemed imbued 
with a feeling of forbearance and accommodation. The craze for 
gold had not yet fastened its deleterious influence on men, and right 
and a feeling of equality and inde]^endence seemed to guide their 
actions. 

Trading yielded an enormous profit and everyone was absorbed 
in it. Two hundred per cent was the profit on goods procured from 
San Francisco and trading in gold dust was very i^rofitable. At 
first the scale of pa>Tnent for goods with dust ranged from $8 to 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 69 

$16 an oimce. Clerks could hardly be retained in the stores at from 
$200 to $300 per mouth. The trade lietween the mines and Sacra- 
mento was immense. Such was the prevailing feeling of honesty and 
security that neither goods nor gold dust were watched with anxiety 
for their safety. Miners came to town with bags of gold dust which 
they took no more care of than their hats and boots. Money was 
so plentiful that there was no temptation to steal. By the first of 
May there were about thirty stores, and two barks and a brig were 
moored along the shore. The Whiton, one of the former, had as- 
tonished the residents by coming up from San Francisco in tliree 
days, from five to ten days having been consumed before then by 
small boats and launches. 

In June there came a change. Immigrants began to arrive by 
thousands and to outfit for the mines, Sacramento being the point of 
departure for the northern mines. The American, Yuba, Bear and 
Feather rivers were the i)oints of attraction and" Sacramento was 
the place for outfitting. Business became a rush in which the cal- 
culation was only for today. Transportation from San Francisco was 
the source of enormous profits and every craft that could be procured 
was pressed into service. The cost of passage from San Francisco 
to Sacramento was from $16 to $25 and the freight rate was cor- 
respondingly high. On June 26th the city numbered a hundred houses 
and the City Hotel, on Front street between I and J, 35x53 feet and 
of three stories, originally framed for a saw and grist mill for Cap- 
tain Sutter, was said to have cost $100,000. It was headquarters 
for the aristocracy of the times and the scene of many town-meetings. 

Every sort of material from which tents, store; ?nd houses could 
be constructed rose to enormous prices. Muslin, calico, canvas, old 
sails, logs, boards, zinc and tin were priceless possessions. The hun- 
dreds of immigrants coming in were lucky if they could ha\'e the 
shade of the trees to protect them from the noonday sun or the night. 
Gambling was everywhere carried on and magnificent saloons were 
built at enormous cost, the first place of public gaming being on J 
street, between Second and Third, kept by James Lee, and euphoni- 
ously named ''The Stinking Tent." Others followed, and a demo- 
ci'atic and cosmopolitan crowd composed their patrons, ('oin was 
scarce and the miners brought their bags of gold dust, de])ositing 
them with the game keepers and drawing from them as the game ))ro- 
gressed, generally till all was gone, and then went back to the mines 
for more. Not one person in ten, either by absence or condemnation, 
tried to discountenance gaming. Indeed, it is narrated by Dr. Morse 
that two ex clergymen were conspicuous among the gamesters, one 
dealing monte and the other playing faro. Poker was played by the 
larger capitalists on a magnificent scale, the ante being often $100 
and $3,000 being frequently bet on a single hand. One ■ind^^•idual 



70 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

is said to Jiave staked a thou sand ounces on a hand and won, aJ.'ter 
liax'ing- Jost nearly that much previously. Many men who had been 
brono'ht up to regard gambling as a stain on a man's character and 
who had left their wives and children in straightened circumstances, 
ssiYS Morse, hastened to hazard and lose the first few hundred or 
thousand dollars they had made. 

But a moral wave soon swept over the conmiunity. In April, 
1849, Rev. Dr. Woodbridge preached the first sermon ever heard in 
Sacramento. In May Dr. Deal, a practicing physician, undertook to 
establish regular religious services and in July Rev. J. A. Benton 
began his long and beneficent services in the city. ' ' His course, ' ' tes- 
tifies Dr. Morse, "was from the first consistent. He was essentially 
a minister of the gospel — a seven-days advocate of the Christian re- 
ligion." He extended his influence by a x:>ure life, winning the re- 
spect and confidence of the people, instead of making an onslaught 
on the tide of vice, and soon acquired great influence in the com- 
munity. At this late day many of the pioneer Sacrameutans who knew 
him s]ieak in the highest terms of his character. He sometimes made 
missionary excursions of two or three weeks duration, sleeping on 
the ground under the trees and living like the primitive Apostles. 

Before the removal of McDougall's store, Hensley and Read- 
ing had erected a frame building in Sacramento, on the corner of I 
and Front streets, the first frame house in the new city. Soon after 
that a Mr. Ingersoll erected a ])uilding half canvas and half frame, 
between J and K on Front street and Mr. Stewart had put up a 
canvas house on the bank of the river, which was opened as a tavern. 
In February, 1849, Sam Brannan erected a frame storehouse on the 
corner of J and Front streets, and this was soon succeeded by an- 
other belonging to Priest, Lee & Co., on the corner of Second and J 
and directly afterwards two substantial log houses were erected by 
Mr. Gillespie and Dr. Carpenter. 

For a time the chief place for business was on First or Front 
street between J and K, but soon it began to extend up J and K 
streets to Third. The river liank was piled with the goods of immi- 
grants and merchandise, and storage facilities were entirely in- 
adequate. The chief business was in miners' supplies. Lumber was 
from fifty cents to a dollar per square foot, and hard to get at that. 
Teaming and packing earned enormous revenue. In December $50 
a hundred was charged for hauling goods from Sacramento to 
Mormon Island and Auburn. In July fresh beef sold for fifteen 
cents a pound; bread fifty cents a loaf; butter from $2 to $3 a pound; 
milk $1 a quart ; dried apples $1 to $2 a pound ; saleratus $6 a pound, 
and pickles whatever their owner chose to ask. Carpenters were 
paid $16 a day; laborers $L50 an hour; board without lodging 
$16 to $49 a week; washing $6 to $12 a dozen; doctor's fees $16 to 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 71 

$32 a visit. A glass of liquor at a first-class bar cost $1, and a cigar 
fifty cents. Everytliing was higli in proportion. 

But business did not entirely engross the attention of the citi- 
zens. There were some votaries of pleasure, and on July 4, 1849, 
a grand ball was given at the City hotel, at that time the headquar- 
ters of Sacramento fashion and aristocracy. Money was spent with- 
out stint to enhance the success and dignity of the occasion, and the 
affair was on a magnificent scale. There was a dearth in the com- 
munity of feminine attractions and the surrounding country was 
scoured thoroughly by a committee of young men to gather in all 
the ladies that could be obtained to grace the occasion. Every min- 
ing camp, ranch, wagon, tent and log cabin was canvassed, with such 
success that eighteen of the fair sex were secured. To quote Dr. 
Morse again. "Not all Amazons, but replete with all the adornments 
and graces that belong to bold and enterprising pioneers of a new 
country. Tickets to the ball were fixed at the moderate price of thir- 
ty-two dollars; gentlemen were requested to have swallow-tail coats 
and white vests. The supper was, of course, a profusion of all that 
money could obtain," and champagne flowed freely, despite its cost. 
Thus was the pace set for future occasions in the new city. 

In July, 1849, a movement was set on foot to organize a city 
government. An election for councilmen was held at the St. Louis 
Exchange on Second street between I and J, and the first council- 
men for the city of Sacramento were chosen as follows : John P. 
Rodgers, H. E. Robinson, P. B. Cornwall, William Stout, E. F. Gil- 
lespie, Thomas F. Chapman, M. T. McClelland, A. M. Winn and B. 
Jennings. The new council was organized on August 1st, with Will- 
iam Stout as president and J. H. Harper as clerk. The first busi- 
ness transacted was the preparation of a constitution for local gov- 
ernment. A. M. Winn was afterwards made president in place of 
Stout, who had left the city. On September 20th an election was held 
to decide on a city charter. A draft had been prepared by the coun- 
cil but the citizens did not turn out well to vote, and it was defeated 
by a majority of one hundred and forty-six votes. Its rejection was 
charged to the gamblers, who opposed a change and worked hard 
and spent much money to defeat it. Up to this time there had been 
no law or government that was more than nominal, as there was no 
court except that of the alcalde, which, while expeditious, was costly 
in dispensing justice. The peo]^le therefore shunned litigation and 
this lawless state just suited the gamblers. This was a great morti- 
fication to the council, and the president issued a proclamation stat- 
ing that the council was unable to determine what the citizens wanted, 
and as the powers and duties of the council were not defined, they 
desired to know whether the citizens desired still to act under the 
Mexican laws at present in force, altliough inapplicable to the pres- 



72 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ent conditions, or to adopt a charter, striking out such features as 
were objectional)le. Immediate action was necessary if the council 
was to be of any use. It therefore asked the citizens to meet Octo- 
ber 10, 1849, and declare what they wished the council to do. The 
people, who had paid no attention hitherto to local government, 
awoke from, their ai)a.thy. A Law and Order party was formed. 
The gamblers were defeated and the charter adopted by a majority 
of two hundred ninety-six. The charter adopted, however, contained 
matter relati\e to taxation which rendered it unpopular, and it was 
soon amended. 

Tlie council soon had a burden of troubles of its own. The com- 
munity had enjoyed robust health during the spring and summer 
months, but with the fall a terrible change came. Many of the ed- 
venturous immigrants had seemed to think that nothing was neces- 
sary to their success except to reach California. Many of them were 
destitute on their arrival. Not one in a hundred had money to buy 
an outfit for the mines at the ruinous prices asked. Many were suf- 
fering from hardships and privations endured on the overland jour- 
ney, or as steerage passengers saturated with scorbutic diseases or 
so depressed or des]:>ondent that they became an easy prey for dis- 
ease. Nine-tenths of these adventurers poured into Sacramento, 
the nearest point for outfitting for the mines. Here they met another 
train of scorbutic sufferers straggling in from the east, debilitated 
and worn out by the hardships encountered. 

From these causes Sacramento had become one vast lazar house 
long before the city government was organized and the council im- 
mediately found a serious condition confronting it. This was in- 
tensified ])y the fact that as men became accustomed to these scenes 
of suffering, familiarity with them hardened their hearts, and cupid- 
ity took possession of them. The lure of gold l)eckoned them away. 
They could not spare time to relieve tlie distress of their fellows. 
They must press on to the diggings and begin to acquire their for- 
tunes. Fathers abandoned their sons, and sons abandoned their 
fathers when they required a little troublesome care. When they 
could be of no further use to each other friendship and kinshi]i be- 
came mere words. One flagrant case was that of an old father, who 
liad furnished tlie means for his son and other relatives to come to 
the new Eldorado, but was deserted by them as he lay dying with 
scurvy on the levee, where he soon. passed away. The sick and suf- 
fering accumulated so fast that by July means of caring for them 
were entirely inadequate. Creigan's Hospital at the fort and the 
one opened by Dr. Deal and Dr. Martin were filled, but the prices 
for nursing and board were prohibitive to four-fifths of those need- 
ing care. Miasmatic fevers added to the misery and distress of the 
scurvv. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO (T)UNTY 73 

But charity had not departed, and compassion and help were at 
hand in a limited degree. Two great fraternal orders were represented 
among the community, not organized into lodges, Init numbering many 
individual members. The feeling of brotherhood that had bound them 
together, also bound them to relieve distress as far as lay in their 
power, and nobly did they come to the front and face the stupendous 
task. The first elTective efforts for relief came from members of the 
fraternity of the Odd Fellows. They came together and bound them 
selves into an informal organization and devoted themselves with 
earnest zeal to the relief of the distressed. A. M. AVinn was elected 
president of the association, a Mr. McLaren secretary and Captain 
Gallup, treasurer. Every member of this body became a visiting com 
mittee and an immense amount of relief was dispensed. 

They were joined by the members of the Masonic fraternity in 
their elTorts to take care of the sick and destitute. "The two noble 
orders contributed money and exertions as freely as if their lives 
had been devoted to the exclusive function of human kindness," says 
Dr. Morse, "and their fair names are inscribed in indelible and liv- 
ing characters upon those pages of history which California 
ought to and must ])reserve." But their combined eiforts, assisted 
by those of the council, could not do all that there was to do. The 
people were appealed to in a public meeting to come forward and 
assist in the general effort for relief. The president of the council 
was dispatched to Monterey for the purpose of laying the case be- 
fore General Riley and ]irocuring from him some of the public funds 
then in his possession. But their mission was a failure, as General 
Riley, the military governor of the territory, did not consider he had 
the right thus to use the national funds. 

Sacramento was then thrown upon her own resources, and with 
her treasury empty and low credit, she did all that was possible and 
by co-operation with individual effort and the two fraternities she 
succeeded in furnishing a tolerable shelter and medical attendance 
for the sick. Rough pine coffins had ranged from $60 to $150, and 
even then the supply was far from sufficient, so hundreds had been 
buried without coffins and even without being wrapped u]) in a l)lan- 
ket. The Odd Fellows s])ent thousands of dollars for coffins and 
when General Winn became the executive officer of the city, no man 
was refused a coffin burial. The scenes of those days were teri-ible 
and the description of their horrors is almost unreadable. 

When the rains set in the misery was increased. Many of the sick, 
with ty]duis and other fevers, lay without shelter from the pitiless 
storms. Finally Drs. Morse and Stillman aroused the s\nnpathies of 
Barton Lee, whose name should occu]^^ an honored place in the 
City's history, and induced him to erect a story and a half hospital, 
40x50 feet, at the corner of Third and K streets. The city deter- 



74 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

mined also to erect a two story hospital, 20x60 feet between I and 
J, Ninth and Tenth streets, and $7000 was expended for lumber, 
but when it was partially erected it was prostrated to the ground by 
a rain and wind storm, and the timber so injured as to make it al- 
most useless for building purposes. 

But the future city was doomed to pass through a yet more try- 
ing period. An enemy ciame like a thief in the night, for which she 
had made no provision. The reckless speculators had declared there 
was no danger of inundation and the people had been credulous 
cnougli to believe them when they declared that the city's site had 
remained free from flood during the sojourn of the oldest Calif ornians. 
The people had not raised their buildings, but had built on the ground 
wherever their lots happened to be. The rains through the latter 
part of December and the first part of January had awakaned anx- 
iety. The Sacramento and American rivers were rising rapidly and 
the back country seemed to be filling up and cutting off communi- 
cation with the higher lands. But the citizens, with fatuous confi- 
dence in the assertions that a flood could not harm them, made no 
preparations for the deluge. Hence, when it came, there was no 
adequate protection for life or property. Many were drowned, some 
in their beds, some in trying to escape, and many from the terrible 
exposure. The few boats belonging to the shipping at the Embarca- 
dero were pressed into service to rescue the women and children and 
the sick, that were scattered over the city in tents and canvas houses. 
Some of the women were found standing upon beds or boxes, in water 
a foot or two deep. Sick men on cots were found floating about help- 
lessly. By mere accident a boat in which Capt. J. Sherwood was 
manager })assed the hospital and was attracted by the cries of the 
sick for help. He immediately proceeded to rescue them and took 
them to safety in Mr. Brannan's house. 

Most of these poor sufferers died and after being placed in coffins, 
were buried across the river. One of the men detailed for this duty 
was a Dutchman who was very suspicious of everyone so far as his 
money was concerned, and having accumulated about $2,000 in gold 
dust carried it in a belt around his waist. They placed the coffin 
across a small boat, and when they had reached some distance the 
l)oat careened and sank. The Dutchman, who was a good swimmer, 
called to his companion that he would swim ashore and get a boat, 
but weighted down with the gold that he loved better than his life, 
he sank. His companion hung on to the coffin and reached shore 
safely. The description given by Dr. Morse of the neglect of the sick 
and their condition is almost beyond belief. 

After the January flood in 1850, prices of everything rose enor- 
mously and continued high for a long time. But the high prices of 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 75 

real estate did not slirink on aceoiuit of the flood and destruction. 
Here are some of the current prices in the city in April and May: 

Filtered water, per barrel, $1.50; washing and ironing, per dozen, 
$7.00; private boxes at the theater, $4.00; ordinary boxes at the 
theater, $3.00; pit seats at the theater, $2.00; musicians in gambling- 
houses, by the day, $16.00; hauling lumber from First to Second 
street, per thousand, $3.00 ; hair cutting, $1.50 ; shaving, $1.00 ; bil- 
liards, per game, $1.00; saddle horses, per day, $10.00; lodging, 
without blankets, per night, $1.00; celery, per head, 20 cents; peas in 
the pod, per gallon, $2.00 ; radishes, every size, per bunch, $1.00 ; 
turkeys, per pair, $16.00 ; apples, small, but good, each, 50 cents ; 
specked apples, each 25 cents; Colt's pistols, medium size, $75.00. 

Up to the 6th of August the amount of $100,000 had been issued 
by warrants to. meet the expenditures for the city government, as 
shown by the mayor's statement. The estimated sum to be expended 
for the construction of the levee and the city government inclusive 
footed up $300,000. Sacramento endured grievous troubles in August 
and September. The contests about titles, the breaking up of confi- 
dence in the general value of property thus situated, the pecuniary 
embarrassments that were plunging men into bankruptcy and ruin, 
and the heavy taxation necessary to sustain the city government and 
complete the public works necessary to protect the city from floods, 
were enough to utterly discourage the citizens and destroy their confi- 
dence in the city's future. But the community was composed of men 
of iron; men who had come thousands of miles through all sorts of 
dangers and perils to found on the shores of the Pacific a great 
empire, although they were at that time unconscious of the fact and 
looked not far beyond the present. Their energy was unconquerable 
and inextinguishable, and the greater the burdens imposed by fate, the 
more manfully and determinedly they strove to overthrow them. 
That this city exists to-day, large and prosperous, is indisputable 
evidence that they succeeded. 

In August the council made itself decidedly unpo]nilar by one 
or two of its acts. The members appropriated to themselves a salary 
of $200 a montli each. In addition to this, the taxpayers saw the 
appointment of various committees to duties that were but little 
more than nominal, and who drew $25 a day for their services, in 
addition to their regular salary voted. 

After the bankruptcies of September and the squatter riots of 
August affairs settled down to a degree of quiet and the people 
began to engage more systematically and soundly in business, which 
was augmented extraordinarily by the heavy demand for goods and 
their transportation to the mines. During the previous winter the 
people in the mines liad suffered greatly from ])rivations and were 
thrown into a desperate and almost starving condition from the 



76 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO (H)LTNTY 

scarcity of provisions and the ('uttin^L*' off of coininunication witli the 
city by the floods. As a natural consequence, in the fall soon after 
the revulsion in finance, there S])ran2;' up a brisk demand and an 
immense and profitable trade was inaugurated and carried on l)etween 
the mercliants and miners. The situation being thus i-elieved, the 
effect U]ion the city was such as almost to restore its former pros- 
perity. 

At this time a i)ublic question began to awaken interest in the 
men's minds and to cause them to watch every arrival from Wash- 
ington and the news brought, with intense anxiety. This was the 
question of admission as a state to the Union. The constitution 
had been adopted, the ai)i)lication made, l)ut congress still delayed 
action and the conmnmity was in a state of painful sus])ense as to 
what the outcome would be. One can readily imagine, then, the relief 
to the tension when the news came that California was a member of 
the great Union of states. Early in the morning of October 15th, 
it is stated, the rapid firing of cannon upon the levee awakened the 
citizens to the fact that the news had arrived and that our admission 
was an assured fact. It was a season of rejoicing that for the moment 
almost obliterated the memory of the past misfortunes. In addition 
to the news it was ascertained that a number of Sacramento's citizens 
had returned by the steamer that brought th.e news. 

But Sacramento's cup of sorrow was not yet full and a heavier 
calamity than any that had gone before, was, even in this season 
of rejoicing, hovering over the devoted city. The same fostering 
breezes that had borne on the steamer bringing the news of admission 
had also borne on their wings a ghastly pestilence and on the steamer 
itself many of the passengers had fallen victims to the dread scourge. 
A most malignant cholera was sweeping on toward California and 
many w^ere the unknown graves that it was to fill in the new state 
ere its violence should be abated. City and country were alike to it 
and the urban dweller and the miner in his cal)in were alike to ])ay 
toll to the dread Rea])er. The tale that is told by the pioneers who 
escaped with life the ])estilence harrows the soul of the listener with 
the vivid pictures of distress and destruction. Each successive day 
brought news from Sau Francisco that the ])assengers on the ill- 
fated steamer were still being decimated by the terrible scourge. Xot 
only this. Imt the accounts of the visit of the disease to Sandusky. 
Rochester, St. Louis and other places began to fill the hearts of the 
peo])le with a dread of im])ending disaster. The stories of its relent- 
less malignity and the wide-spread destruction that accom])anied its 
progress fell like a pall on the community, and terror fell on all. 
It is doubtful if history records a parallel of the destructive ])anic 
tluit followed its a])))earance on this coast and in this city. The hard- 
ships and disease that had ])revailed during the summer and which 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO (X)UNTY 77 

were sufficient to crush all progress and energy in a less buoyant and 
determined people, had been too recent to allow of a recuperation of 
their health and strengtli and rendered them an easy prey for the 
insidious disease. 

As is well known, in cases of epidemics, the mass of the people is 
filled with fear and dread, and in the fevered state of mind prevailing 
it was easy for the disease to develop to terrific proportions. Panic 
predisposed the people to receive its attacks, and it hardly needed 
an imported case to spread the disease. Early in the morning of 
October 20 a person was found on the levee in the collapsing stage 
of the dread disease. Medical aid was summoned, but he was too 
far gone and soon died. The cholera was in the city. The news 
spread as if by magic, the circumstances grew in horror with repeti- 
tion and the pall of despair seemed to settle down like a black cloud 
over the city. It is well known bv experience that the fear of disease 
and the dwelling on its symptoms are very often followed by its 
appearance and so it was largely in this case. The next day several 
more fatal cases were reported and as the stories spread and were 
constantly augmented in their description, it is not to be wondered at 
that fear should have become an auxiliary to the disease and that 
the epidemic was soon in full ])rogTess. 

In six days from its incei)tion, the disease had made such jirogress 
that regular burials were but slightly attended to and nursing and 
attention were frequently wanting. Money, so powerful an agent 
in most cases, could scarcely jmrchase the offices of common kindness 
and charity. Affection seemed blunted and the fear of death seemed 
to sever all ties and develop elements of selfishness. But little could 
be done under these conditions to arrest the course of the disease, 
and it swe])t through the community with irresistible force. In many 
such e])idemics the personal haliits of individuals have a strong influ- 
ence in resisting disease or inviting it, but the case was different here. 
Men of the most regular, careful and industrious habits were its 
victims equally with those who were intenqierate and irregular. In 
a few days many of the most prominent and substantial citizens fell 
before the pestilence. None seemed immune. 

It was reported that a hundred and fifty cases occurred in one 
day, but such was the confusion and the pamc in the community 
that no records were kept, nor can any accurate data be found in 
regard to the havoc made by this epidemic. As the number of deaths 
increased and men were ke]it constantly em^^jloyed in the removal 
of the dead, the citizens began to leave the city in every direction 
and the numl)er increased so rapidly that in a shoi't time not more 
than one-fifth of the residents remained. The most heartrending 
•abandonment of relatives and friends took i)lace during the reign 
of terror. But a verv small remnant resisted the instinct <>f self- 



78 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

preservation aud remained to minister to the sick and dying. A few 
noble men, moved by sympathy, the divine attribnte of onr nature, 
remained to do what they eonld for the relief of suffering humanity, 
and their humane ministrations, regardless of danger and death, did 
much to ameliorate the situation. Their names should be written in 
letters of gold in the history of Sacramento and California, but 
alas, they were lost to us and their only reward was the consciousness 
of having done their duty. One name, however, has been preserved, 
that of John Bigler, afterwards governor of California, whom Dr. 
Morse describes as moving among the dead and dying, with a large 
lump of camphor in one hand, which he frequently applied to his 
nostrils, as an antidote to the disease. No danger of infection daunted 
him, however, and where misery, death and destitution abounded, he 
was ever to be found in its midst, proffering aid and i^ympathy. 

The physicians of the city did noble work. No danger appalled 
them. Night and day they responded to the call of distress, scarcely 
pausing to snatch a few hours of needed sleep and rest. Before 
the epidemic subsided seventeen of them were deposited in the 
sand hill cemetery of the city — an almost unexampled mortality in 
the profession in a season of epidemic. Not one in ten escaped 
the disease and not a single educated physician turned his back on the 
city in its extremity. In such a time of delirium and terror it is 
no wonder that no systematic records were kept. In fact it was 
impossible. Not only in the city, but on the roads, and even in the 
mines, many who were fleeing from the pestilence were stricken down 
by the awful malady and perished, unknown and unaided in many 
cases. In the latter part of the epidemic, the city authorities, who 
had from the first done all they could to relieve the suffering, 
obtained the use of a large frame building on L street, where the 
destitute victims were taken and cared for. 

''From the beginning, the local papers had endeavored, as 
usual in such cases, to conceal the extent of mortality, and their 
files of that date give no adequate idea of the fearful scourge," say 
Thompson and West in their history. On the 24th of October the 
city physician reported seven cases of cholera to the council, five 
of which were fatal. Some of the doctors endeavored to quiet public 
apprehension by giving the opinion that the disease was only a violent 
form of cholera morbus. The Tiutes "felt confident that there was 
very little danger, and had not heard of a single case where the 
patient had not been previously reduced by diarrhoea." On the 
27th, six cases were reported, and the Times "ho]^ed that some pre- 
cautionary measures would be taken." On the 29th twelve cases 
appeared; on the 30th, nineteen, and it was no longer possible to 
conceal the fact that a terrible epidemic had attacked the com- 
munity, A Sacramento correspondent of the Alfa says on November 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 79 

4: "The daily mortality is about sixty. Many deaths are concealed, 
and many others are not reported. Deaths diirinio: the past week, 
so far as known, 188." On November 14, the daily mortality had 
decreased to twelve and on the 17th, the pestilence was reported as 
having entirely disappeared. But the precise number of fatal cases 
can never be known, as a great number were reported to have died 
of dysentery, fevers, and other diseases, for the purpose of quieting 
the public anxiety and restoring the confidence of the people. Many 
of the victims were buried in unknown graves and their very location 
was soon forgotten. Many a wife or mother or sister waited in 
vain for tidings of the loved ones that never came, and never knew 
when or how they had passed away. 

A writer who was one of the survivors of that terrible time says : 
"What with floods and fires, insurrection and the plague, the very 
stars seemed to fight against Sacramento in her infancy, and the 
foundation of her later prosperity was laid upon the ashes of her 
pioneers." Before the disastrous visitation of the cholera, Dr. Still- 
man walked through the sandhill cemetery and counted eight hundred 
graves that had not yet been sodded over, and how many more 
were added by the still more terrible destroyer is not found recorded 
in the history of the time. Of a company of forty men who came 
out on the infected schooner Montague, more than half died after her 
arrival ; and after her departure from Sacramento for Panama, the 
captain, second mate and six passengers died of cholera before leaving 
San Francisco bay. 

This terrible calamity lasted in its malignant form only about 
twenty days, but under the circumstances and from lack of systematic 
records, the number of deaths will never be known. Its abatement 
lasted much longer than its period of beginning and virulence, and 
began just as soon as the people became familiarized with its features 
and the terrible scenes in their midst, thus rendering them less liable 
to be attacked through a paralyzing fear. By the time it ceased, the 
city had become nearly depopulated and many thought it would 
never rise again from the disaster. But such prophecies did not take 
into account the sturdy perseverance of a strong people. Just as 
soon as the mortality began to obviously decrease, the fugitives began 
to return, and those who had remained to help their fellow man and 
to abide by the fortunes of the city recovered their elasticity of mind 
and energy. A transformation immediately commenced to take place 
in the appearance of the city. Confidence in its healthfulness re- 
turned; men grew cheerful and hopeful and business comnnmication 
with the mines was reopened. The previous prosperous conditions 
were restored and for several weeks business was good once more, and 
the beautiful winter that followed stimulated the community to ener- 
getic efforts. 



80 HiiSTOKY OF ISACEAMENTO COUNTY 

But the nieiTliants and traders liad iiiifortiinately calculated too 
much upon a winter like those of 1848 and 1.849. Tliis induced them 
to transport at lii,i>li i)i*ices lar^e stores of goods into the mining 
regions, trusting that coiiiiminication would be difficult, as it was 
in the former year. But these goods, in consequence of the lack of 
water in dry diggings and the roads that offered inunediate communi- 
cation with the mines all winter, were sold at ruinous sacrifices. 

A synopsis of events in the spring and summer shows that the 
city was divided into wards, April 15; the first mail left for Salt 
Lake, May 1 ; a city election May 5 polled 2482 votes and James R. 
Hardenhergh was elected mayor; the treasurer's report, May 6, showed 
the city's receipts for the fiscal year to have been $214,939.86 and 
the mayor's report showed the indebtedness to be $368,551.29 and 
that $80,000 of this was drawing interest at ten to twenty per cent 
per month, the balance from three to eight per cent per month. 
In June the city debt was funded at ten per cent per annum in New 
York and twelve per cent in Sacramento. In September the popular 
vote of the county was 4115. The Tehama Theater burned August 13 
and Dr. Volney Si)alding o])ened the American Theater September 9. 
On December 24 the courthouse was finished and January 14, 1852. 
the state offices and legislature moved to Sacramento and the 
first legislative session opened January 16. One thousand persons 
arrived by steamer January 20 and on the 23d, a brick building now 
on K street was begun. March 7 the city was overflowed again. 

At the municipal election, April 5, twenty-eight hundred two 
votes were cast, C. I. Hutchinson being elected mayor. The debt had 
increased to $449,105.32 and the estimated revenue to $200,000. At an 
election July 17 the people voted for a wide levee through I street, 
and also to erect a city hall and prison. October 8 there was an 
agricultural fair. The poimlation at this time was l)etween ten 
thousand and twelve thousand. On November 2 there was a terrible 
conflagration. December 17 there was a storm of four days duration 
and on the 25th the np])er part of the city was flooded. By January 
1, 1853, the water was higher than ever before known. January 13 
the i)eo])le voted for water-works, fire de])artment, loan and three- 
(juarters \)qv cent additional taxation. Many mercantile houses this 
month established branches at Hoboken, trade being entirely cut off 
from the city by reason of high water and im])assable roads. 

The Golden Kagle, at the corner of Seventh and K streets, 
was for more than half a century considered the hotel par excellence 
of the city, and dates back in a much cruder form to the early days 
of Sacramento. For many years it was a headquarters for the 
Republican politicians, while the Capital hotel, on the corner opposite, 
was considered the Democratic head(]uarters. Many a state campaign 
and legislative session were engineered and directed from these two 
points. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 81 

Where the Golden Eagle now stands, in 1851, "Dan" Callahan, 
for many years the proprietor of that hotel, erected his frame lodging- 
house, which he had purchased for a span of horses, and added to 
it a canvas annex, ut)on the flaps of which a joker named Wrightmire 
with artistic talent, drew with charcoal the figure of an eagle, with 
outspread wings and a pensive air, and named the strucl;ure the 
Golden Eagle, and the name clung to it through the pioneer days with 
the tenacity of an inspired title, 

CHAPTER XII 
POLITICAL 

In 1854 the old Whig party was passing away and the anti-slavery 
party was pushing its way to the front. The exciting struggle in 
''bleeding" Kansas was attracting widespread attention and becom- 
ing a lively political issue and a fruitful subject for discussion. On 
Tuesday, July 18, a Democratic convention met in the Fourth Street 
Ba]itist Church in this city, at o P. M. Disturbance was in the air, 
and long before the hour for opening the convention, the doors of 
the church were surrounded by people, a great many of whom were 
not delegates. The church would hold about four hundred, and as 
soon as the doors were opened the people crowded in and filled it to 
its utmost capacity. 

D. C. Broderick was chairman of the state central committee, 
and when he ascended the platform he was received with continued 
cheers. As soon as he called the convention to order a number of 
delegates sprang to their feet, in order to make nominations for 
temporary chairman. He recognized T. L. Vermule as having the 
floor, but lief ore he could make the announcement, John O'Meara 
nominated ex-Governor John McDougal for tem})orary chairman. 
Vermule nominated Edward McGowan for cliairman pro tem, and 
Broderick announced that he could not recognize O'Meara 's nomina- 
tion, and ])ut the question on McGowan 's election and declared him 
elected. McGowan mounted the platform immediately, followed closely 
by McDougal, whose friends insisted that he had been elected, although 
his name had not been submitted to the convention in regular form. 

The convention thus had two chairmen, who took seats side by 
side and pandemonium reigned for a time. Finally a semblance of 
order was restored, and McDougal announced the names of Major 
G. W. Hook and John Bidwell as vice-presidents and McGowan 
announced J. T. Hall and A. L. Laird as appointed by him to those 
offices. A scene of noise and confusion again followed, but the gen- 
tlemen named took their seats with their respective leaders. The 
appointment of two sets of secretaries and committees followed and 
reports were made to each side, recommending that the temporary 



82 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ofiQcers be made the i3ermanent ones. Motions were made to adopt 
the respective reports, and were declared carried, amid great excite- 
ment. 

The convention transacted no other business, but sat as a double- 
header until nine o'clock that night, each side endeavoring to outstay 
the other. One sickly tallow candle in front of each president, illum- 
inated the scene, or rather made darkness visible. The situation 
lasted until the trustees of the church notified the convention that 
they would no longer tolerate the riotous assemblage in the church, 
and the delegates departed without attending to the formality of 
an adjournment. 

Pandemonium had reigned throughout the session and soon after 
the organization was completed a crowd made a mad rush for the 
platform. One of the officers was seized and just then a pistol 
exploded in the crowded room. The direction of the rush was imme- 
diately changed toward the doors and windows, a number of the dele- 
gates jumping through the latter to the ground, a distance of about 
fifteen feet. This ended the exciting events of the day. 

The next morning the ''chivalry," or southern element of the 
party, the wing i:)resided over by McDougal, met at Musical Hall, while 
the McGowan, or Tammany faction, representing the northern ele- 
ment, met in Carpenter's building. The officers of the chivalry wing 
tendered their resignations and Major Hook was elected president 
and H. P. Barber, AVilliam A. Mannerly, A. W. Taliafero, and J. G. 
Downey were elected vice-presidents. The other convention sent a 
message asking that a committee on conference be appointed in ordelr 
to endeavor to settle the differences. As the language of the com- 
munication was considered offensive, it was withdrawn for the pur- 
pose of modifying the phraseology. A second note was afterward 
sent in, but as it was quite similar to the first, it met with a flat 
rejection. The convention then nominated candidates for congress 
and for clerk of the supreme court; passed resolutions favoring the 
construction of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad under the auspices 
of congress, and endorsing the Nebraska Bill, etc. It also elected a 
state central committee and levied an assessment of five dollars on 
each delegate, to pay for the damage done to church building. 

The McGowan wing met at 9 :30 on the morning of the 19th, that 
gentleman continuing to act as chairman. They appointed a committee 
of seven to invite the McDougal convention to attend their session 
and also empowered the committee to heal the difficulties. When the 
convention re-assembled the committee reported that they had sent 
a communication to the McDougal convention, but that the proposition 
embraced in it had been rejected. The communication sent was as 
follows : 

"John McDougal, Esq., Chairman of Democratic delegates con- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 83 

vened at Musical Hall: Sir— The undersigned have been this morn- 
ing constituted a committee, with full powers, by and on behalf of the 
Democratic state convention at Carpenter's Hall, for a conference 
with our fellow Democrats at Musical Hall, for the purpose of harmon- 
izing and uniting the Democrats of California. You will be pleased 
to announce this to your body; and any communication may be ad- 
dressed to the chairman of this committee, at Jones' hotel." 

The report was accepted and the committee was discharged. The 
convention then proceeded to nominate a ticket entirely ditferent 
from that nominated by the McDougal convention. It also adopted 
a series of resolutions alluding to the heterogeneous condition of the 
party in the state, and to the diiferences of the convention in this 
city. They urged the people of the state to accept their ticket as most 
likely to etfect conciliation. They also appointed a state central com- 
mittee and took up a collection of four hundred dollars to reimburse 
the Baptist church for the damage done to it, a committee having 
reported that the injury to the building would amount to that sum. 
Several of the nominees withdrew from the ticket after the convention 
adjourned, and the Tammany wing, after the election, ascribed its 
defeat to the withdrawal of Milton S. Latham, who afterwards became 
governor, from the congressional ticket. 

The time had arrived when a new party was to spring up and 
enter the field of politics and later to attain a dominating influence 
in the state. The first mass meeting of Republicans in California 
was held in Sacramento, April 19, 1856. E. B. Crocker was the leader 
of the new party in Sacramento county, and opened the meeting w4th 
an address that was listened to attentively. George C. Bates was 
introduced and attempted to make a speech, but so much noise and 
confusion ensued in a disturbance raised by Democrats and Americans 
that his voice could not be heard. Henry S. Foote, who had been 
governor of Mississippi, begged the turbulent crowd to desist from 
disturbing the meeting and allow it to proceed, but no attention was 
paid to his protest. "When the Republican speakers again attempted 
to ])roceed, the crowd made a rush for the stand, overturned it and 
broke the meeting up. 

April 30, 1856, the first state convention of the Republicans was 
held in the Congregational Church in this city. E. B. Crocker pre- 
sided as temporary chairman. Only thirteen counties were represented 
in the convention and of the one hundred and twenty-five delegates 
composing it, sixty-five were from Sacramento and San Francisco. 
Resolutions were adopted opposing the further extension of slave ter- 
ritory and of slave power; welcoming honest and industrious im- 
migrants; deprecating all attempts to prejudice immigrants against 
our free institutions; favoring the speedy construction of a trans- 
continental railroad bv aid from congress; favoring the speedy set- 



84 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tlement of land titles in this state; and the election of only bona fide 
permanent settlers to office. 

A public discussion was announced to take place early in May 
in Sacramento, between George C. Bates, Republican, and J, C. Za- 
briskie, Democrat, but when the time appointed arrived, no location 
could be procured, on account of the anticipated disturbance. The 
meeting- was therefore postponed until the evening of the 10th of 
that month, and when the time arrived the disturbance commenced. 
Rotten eggs were thrown and firecrackers were exploded to create 
a turmoil, but the police made several arrests and restored order. 
Outsiders took possession of the stand after the meeting closed and 
a resolution was adopted declaring "that the people of this city have 
been outraged by the discussion of treasonable doctrines by a public 
felon; and that we will not submit to such an outrage in the future." 

Looking back at this day one naturally wonders that such intoler- 
ance sliould be shown in a free state, but "history repeats itself," 
and there are many similar instances of narrow-mindedness and in- 
tolerance in the world's history, not only in political, but in religious, 
scientific and other matters. But for the evolution of new ideas and 
doctrines there would be no progress in the world, and today it 
would be hard to find one to contradict Galileo's murmured protest, 
"but it does move." The doctrines advocated in 1856 have long- 
ago worked out their own solution, through much bloodshed and de- 
vastation and the whole fair domain of our great republic acknowledge 
that the destruction of slavery was a blessing- to our country. 

A few days after the meeting the Sacramento Trihunc (Amer- 
ican), referring to the meeting, said: "The fact that a public dis- 
cussion was permitted to take place in a public street in the heart 
of our city, in the presence of a large concourse of our citizens, 
almost all of whom disapprove the doctrine advocated by the speaker, 
and this too, when it is the firm conviction of a large majority of 
the persons assembled tliat the agitation^ of the slavery question as 
the basis of political organization is against the true interest of the 
state and nation, speaks volumes in favor of the public morals of 
Sacramento." The extract indicates the bitterness of feeling that 
had already begun to grow up against the agitation for the abolition 
of slavery, or its restriction to limits where it already existed. 

THE SPITTOON CONVENTION 

A remarkable political clash took place July 25, 1865, at a county 
convention held in Sacramento. Through dissention in the Union 
party two factions had arisen. Governor Frederick F. Low was a 
candidate for the United States senatorship, and was the choice of 
one wing of the party, but there was strong opposition to his nomina- 
tion. The Low and anti-Low delegates in the convention were about 
equal in numbers and the convention met in the Assembly Chamber 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 85 

of what was then the State Capitol, afterwards, and until lately de- 
molished, the Sacramento county courthouse. The desks which or- 
dinarily occupied the chamber had been removed, and replaced by 
chairs to accommodate the convention of one hundred and six dele- 
o-ates who were expected to be present. It was a noticeable fact, that 
almost without exception the Low delegates, dubbed the short-hairs, 
occupied the seats on the speaker's right hand, while the anti-Lows, 
known as the long-hairs, occupied the seats on his left. 

As soon as the convention had been called to order, two per- 
sons were nominated for temporary secretary, and voted for. The 
chairman of the county central committee announced that W. H. 
Barton, the long-hair candidate, had been elected to the position by 
a viva-voce vote. At once the convention was a scene of confusion, 
and the Low delegates insisted on a count of the vote. As Barton 
advanced from the left toward the secretary's table, the delegates 
from the right made a rush to the left side of the chamber. 

So sudden was the outbreak that it is hard to describe the ter- 
rible scene that followed and that has never before or since been wit- 
nessed in any political convention in this state. Barton was inter- 
cepted by his opponents before he could reach the secretary's table 
and was told that he should not serve in that position. The dele- 
gates on the long-hair side of the house hastened to his support, 
while the Low men presented a solid front to bar his way to the 
desk, and instantly the battle was on, the opposing wings joining in 
a hand to hand conflict. Weapons for the combatants appeared as 
if by magic, and solid hickory canes, which appeared to be abundant 
on both sides, were vigorously used. It was a reproduction of Don- 
nybrook fair and the battle waged hot and furious. Spittoons were 
numerous and flew through the air like bombshells. Inkstands sup- 
])lied the place of cannon balls and the artillery was in full action. 
Pistols were drawn and used freely as clubs, but no firearms were 
discharged or knives used. The principal weapons of warfare in use 
on both sides were the chairs, which had not been furnished with the 
idea of their being applied to the heads of the delegates, and which 
were not very well adapted for that purpose, but were swung in the 
air by vigorous arms and used with telling effect, being broken over 
the heads of the contending parties. In many instances they were 
lu'oken up in order that the legs might be used as clubs. No Homer 
has as yet sung the doughty deeds performed on that occasion, and 
the names of the heroes have passed into oblivion. The battle, while 
furious, did not last over about five minutes, and when the artillery 
fire had ceased, the long-hairs, who had rallied to Barton's support, 
had abandoned the field." Some had jumped through the windows, and 
others, who had been badly hurt, were assisted from the scene. The 
greater number had passed out into the ante-room and the main hall, 



86 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

leaving the scene of conflict. Thus ended this episode of what has 
passed into history as the "Si)ittoon Convention." 

The long-liaii's retired in a body after the battle was over, and 
organized in another hall, while the short-hairs, as victors, occupied 
the battle-field and jjroceeded with business. Each convention nom- 
inated a full local ticket and elected a set of delegates to the state con- 
vention. The long-hairs nominated Newton Booth for state senator, 
while E. H. Heaton was the nominee of the short-hairs. The shorts 
claimed that the trouble in the convention was caused by a partial 
ruling by the chairman of the committee in favor of Barton, and by 
the determination of the long-hairs to run the convention, regardless 
of the rights or wishes of their op]:»onents. The short-hair convention 
instructed its nominees for the legislature to vote for Low for United 
States senator, but he afterwards declined. The breach in the party 
was not healed by his withdrawal, however, and the opposition lasted 
until August, when the short-hairs gradually transferred their sup- 
})ort to John R, Felton for United States senator. When tlie state 
convention met, however, Cornelius Cole was elected, December 16, 
as the agreed candidate of both wings. 

Ex-Governor H. S. Foote, referred to in relation to the first Re- 
publican meeting, was well-known on this coast. Born in Virginia 
in 18U0, he graduated at Washington College in 1819, commenced the 
practice of law in 1822, edited a Democratic paper in Alabama, 1824-32, 
and resided in Mississippi for a number of years, being elected by the 
legislature of that state to the United States senate. He resigned his 
senatorship and was elected governor of the state in 1852, In 1854 he 
came to California and joined the Native American party and was its 
candidate for United States senator in 1856, being defeated by David 
C, Broderick. He returned to Mississippi in 1858 and took an active 
part in politics. He represented Tennessee in the Confederate con- 
gress. During his life he was engaged in three duels and was wounded 
in two of them. One of his daughters became the wife of Senator W. 
M, Stewart, and the other two married and reside in California, while 
his two sons became ])racticing lawyers on the Pacific coast. Mr. Foote 
posbcssed considerable ability as a writer. In 1866 he published "The 
War of the Rebellion," and "Scylla and Charybdis." In 1871 he ]>ub- 
lished a volume of reminiscences and was also the author of "T^exas 
and the Texans," published in 1847. He died near Nashville, at his 
residence, May 20, 1880. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 87 

CHAPTER XIII 
COUNTY GOVERNMENT 

Sacramento county was formally organized in 1850, when tlie legis- 
lature passed ''An act subdividing the state into counties and estab- 
lishing the seats of justice therein," February 18, 1850. Section 17 
of that act defined the boundaries of Sacramento county as follows : 
"Beginning at a point ten miles due north of the mouth of the Ameri- 
can river, and running thence in an easterly direction to the junction 
of the north and south forks of said river ; thence up the middle of 
the principal channel of the south fork to a point one mile above the 
head of Mormon island, so as to include said island in Sacramento 
county ; thence in a southerly direction to a point on the Cosmnnes 
river eight miles above the house of William Daylor; thence due south 
to Dry creek; thence down the middle of said creek to its entrance 
into the Moquelumne river, or into a large slough in the tule marsh; 
thence down the middle of said slough to its junction with the San 
Joaquin river ; thence .down the middle of said river to the mouth of 
the Sacramento river, at the head of Suisun bay; thence up the mid- 
dle of the Sacramento river to the mouth of Merritt's slough; thence 
up the middle of said slough to its head ; thence up the middle of the 
Sacramento river to a point due west of the place of beginning, and 
then east to the place of beginning. The seat of justice shall be Sacra- 
mento City." 

In the "History of Sacramento," ])ublished in 1853 by Dr. John 
I. Morse, who was the earliest historian of the embryo city and county, 
he alludes to what was probably the first election held in what was then 
known as Sacramento District, as follows: "In the fall of 1848, an 
election was held at the fort (Sutter's) for first and second alcaldes, 
and resulted in the selection of Frank Bates and John S. Fowler. 
Fowler resigned in the spring following, and H. A. Schoolcraft was 
elected to fill the vacancy. In the spring of 1849, Brannan, Snyder, 
Slater, Hensley, King, Cheever, McCarver, McDougal, Barton Lee, 
Dr. Carpenter, Southard, and Fowler were elected a board of com- 
missioners to frame a code of laws for the district. Pursuant to the 
wish of this legislating committee, the ]:>e()])le convened under a broad- 
spreading oak at the foot of I street. The report, which was then of- 
ficially submitted and which was duly accepted by the sovereigns as- 
sembled, provided the following offices of a jurisdiction extending from 
the Coast Range to the Sierra Nevada, and throughout the length of 
the Sacramento A'^alley, to wit: — One alcalde and one sheriff. IT. A. 
Schoolcraft was then elected alcalde, and A. M. Turner, sheriff. This 
constituted the judiciary of Northern California up to the time that 
those changes took place in very rapid succession after the immigration 
of 1849 began to concentrate at Sacramento." 



88 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

In 1871 a history of Sacramento was published in Crocker's direc- 
tory, which was written by D, J. Thomas, and alludes in part to the 
same event, but as will be seen, the list of the legislative committee 
differs somewhat, and as to which is correct, there is no means of de- 
ciding. Mr. Thomas says: 

' ' The first attempt to establish a civil government under American 
ideas of government was made on April 30, 1849, when a mass meeting 
of the then residents of Sacramento City and other portions of Sacra- 
mento district was held at the Embarcadero to devise a means for the 
government of the city and district. At this meeting Henry A. School- 
craft presided, Peter Slater was vice-president and James King of 
William and E. J. Brooks secretaries. Samuel Brannan explained 
the object of the meeting, and it was resolved that a legislature of 
eleven members should be elected, with full powers to enact laws for 
the government of the city and district. It was also determined to hold 
the election forthwith, and Henry Bates, M. D., M. F. McClellan, Mark 
Stewart, Ed. H. Von Pfister and Eugene I. Gillespie were appointed 
judges. The vote resulted in the election of John McDougal, Peter 
Slater, Barton Lee, John S. Fowler, J. S. Robb, William Pettit, Wm. 
M. Carpenter, M. D., Charles D. Southard, M. M. McCarver, James 
King of William and Samuel Brannan, but upon the announcement of 
the result, Robb declined to accept, and Henry Cheever was chosen. 
The eleven were immediately sworn in, and some time afterward adopt- 
ed a code that no laws were wanted, and that all the officers necessary 
for the district of Sacramento, bounded on the north and west by the 
Sacramento river, on the east by the Sierra Nevadas, and on the south 
by the Cosumnes river, were one alcalde and one sheriff. They then 
submitted the code to the people for adoption or rejection, and asked 
them at the same time to vote for officers. The code was adopted. 

''Nothing further toward adopting a local government was at- 
tempted until after the proclamation by General Riley (the military 
governor) was issued at Monterey on June 3rd. In fact, nothing 
seemed necessary, if theft was by common consent punished, as the 
Times saj^s, 'by giving the offender thirty or forty rawhide lashes, 
and then ordering him off, not to return under penalty of death. ' ' ' 

The proclamation of General Riley called for an election to be 
held August 1, 1849, to elect delegates to a general convention and 
for filling necessary offices. A meeting was held on July 5th, and a 
committee was appointed to organize the district into precincts, ap- 
portion the representation, and nominate the candidates to be voted 
for. The committee consisted of R. B. Cornwall, C. E. Pickett, Will- 
iam M. Carpenter, Samuel Brannan, John McDougal, W. Blackburn, 
J. S. Robb, Samuel J. Hensley, Mark Stewart, M. M. McCarver, John 
S. Fowler and A. M. Winn. 

On the 14th the committee reported, recommending the places for 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



89 



polls etc At the election the vote stood: For delegates to the con- 
stitutional convention: Jacob R. Snyder, 469; John A. Sutter 468; 
John Bidwell, 462; W. E. Shannon, 458; L. W. Hastings, 450; W b. 
Sherwood 446; M. M. McCarver, 296; John S. Fowler, 289; John Mc- 
bougal, 281; Charles E. Pickett, 193; W. Blackburn, 192; E. 0. Crosby, 
189;'^R. M. Jones, 179; W. Lacey, 123; James Queen, 130. 

'For local offices: William Stout, Henry E. Robinson, R. B. Corn- 
wall Eugene I. Gillispie, T. L. Chapman, Berryman Jennings, John 
P Rodo-ers, A. M. Winn, and M. F. McClellan were elected as mem- 
bers of^the'city council without opposition, by an average vote of 424. 
James S Thomas was elected first magistrate by three hundred ninety- 
three votes, against twenty-tAvo for S. S. White and five /or J. S. 
Fowler. J. C. Zabriskie was elected second magistrate; H. A. School- 
craft, recorder, and D. B. Hanner, sheriff. 

Under the call for the constitutional convention the district was 
entitled to but four delegates, and J. R. Snyder, W. E. Shannon, W. 
S Sherwood and John A. Sutter were certified by General Riley as 
elected representatives. Afterwards the representation was increased 
to fifteen, and in addition to the original four, eleven others were ap- 
pointed, as follows: L. W. Hastings, John Bidwell, John S. Fowler, 
M. M. McCarver, John McDougal, E. 0. Crosby, W. Blackburn, James 
Queen, R. M. Jones, W. Lacey and C. E. Pickett. 

The convention adjourned in October and an election was called 
for November 12, 1849, to vote on the constitution, for state officers, 
and for representatives in the legislature. At that election the vote 
of Sacramento district was declared to be as follows: For the^Con- 
stitution, 4317; against the Constitution, 643; for Governor, P. H. 
Burnett, 2409; J. A. Sutter, 856; W. S. Sherwood, 1929; Thomas Mc- 
Dowell, 87; William M. Stewart, 448. 

For State Senators: John Bidwell, 3474; Elisha 0. Crosby, 2610; 
Thomas J. Green, 2516; Henry E. Robinson, 2328; Murray Morrison, 
•-^171- Gilbert A. Grant, 1687; Hardin Biglow, 1407; Charles E. Pickett, 
905. ' The first four were declared elected and at the ensuing session 
the countv boundaries were fixed. 

The first Mondav of October was fixed in the first election law as 
the dav for electing state officers and was denominated the general 
election The first Mondav in April was designated as the clay tor 
the election of countv officers and was called the county election. Ihe 
legislature of 1851 repealed the clause fixing the time for the counts 
election and provided that it should be held at the same time as the 
state election, and the time for that election was changed to the first 
Wednesdav in September, where it remained for a number ot ye^is 
Originallv", the terms of the county officers commenced on the hrst 
Mondav in Mav, 1850, but the legislature of 1851 changed it so that 
the term commenced on the first Monday in October following the elec- 



90 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tioii. The legislature in 1863 changed it again so that the official terms 
coniiiienced on llio first Monday in March following the election. The 
new constitution, adopted in 1871), fixed the time for all state and 
county officers commencing their terms of office on the first Monday 
in January. 

The first county officers, elected April 1, 1850, to serve until April, 
1852, were as follows: County judge, E. J. AVillis; sheriff, Joseph 
McKinney; clerk, Presley Dunlap; recorder, L. A. Birdsall; district 
attorney, William C. Wallace; county attorney, John H. McKune; 
treasurer, William Glaskin; assessor, David W. Thorpe; surveyor, J. 
G. Cleal ; coroner, P. E. Ewer ; J. S. Thomas was elected district judge 
by the legislature of 1849-50, and he resigned, January 1, 1851. Tod 
Robinson was appointed January 2, 1851, and served until the first 
part of August, when Ferris Forman, who was secretary of state dur- 
ing the administration of John B. Weller, succeeded him on the 14th 
of AugTist, and presided one month. Lewis Aldrich became district 
judge September 15, 1851. Joseph McKinney, sheriff, was killed near 
Brighton, on the evening of August 15, 1850, the day after the Squat- 
ter riot, and Ben McCulloch was elected at a special election to fill 
the vacancy, on the first Monday in September. The office of county 
attorney was abolished by the legislature of 1851, the duties of the 
office being assigned to the district attorney. Wallace resigned in the 
meantime, and was succeeded October 18, 1850, by Milton S. Latham, 
afterward governor. William .Glaskin resigned the office of treasurer, 
August 22, 1850, and John AY. Peyton was a])|)ointed to fill the vacancy. 
He in turn resigned November 29, 1850, and Charles H. Swift was ap- 
pointed treasurer and collector by the court of sessions, of which he 
was a member. 

The court of sessions was composed of the county judge and two 
associates and was the court of criminal jurisdiction. The associates 
were elected by a convention of justices of the peace, held the first 
Monday in, October of each year, exce]it the first convention, which was 
held May 20, 1850, when Charles F. Swift and C. C. Sackett were elected 
associates. I'his court filled vacancies in office in the county and at- 
tended to the financial affairs of the county in early times. When 
Swift was appointed treasurer he was succeeded by James Brown as 
an associate, who assumed his duties February 7, 1851, and was suc- 
ceeded August 14 by D. D. Bullock. 

County officers to serve from October, 1851, to October 5, 1853, were 
elected Sejitember 3, 1851, as follows: County judge, E. J. Willis; 
sheriff, A. D. Patterson; clerk, L. B. Harris; recorder and auditor, 
W. S. Long; district attorney, George IT. Charter; treasurer, Cyrus 
Rowe; assessor, W. A. Selkirk; surveyor, John G. Cleal; coroner, 
S. J. May; public administrator, John T. Brown; associate justices. 
George Wilson and James B. Gates. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 91 

A board of supervisors in the several counties to transact the 
financial business in their counties was provided for by the legis- 
lature of 1852, and a special election was held on June 14 of that 
year. John Noyes, Louis Z. Hagen, James S. Meredith, James Mar- 
tin, and E. M. Pitcher were elected, Meredith being elected chairman 
when the board was organized. At the general election held Septem- 
ber, 1852, the following were elected: William McNulty, Luther Cur- 
tis, John A. Watson, H. H. Lewis and H, B. AVaddilove. Watson was 
elected chairman and the lioard conducted the county business until 
May 16, 1853. After that time the court of sessions assumed control 
of the civil business of the county. 

At the election September 7, 1853, the following county officers 
were elected, and served until October, 1855 : County judge, Jolm 
Heard; sheriff, D. N. Hunt; clerk, Abner C. Hunter; recorder and 
auditor, John L. Craig; district attorney, James H. Hardy; treas- 
urer, J. Griswold; assessor, H. J. Bidleman; surveyor, W. L, De- 
Witt ; coroner, Ephraim Smith ; public administrator, James B. 
Mitchell. 

The legislature ])assed another act in 1855, relative to boards of 
supervisors, and as the supreme court had decided that it was con- 
templated by the constitution that the business interests of the vari- 
ous counties should l)e managed by the boards, the court of sessions 
was not eligible to act, and the counties again elected boards of super- 
visors. The first election under this act was held April 2, with the 
result that J. L. Howard, L. P. Ormsby and F. S. Munford constituted 
the board, which commenced its sessions early in May. In September, 
1855, L. R. Bickley, Josiali Johnson and S. R. Caldwell were elected to 
the board and Johnson was chosen chairman. 

September 5, 1855, county officers were elected as follows, serv- 
ing from October, 1855, to October 1, 1857: County judge, John 
Heard; sheriff, W. S. White; clerk, C. H. Bradford; recorder and 
auditor, John L. Bro^m ; district attorney, Frank Hereford; treas- 
urer, David Maddux; coroner, R. Bell; public administrator, Gordon 
Backus; superintendent of common schools, F. W. Hatch (the first 
school superintendent elected by the people). Up to the time Mr. 
Hatch assumed the office its duties were performed by the county as- 
sessor; the board of 1856 was composed of L. R. Beckley, A. Spinks 
and Julius Wetzlar, and Beckley was chairman. In 1857 the mem- 
bers of the board were Jared Irwin, C. C. Harrington and Frank Hast- 
ings, the latter being chairman. 

September 2, 1857, the county officers elected were : County judge, 
R. Robinson; sheriff, W. S. Manlove; clerk, J. B. Dayton; recorder 
and auditor, Jerome Madden; district attorney, Robert F. Morrison; 
treasurer, Morgan Miller; assessor, E. Black Ryan; surveyor, John 
G. Cleal; coroner, J. P. Counts; public administrator, L. R. Beckley; 



92 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

school superintendent, N. Slater. The legislature of 1858 passed a law 
consolidating the government of the city and county and increased the 
board of supervisors live members, making the president of the board 
a separate office. A special election was held in April, at which H. 
L. Nichols was elected president and Mark Hopkins, J. A. Carroll, 
8. C. Fogus, E. Stockton and W. K. Lindsay the new members. These, 
with the old members, met May 8, 1858. In September, 1858, a board 
was elected, consisting of the following: E. Granger, John Leavitt, 
Sylvester Marshall, H. T. Holmes, I. N. Babcock, John B. Taylor, L. 

C. Goodman and W. K. Lindsay, and the president was continued 
another year. August 4, 1859, B. H. Hereford was elected in place of 
Lindsay, resigned. 

The members in 1859 were: President, William Shattuck; mem- 
bers, E, Granger, John Leavitt, R. L. Robertson, A. Henley, I. N. 
Babcock, A. M. Green, L. C. Goodman and Larkin Lamb. S. Marshall 
served until October 11, when he was succeeded by Mr. Robertson. 
Thomas Letson was clerk, being the first elected under the consolida- 
tion act. October 12, 1859, Thomas Hunt was elected, vice Goodman, 
resigned. 

County officers elected September, 1859, and serving until October, 
1861, were: County judge, Robert Robertson; sheriff, Sylvester Mar- 
shall ; clerk and recorder, Jerome Madden ; district attorney, Cornelius 
Cole; treasurer, C. L. Bird; assessor, E. B. Ryan; surveyor, J. G. 
Cleal; coroner, D. Murray; public administrator, Jared Irwin,; school 
superintendent, F. W. Hatch; clerk of board and auditor, Thomas Let- 
son. Len Harris was elected county warden in 1861, but the office was 
abolished. The board in 1860 was composed of E. Granger, Thomas 
Hansbrow, P. H. Russell, A. Henley, J. S. Woods, A. M. Green, S. 
Waterman and Larkin Lamb. Shattuck, the president, was continued. 
The members of the l)oard in 1861 were : President, W^illiam Shattuck, 
E. Granger, Thomas Hansbrow, P. H. Russell, S. Hite, J. S. Woods, 
Jacob Dickerson, S. Waterman and John Hall. 

September 4, 1861, the election for county officers resulted as fol- 
lows: County judge, Robert C. Clark; sheriff, Benjamin N. Bugby; 
clerk and recorder, Jared Irwin; district attorney, W. W. Upton; 
treasurer, C. L. Bird; assessor, E. B. Ryan; surveyor, G. W. Colby; 
coroner, J, W. Reeves; public administrator, F. McComber; school 
superintendent, F. W. Hatch; clerk of board and auditor, Josiah 
Howell. Bird absconded and James C. McDonough was appointed 
treasurer by the board. The board in 1862 was composed of E. Gran- 
ger, N. L. Drew, Thomas Ross, S. Hite, J. L. Graves, Jacob Dickerson, 

D. L. Williams and J. Hall, with Shattuck as president. They served 
until March 7, 1864. In 1863 the legislature divided the city and county 
government and reduced the board of supervisors for the county to 
five members. The new organization took place in the spring and the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 93 

following composed tlie board: A. C. Bidwell, Thomas Ross, Joseph 
Hull, H. A. Thompson and Dwight Hollister, Ross being chairman. 

At the election of September 2, 1863, the following county officers 
were elected to serve until March, 1866: County judge, R. C. Clark; 
sheriif, James McClatchy; clerk and recorder, A. C. Bidwell; dis- 
trict attorney, M. M. Estee; treasurer, F. S. Lardner; assessor P. R. 
Beckley; surveyor, G. W. Colby; coroner, J. W. Reeves; public ad- 
ministrator, J. E. Miller; school superintendent. Sparrow Smith; clerk 
of the board of supervisors and auditor, Josiah Howell. At the gen- 
eral election in September, 1863, the members of the board elected were 
as follows: D. W. Clark, Thomas Ross, Joseph Hull, H. A. Thomp- 
son and Dwight Hollister. Thompson failed to qualify and on No- 
vember 16 Jesse Couch was elected in his place. This board was elect- 
ed to serve two years and took their seats the tirst Mondav in October, 
1863. 

An election was held Se])tember 6, 1865, and county officers 
elected as follows to serve from March 5, 1866, to March 5, 1868: 
County judge, Robert C. Clark; sheriif, James Lansing; clerk and 
recorder, E. D. Shirland ; district attorney, James C. Goods ; treasurer, 
Ezra Woolson; assessor, E. Black Ryan; surveyor, A. G. Winn; 
coroner, Joseph A, Conboie; public administrator, Findley R. Dray; 
school superintendent, F. W. Hatch; clerk of board and auditor. 
W. A. Anderson; members of the board: D. W. Clark, M. McManus, 
Joseph Hull, Jesse Couch, and William Beckman; Hull was chairman. 

An election was held September 4, 1867, and the following persons 
were elected to the county offices, serving from March, 1868, to March, 
1870: — sheriff, Edward F. White (contested by Hugh M. LaRue) ; 
clerk. W. B. C. Brown; district attorney, James C. Goods; treasurer, 
A. Spinks; assessor, F. R. Dray; surveyor, John Doherty; coroner, J. 
P. Counts ; public administrator, William Shattuck ; school superin- 
tendent, Augustus Trafton; clerk of board and auditor, W. A. Mc- 
Williams ; board : John Domingos, C. H. Ross, Benjamin Bailey, James 
vS. Meredith and William Beckman; Meredith was president. These 
members were elected for two years, and under the provision of the 
statute which was in force at the time of their election, their terms 
would have expired in October, 1869, but the legislature of 1867-68 
extended the term of the members from the Third, Fourth and Fifth 
districts (Bailey, Meredith, and Beckman) to 1871, and they served 
four years. Judge Clark was successively re-elected each time until 
the county judgeship was abolished' in 1879 by the new constitution. 

At the election September 1, 1869, the following county officers 
were elected, and served until March, 1872: — sheriff, J. S. Wood; 
clerk, W. B. C. Brown; treasurer, Alfred Spinks; recorder and ex- 
officio auditor, W. xV. McWilliams; assessor, F. R. Dray; district 
attorney, John K. Alexander; surveyor, A. G. Winn; coroner, J. P. 



94 HISTORY OP^ SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Counts; school superintendent, Augustus Trafton; ])ublic adminis- 
trator, William Shattuck; supervisors: — John Domingos, James H. 
Groth, Benjamin Bailey, James S. Meredith and William Beckman. 

At the general election of September 6, 1871, the officers elected 
were as follows, to serve until March, 1874: — sheriff, Mike Bryte; 
clerk, Lauren IJ|)son ; treasurer, John Bellmer; recorder and auditor, 
Jesse A. Stewart; assessor, F. R. Dray; district attorney, Henry 
Starr; surveyor, John Prentice; coroner, J. W. Wilson; school 
superintendent, S. H. Jackman; ]niblic administrator, N. G. Feldheim; 
board of supervisors: — John Domingos, James H. Groth, James S. 
Meredith, S. B. Moore and J. W. Sims. September 2, 1873, Daniel 
Brown, J. J. Bauer, L. Elkus and H. 0. Seymour were elected. 

At the same election the following were elected county officers: — 
sheriff, Hugh LaRue; collector of taxes, Joseph W. Houston; clerk, 
Ham C. Harrison; treasurer, John Bellmer; district attorney, Charles 
T. Jones; recorder, Matthew darken; auditor, Jesse A. Stewart; 
public administrator, H. S. Beals; superintendent of schools, George 
H. Kelly; surveyor, Ed. Murray; coroner, J. P. Counts; commissioner 
of highways, H. D. Johnson. The supervisors who served in 1874-75 
were: James S. Meredith, S. B. Moore, Daniel Brown, J. V. Sims, 
H. 0. Seymour, L. Elkus and J. A. Mason, the legislature having 
increased the number of districts to seven. 

The officers elected in September, 1877, were as follows : — sheriff, 
M. M. Drew; clerk, Thomas H. Berkey; treasurer, D. E. Callahan; 
auditor, W. E. Gerber; district attorney, George A. Blanchard; 
superintendent of schools, F. L. Landes; public administrator, Troy 
Dye; surveyor, John Prentice; coroner, A. J. Vermilya. The super- 
visors serving from October, 1877, to October, 1878, were : S. B. Moore, 
J. W. Wilson, J. J. Bauer, P. R. Beckley, Samuel Blair, Daniel Brown, 
and Edward Christy. In 1878-79, Benjamin Bailey served in place 
of S. B. Moore. 

The county officers elected in September, 1879, were: — sheriff, 
Adolph Heilbron; clerk, Thomas H. Berkey; assessor, Joseph W. 
Houston; auditor, William E. Gerber; treasurer, Ezra Woolson; 
public administrator, George F. Bronner; district attorney, Henry L. 
Buckley; superintendent of schools, Charles E. Bishop; coroner, A. 
J. Vermilya ; surveyor, James C. Pierson. Supervisors, 1880-81 : — J. 
W. Wilson, Benjamin Bailey, P. R. Beckley, Edward Christy, Stephen 
W. Butler, Samuel Blair and John F. Dreman. 

The legislature of 1882 changed the time of elections to November, 
to correspond with the election of president of the United States. In 
November of that year the officers elected were : sheriff, A. H. Estill ; 
clerk, C. M. Coglan; assessor, John T. Griffitts; treasurer, A. S. Green- 
law; district attorney, John T. Carey; auditor and recorder, W. E. 
Gerber; public administrator, George F. Bronner; superintendent of 



HISTORY OF vSACRAMENTO COUNTY 95 

schools, Charles E. Bishop; corouer, J. Frank Clark; surveyor, J. C. 
Pierson ; supervisors : J. F. Dreman, J. W. Wilson, Samuel Blair, S. W. 
Butler, Edward Christy, P. R. Beckley and Benjamin Bailey. 

At the election on November 4, 1884, the county officers were elected 
as follows : sheriff, J. W. Wilson ; clerk, W. B. Hamilton ; auditor and 
recorder, J, Henry Miller; district attorney, Henry L. Buckley; treas- 
urer, George E. Kuchler; public administrator, F. H. Russell; coroner, 
J. Frank Clark ; surveyor, J. C. Pierson ; supervisors : B. U. Steinman, 
George 0. Bates, George C. McMullen, S. J. Jackson and L. H. Fassett. 
The number of districts had been changed from seven to five. 

The following were elected November 2, 1886: County clerk, W. 
B. Hamilton; sheritf, M. M. Drew; assessor, A. L. Frost; treasurer, 
John L. Huntoon; district attorney, Elwood Bruner; auditor and re- 
corder, J. H. Miller; superintendent of schools, Benjamin F. Howard; 
public administrator, S. B, Smith; coroner, J. Frank Clark; surveyor, 
J. C. Pierson; supervisors: H. C. Ross and F. F. Tebbets. Steinman, 
Bates and McMullen held over. During the year Miller resigned as 
auditor and recorder, and Frank T. Johnson was elected to succeed 
him. Mr. Howard made a most efficient superintendent of schools; so 
much so indeed that he was re-elected term after term and served in 
that capacity for twenty years, during which time he lifted the schools 
to a high degree of excellence, making them the peer of any iii the state. 

November 6, 1888, the following were elected: sheritf, George C. 
McMullen; clerk, W. B. Hamilton; auditor and recorder, Frank T. John- 
son; district attorney, Elwood Bruner; treasurer, John L. Huntoon; 
public administrator, G. AY. Harlow ; coroner, J. Frank Clark ; surveyor, 
J. C. Boyd ; supervisors : Andrew Black and George 0. Bates. Erskine 
Greer, H. C. Ross and F. F. Tebbets held over. 

In 1890 the officers elected were : sheriff and tax collector, Thomas 
W. O'Neil; clerk, W. B. Hamilton; treasurer, Edward Lyon; auditor 
and recorder, F. T. Johnson; district attorney, Frank D. Ryan; assessor, 
R. D. Irvine; coroner, George H. Clark; public administrator, George 
F. Bronner ; surveyor, A. M. Winn ; supervisors : M. Miller, George 0. 
Bates; Andrew Black, Erskine Greer and Thomas Jenkins. In 1892 
the supervisors were J. M. Morrison, J. W. Todd, M. Miller, William 
Curtis and Thomas Jenkins. 

County officers in 1894 were as follows : sheritf and tax collector, 
Frank T. Johnson; clerk, W. B. Hamilton; treasurer, E. Lyon; auditor 
and recorder, R. T. Cohn; district attorney, Frank D. Ryan; assessor, 
Thomas H. Berkey ; coroner, George H. Clark ; public administrator, W. 
B. Miller ; surveyor, J. C. Boyd ; supervisors : John F. Dreman, J. W. 
Todd, J. M. Morrison, William Curtis and Thomas Jenkins. In 1896 the 
board was : J. F. Dreman, J. M. Morrison, William McLaughlin, Thomas 
Jenkins and William Curtis. Treasurer Lyon died during his term of 
office, and A. S. Greenlaw, his deputy, was elected by the supervisors 



96 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

to fill the vacancy. Public Administrator Miller also died during his 
term. 

In 1898 the officers elected were: sheriff, Frank T. Johnson; clerk, 
W. B. Hamilton; license and tax collector, B. N. Bugbey; treasurer, 
A. S. Greenlaw; auditor and recorder, R. T. Colm; district attorney, 

C. W. Baker; assessor, T. IT. Berkey; coroner, G. C. McMullen; public 
administrator, S. B. Smith; surveyor, J. C. Boyd; supervisors: Dugald 
Gillis, William McLaughlin, J. M. Morrison, William Curtis and Thomas 
Jenkins. In 1900 the board was: D. Gillis, William McLaughlin, M. J. 
Dillman, Morris Brooke and Thomas Jenkins. 

The legislature had previously separated the othces of sheriff and 
tax collector, and Bugbey took advantage of the fact that the convention 
had neglected to nominate a tax collector. He announced himself as 
a candidate for the office, and as Johnson neglected to announce himself, 
Bugbey was elected. Sheriff Johnson died during his term and the 
supervisors appointed David Reese to fill the vacancy. 

In 1902 the officers elected were: clerk, W. B. Hamilton; sheriff, 
David Reese; license and tax collector, Charles E. Trainor; treasurer, 
A. S. Greenlaw ; auditor, L. P. Williams ; recorder, R. T. Colin ; district 
attorney, A. M. Se.vmour; assessor, T. H. Berkey; coroner, W. F. 
Gormley; public administrator, S. B. Smith; surveyor, J. C. Boyd; 
supervisors : E. A. Meister, William McLaughlin, M. J. Dillman, Morris 
Brooke and T. Jenkins. In 1904 the board was : C. W. McKillip, James 
H. Donnelly, H. K. Johnson, E. A. Meister and Gillis Doty. 

Treasurer Greenlaw died during his incumbency, and D. W. Car- 
michael was elected by the supervisors to fill the vacancy. Mr. Car- 
michael appointed M. J. Curtis as his deputy, the legislature having 
provided for a deputy at the previous session. 

The officers elected for 1906 were as follows : clerk, W. B. Hamilton ; 
sheriff, D. Reese; license and tax collector, Charles E. Trainor; district 
attorney, E. S. Wachorst ; coroner, W. F. Gormley ; x^ublic administrator, 

D. McDougall; superintendent of schools, Mrs. Minnie R. O'Neil; sur- 
veyor, C. M. Phinney; recorder, C. A. Root; supervisors: Howard K. 
Johnson, David Ahern, Charles W. McKillip, J. H. Donnelly and L. 
C. Thisby. In 1908 the board was: Robert Callahan, J. H. Donnellv, 
L. C. Thisby, C. W. McKillip and David Ahern. 

Sheriff Reese died during his term of office, and the board of su))ei-- 
visors elected his son, Edward E. Reese, to fill the unexpired term. 
Assessor Berkey also died and the supervisors elected E. J. Kay, his 
deputy, to the position. Mr. Kay had been Berkey 's right hand man 
for several years, and was thoroughly competent to fill the position, 
being well acquainted with the values of real estate and persoun) 
property. 

The officers elected for 1910 wei'e: clerk, W. B. Hamilton; sheriff, 
David Ahern; license and tax collector, Charles K. Trainor; auditor. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 97 

L. P. Williams; recorder, C. A. Root; assessor, Ed. J. Kay; super- 
intendent of schools, Mrs. Minnie R. O'Neil; treasurer, M. J. Curtis; 
district attorney, E. S. Wachhorst; coroner, W. F. Gorniley; public 
administrator, D. McDougall; surveyor, Frank C. Miller; supervisors: 
J. H. Donnelly, Charles H. McKillip, Robert E. Callahan, James P. 
Kelly and Thomas Jenkins. 

County Clerk Hamilton died in the spring of 1911, and the board 
of supervisors elected Ed. F. Pfund, who had for many years been his 
deputy and was thoroughly conversant with the affairs of the office, 
to fill put the unexpired term. The appointment of Mr. Pfund gave 
universal satisfaction, both to the bar and the people, as his perennial 
courtesy and painstaking performance of his duties had gained him 
a host of friends. 

No man in the county was more universally liked and respected 
than "Billy" Hamilton, as he was always called. Genial and affable, 
he was the friend of all, and all were his friends. As was once said 
of him, "Billy Hamilton is the same man the week after election 
that he was a week before he was elected." An ardent hunter and 
fisherman, he had a fund of sporting and other anecdotes, and was 
so happy in his methods as a raconteur that the most astounding ex- 
periences issuing from his lips took on the appearance of verity. His 
death was mourned liy a host of friends. It was said of him that he 
never forgot a face, and could call every resident of the county by 
name, — a most valuable accomplishment for a politician. Peace to 
his manes. "We ne'er shall look upon his like again." 



CHAPTER XIV 
CITY OFFICERS 

A list of the officers of the city of Sacramento from 1849 follows : 

1849 — A. M. Winn, mayor; the alcalde was recorder; N. C. Cun- 
ningham, marshal ; William Glaskin, city clerk and auditor ; J. A. Tutt, 
assessor; S. C. Hastings, treasurer; B. Brown, collector; Murray Mor- 
rison, city attorney; R. J. Watson, harbormaster. 

1850 — Hardin Biglow, mayor (died in office) ; Horace Smith, 
mayor (to fill vacancy) ; B. F. Washington, recorder; N. C. Cunning- 
ham, marshal; J. B. Mitchell, city clerk and auditor; J. W. Woodland, 
assessor ; Barton Lee, treasurer ; E. B. Pratt, collector ; J. Neely John- 
son, city attorney ; George W. Hammersley, harbormaster. 

Hardin Biglow, the mayor, was severely wounded in the Squatter 
riot and died in San Francisco of cholera before recovering from his 
wounds. Horace Smith was elected to succeed him. J. W. Woodland, 
the assessor, was also killed in the Squatter riot, but his place does 



98 mSTOEY OF SACKAMENTO COUNTY 

not seem to have been filled, tlie elections at that time being for only 
one year. 

1851 — James R. Hardenbergh, mayor; W. H. McGrew, recorder; 
W. S. Wliite, marshal; L. Curtis, clerk and auditor; Samuel McKee, 
assessor; W. R. McCracken, treasurer; W. S. White, collector; J. 
Neely Johnson, city attorney; Jolm Requa, harbormaster. 

1852 — C. I. Hutchinson, mayor; \V. 11. McGrew, recorder; David 
McDowell, marshal; Washington Meeks, city clerk and auditor; Wil- 
liam Lewis, assessor; R. Chenery, treasurer; D. McDowell, collector; 
John G. Ayer, city attorney; Jolm Requa, harbormaster; W! A. Sel- 
kirk, superintendent of schools. 

1853 — J. R. Hardenbergh, mayor; N. Greene Curtis, recorder; 
W. S. White, marshal; Jolm A. Fowler, city clerk and auditor; Samuel 
T. Clymer, assessor; C. J. Torbert, treasurer; W. S. White, collector; 
L. Landus, Jr., city attorney; Gordon Backus, harbormaster; H. J. 
Bidleman, superintendent of schools. 

1854- — R. P. Jolmson, mayor; N. Greene Curtis, recorder; W. S. 
White, marshal ; T. A, Thomas, city clerk and auditor ; E. C. Winchell, 
assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer; N. A. H. Ball, collector; 
W. Cyrus Wallace, city attorney; Frank Harney, harbormaster; H. W. 
Harkness, superintendent of schools. 

1855 — James Lawrence English, mayor; N. Greene Curtis, re- 
corder ; James W. Haines, marshal ; W. E. Chamberlain, city clerk and 
auditor; Prescott Robinson, assessor; John C. Barr, treasurer; J. T. 
Knox, collector; Horace Smith, city attorney; James W. Haines, har- 
bormaster; Frank Tukey, superintendent of schools (resigned), F. W. 
Hatch (to fill vacancy). 

1856 — B. B. Redding, mayor; W. W. Price, recorder; Thomas Mc- 
Alpin, marshal; John F. Madden, city clerk and auditor; W. C. Felch, 
assessor; W. M. Brainerd, treasurer; John H. Houseman, collector; 
Henry Starr, city attorney; George C. Haswell, harbormaster; F. W. 
Hatch, superintendent of schools. 

1857 — J. P. Dyer, mayor; Presley Dunlap, recorder; James Lan- 
sing, marshal; John F. Madden, city clerk and auditor; Alex. Mont- 
gomery, assessor; James H. Sullivan, treasurer; John H. Houseman, 
collector; George R. Moore, city attorney; George C. Haswell, harbor- 
master; J. G. Lawton, superintendent of schools. 

1858 — H. L. Nichols, president of the board, justice of the ]:)eace, 
police judge; J. P. Hardy, marshal; J. B. Dayton, city clerk and 
auditor; E. B. Ryan, assessor; Morgan Miller, treasurer; W. T. Man- 
love, collector; R. F. Morrison, city attorney; Daniel H. Whepley, 
harbormaster; G. L. Simmons, superintendent of schools. 

1859 — \v. Shattuck, ]iresident of the board, justice of the peace, 
police judge; J. J. Watson, marshal; J. B. Dayton, city clerk and 
auditor; E. B. Ryan, assessor; Morg. Miller, treasurer; W. S. Manlove, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 99 

collector; R. F. Morrison, city attorney; G. L. Simmons, superintendent 
of schools. From 1858 to 1862 the city and county were consolidated 
and managed by a board of supervisors, one of which was president 
of the board. During this period the three city justices of the peace 
were, in rotation of a week each, police judge. 

1860 — W. Shattuck, president of the board; justice of the peace, 
police judge; J. J. Watson, marshal; Thomas Letson, city clerk and 
auditor; E. B. Ryan, assessor; C. L. Bird, treasurer; Sylvester Mar- 
shall, collector; Cornelius Cole, city attorney; F. W. Hatch, superin- 
tendent of schools. 

1861 — W. Shattuck, president of the board, justice of the peace, 
police judge; J. J. Watson, marshal; Thomas Letson, city clerk and 
auditor; E. B. Ryan, assessor; C. L. Bird, treasurer; Sylvester Mar- 
shall, collector; Cornelius Cole, city attorney; G. Taylor, superintend- 
ent of schools. 

1862 — W. Shattuck, president of the board; Thomas W^. Gilmer, 
police judge; J. J. Watson, marshal; Josiah Howell, city clerk and 
auditor; E. B. Ryan, assessor; C. L. Bird, treasurer; James McDonald, 
treasurer (appointed to fill vacancy) ; B. N. Bugbey, collector; Samuel 
Smith, collector (appointed to fill vacancy) ; W. W. Upton, city 
attorney; G. Taylor, superintendent of schools. 

The city government was changed April 25, 1863; the new lioard 
met and held its first session May 1, 1863, and after that the city 
was governed by three trustees until January 8, 1894, the first trustee 
being the president of the board and mayor; the second trustee street 
commissioner, and the third trustee superintendent of the waterworks. 

1863 — C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; H. T. Holmes, second 
trustee; Josiah Johnson, third trustee; S. S. Holl, police judge; J. T. 
Clark, chief of police (removed October 7, 1863, and D. H. Lowry 
appointed) ; Benjamin Peart, city auditor and clerk; James E. Smith, 
assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer; James E. Smith, collector; 

E. H. Heacock, city attorney; W. H. Hill, superintendent of schools. 

1865 — C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; S. D. Smith, second 
trustee ; Josiah Johnson, third trustee ; S. S. Holl, police judge ; F. T. 
Burke, chief of police; C. C. Jenks, city auditor and clerk; John C. 
Halley, assessor; Harvey Coswell, treasurer; D. A. DeMerritt, col- 
lector; E. H. Heacock, city attorney; S. C. Hall, harbormaster; W. H. 
Hill, superintendent of schools. 

1866— C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; S. D. Smith, second 
trustee; Josiah Johnson, third trustee; L. H. Foote, police judge; 

F. T. Burke, chief of police ; C. C. Jenks, city auditor and clerk ; John 
C. Halley, assessor; Harvey Caswell, treasurer; D. A. DeMerritt, 
collector; E. H. Heacock, city attorney; N. A. Kidder, harbor master; 
W. H. Hill, superintendent of schools. 

1867— C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; S. D. Smith, second 



100 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

trustee; David Kendall, third trustee; L. H. Foote, police judge; F. T. 
Burke, eliief of police ; John McClintock, city auditor and clerk ; E. R. 
Hamilton, assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer; D. A. DeMerritt, 
collector; M. C. Tilden, city attorney; W. H. Hill, superintendent of 
schools. 

18G8 — C. H. Swift, lirst trustee and mayor; John Rider, second 
trustee; David Kendall, third trustee; L. H. Foote, police judge; B. 
W. Martz, chief of police; John McClintock, city auditor and clerk; 
E. R. Hamilton, assessor ; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer ; D, A. DeMer- 
ritt, collector; M. C. Tilden, city attorney; W. H. Hill, superintendent 
of schools. 

18G9 — C. 11. Swift, first trustee and mayor; John Rider, second 
trustee; David Kendall, third trustee (died in office); L. H. Foote, 
police judge; B. W. Martz, chief of police; John McClintock, city 
auditor and clerk; W. T. Crowell, assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treas- 
urer; A. Leonard, collector; S. S. Holl, city attorney; W. H. Hill, 
superintendent of schools. 

1870— C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; John Rider, second 
trustee; James McCleery, third trustee; A. Henley, police judge; 
George Smith, chief of police ; John McClintock, city auditor and clerk ; 
W. T. Crowell, assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer; A. Leonard, 
collector; J. K. Alexander, city attorney; W. H. Hill, superintendent 
of schools. 

1871 — C. H. Swift, first trustee and mayor; John Rider, second 
trustee; James McCleery, third trustee; A. Henley, police judge; 
George Smith, chief of police ; John McClintock, city auditor and clerk ; 
S. S. Greenwood, assessor; W. E. Chamberlain, treasurer; H. Mont- 
fort, collector; Charles T. Jones, city attorney; W. H. Hill, superin 
tendent of schools. 

1872 — Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; John Rider, 
second trustee; James McCleery, third trustee; T. W. Gilmer, police 
judge; Matt Karcher, chief of police; E. M. Stevens, chief of police; 
John McClintock, city auditor and clerk; S. S. Greenwood, assessor; 
W. PI Chamberlain, treasurer; H. Montfort, collector; M. C. Tilden, 
city attorney; S. C. Denson, superintendent of schools. 

1873 — Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; John Rider, 
second trustee; Horace Adams, third trustee; T. W. Gilmer, police 
judge; Matt Karcher, chief of police; E. M. Stevens, chief of police; 
John McClintock, city auditor and clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; 
W. T. Crowell, collector; Samuel Poorman, treasurer; M. C. Tilden, 
city attorney; S. C. Denson, superintendent of schools. 

1874 — Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; W. F. Knox, 
second trustee; Horace Adams, third trustee; W. R. Cantwell, police 
judge; Matt Karcher, chief of police; E. M. Stevens, chief of police; 
John McClintock, city auditor and clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 101 

W. T. Crowell, collector; Samuel Poorman, treasurer; W. R. Hinkson, 
city attorney; Add C. Hinkson, superintendent of schools. 

1875— Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; W. F. Knox, 
second trustee; James McCleary, third trustee; M. S. Horan, police 
judge ; E. M. Stevens, chief of police ; P. L. Hickman, city auditor and 
clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; W. T. Crowell, collector; Samuel 
Poorman, treasurer; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; A. C. Hinkson, 
superintendent of schools. 

1876_Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; W. F. Knox, 
second trustee; James McCleery, third trustee; M. S. Horan, police 
judge; E. M. Stevens, chief of police; P. L. Hickman, city auditor 
and" clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; W. T. Crowell, collector; J. N. 
Porter, treasurer; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; A. C. Hinkson, 
superintendent of schools. 

1877 — Christopher Green, first trustee and mayor; W. F. Knox, 
second trustee ; James McCleery, third trustee ; Thomas Conger, police 
judge ; E. M. Stevens, chief of police ; E. H. McKee, city auditor and 
clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; G. A. Putnam, collector; J. N. 
Porter, treasurer; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; A. C. Hinkson, 
superintendent of schools. 

1878— Jabez Turner, first trustee and mayor ; W. F. Knox, second 
trustee ; James McCleery, third trustee ; Thomas Conger, police judge ; 
E. M. Stevens, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and clerk; 
Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; G. A. Putnam, collector; J. N. Porter, 
treasurer ; H. L. Buckley, city attorney ; A. C. Hinkson, superintendent 
of schools. 

1879— Jabez Turner, first trustee and mayor; W. F. Knox, second 
trustee; Josiah Johnson, third trustee; W. A. Henry, police judge; 
E. M. Stevens, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and clerk; 
Fred A. Shepherd, assessor ; . George A. Putnam, collector ; J. N. 
Porter, treasurer; H. L. Buckley, city attorney; F. L. Landes, super- 
intendent of schools.. 

1880— Jabez Turner, first trustee and mayor; Jerome C. Davis, sec- 
ond trustee; Josiah Johnson, third trustee; W. A. Henry, police 
judge; Matt Karcher, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and 
clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. 
E. Chamberlain, treasurer; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; F. L. 
Landes, superintendent of schools. 

1881 — John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor; Jerome C. Davis, 
second trustee (died October 5, 1881, before expiration of his term) ; 
Josiah Johnson, third trustee; W. A. Henry, police judge; Matt 
Karcher, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and clerk; Fred 
A. Shepherd, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. E. Chamber- 
lain, treasurer; "W. A. Anderson, city attorney; F. L. Landes, super- 
intendent of schools. 

1882— John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor ; John Ryan, second 



102 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

trustee; William Gutenberger, third trustee; W. A. Henry, police 
judge; M. Karclier, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and 
clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. 
E. Chamberlain, treasurer; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; J. R. 
Lane, superintendent of schools. 

1883 — John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor ; John Ryan, second 
trustee; William Gutenberger, third trustee; W. A. Henry, police 
judge; Matt Karcher, chief of police; E. H. McKee, city auditor and 
clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. 
A. Anderson, city attorney; J. R. Lane, superintendent of schools. 

1884 — John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor; H. B. Neilson, 
second trustee; William Gutenberger, third trustee; W. A. Henry, 
police judge ; Matt Karcher, chief of police ; W. E. Chamberlain, treas- 
urer; E. H. McKee, city auditor and clerk; Fred A. Shepherd, as- 
sessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. A. Anderson, city attorney; 
J. R. Lane, superintendent of schools. 

1885 — John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor; William Guten- 
berger, third trustee; E. H. McKee, city auditor and clerk; J. J. 
Buckley, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; W. A. Henry, police 
judge; 0. C. Jackson, chief of police; J. N. Porter, treasurer; W. A. 
\nderson, city attorney; J. R. Lane, superintendent of schools. 

1886 — John Q. Brown, first trustee and mayor; H. B. Neilson, 
second trustee; W. R. Jones, third trustee; E. H. McKee, city auditor 
and clerk; J. J. Buckley, assessor; J. N. Porter, treasurer; George A. 
Putnam, collector; W. A. Henry, police judge; H. F. Dillman, chief of 
police; E. C. Hart, city attorney; M. R. Beard, superintendent of 
schools. 

1887 — Eugene J. Gregory, first trustee and mayor; John Ryan, 
second trustee; W. R. Jones, third trustee; E. H. McKee, city auditor 
and clerk; J. J. Buckley, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; Henry 
L. Buckley, police judge; H. F. Dillman, chief of police; E. C. Hart, 
oity attorney; W^. E. Gerber, treasurer; M. R. Beard, superintendent 
of schools. 

1888 — Eugene J. Gregory, first trustee and mayor; John Ryan, 
second trustee; H. C. Wolf, third trustee; E. H. McKee, city auditor 
and clerk; J. J. Buckley, assessor; George A. Putnam, collector; 
Henry L. Buckley, police judge; Timothy Lee, chief of police; E. C. 
Hart, city attorney; M. R. Beard, superintendent of schools. 

1889 — P]ugene J. Gregory, first trustee and mayor; William Mc- 
Laughlin, second trustee ; H. C. Wolf, third trustee ; E. H. McKee, city 
auditor and clerk; J. J. Buckley, assessor; George A. Putnam, col- 
lector; Henry L. Buckley, police judge; Timothy Lee, chief of police; 
W. S. Clnirch, city attorney; W. E. Gerber, treasurer; M. R. Beard, 
superintendent of schools. 

1890 — W. D. Comstock, first trustee and mayor; William Mc- 
Laughlin, second trustee; H. C. AVolf, third trustee; E. H. McKee, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 103 

city auditor; George A. Putnam, collector; J. J. Buckley, assessor; 
W. E. Gerber, treasurer; Henry L. Buckley, police judge; Warren F. 
Drew, chief of police ; E. C. Hart, city attorney ; Albert Hart, superin- 
tendent of schools. 

1891 — W. D. Conistock, first trustee and mayor; William Mc- 
Laughlin, second trustee; Alonzo Conklin, third trustee; J. D. Young, 
auditor; George A. Putnam, collector; J. J. Buckley, assessor; AV, E. 
Gerber, treasurer; R. 0. Cravens, police judge; W. F. Drew, chief 
of police; E. C. Hart, city attorney; Albert Hart, superintendent of 
schools. 

1892 — W. D. Comstock, first trustee and mayor; E. H. Green, 
second trustee; Alonzo Conklin, third trustee; J. D. Young, auditor; 
George A. Putnam, collector; W. E. Gerber, treasurer; J. J. Buckley, 
assessor; R. 0. Cravens, police judge; John B. Rodgers, chief of 
police; E. C. Hart, city attorney; Albert Hart, superintendent of 
schools. 

1893 — ^B. U. Steinman, first trustee and mayor; E. H. Green, 
second trustee; Alonzo Conklin, third trustee; J. D. Young, auditor; 
George A. Putnam, collector; W. E. Gerber, treasurer; J. J. Buckley, 
assessor; H. L. Buckley, police judge; John B. Rodgers, chief of 
police; C. N. Post, city attorney; Albert Hart, superintendent of 
schools. 

A new charter for the city went into force January 8, 1894, by 
>vhich the number of trustees was increased from three to nine, the 
mayor being elected separate from the board, and the trustees being 
elected to severally represent the nine wards of the city 

1894-95— B. U. Steinman, mayor; W. D. Lawton, president of 
board of trustees; trustees: H. AVachhorst, Robert E. Kent, J. G. 
Davis, W. H. Bragg, L. Tozer, J. H. Devine, C. E. Leonard, T. J. Pen- 
nish, W. D. Lawton; J. D. Young, auditor and assessor; J. N. Porter, 
treasurer; E. H. McKee, collector; J. Frank Brown, city attorney; 
M. M. Drew, chief of police; 0. S. Flint, city clerk; Albert Hart, super- 
intendent of schools. 

1896-97 — C. H. Hubbard, mayor; C. E. Leonard, president of board 
of trustees; trustees: H. Wachhorst, R. E. Kent, James G. Davis, 
D. W. McKay, L. Tozer, J. H. Devine, C. E. Leonard, T. J. Pennish, 
C. H. Bentley; J. D. Young, auditor and assessor; D. W. Carmichael, 
treasurer; C. C. Robertson, collector; J. Frank Brown, city attorney; 
M. J. Desmond, city clerk; 0. W. Erlewine, superintendent of schools. 

1898-1899— Mayor, William Land; collector, C. C. Robertson; 
treasurer, A. L. Frost; auditor and assessor, J. D. Young; trustees — 
F. F. Tebbets, R. E. Kent, C. W. Paine, D. McKay, Philip Douglas, 
J. H. Devine; M. J. Desmond, clerk; chief of police, Thomas Dwyer 
(died in office, 1899) ; superintendent of schools, 0. W. Erlewine. Mr. 
Erlewine has been regularly re-elected to the office and was the in- 



104 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

cumbent until his resignation this spring under the present com- 
missioners. 

1900-1901— Mayor, George H. Clark; collector, C. C. Robertson; 
auditor and assessor, J. D. Young; trustees — F. F. Tebbets, R. E. 
Kent, C. W. Paine, John C, Ing, Jr., Philip Douglas, James H. Devine, 
Henry P. Brown, M. R. Beard, J. H. Dolan; clerk, M. J. Desmond; 
chief of police, John C. Sullivan. 

1902-1903— Mayor, George H. Clark; collector, C. C. Robertson; 
auditor and assessor, J. D. Young; treasurer, C. M. Prodger; 
trustees — F. F. Tebbets, R. E. Kent, J. G. Black, John C. Ing, Jr., 
S. H. Farley, J. H. Devine, Albert Elkus, M. R. Beard, E. J. Carra- 
gher; clerk, M. J. Desmond. 

1904-1905 — Mayor, W. J. Hassett; collector, J. E. Govan; auditor 
and assessor, W. D. Comstock; treasurer, C. M. Prodger; trustees — 
F. F. Tebbets (died 1904, George F. Rider appointed), Ed. McEwen, 
J. G. Black, John C. Ing, Jr., S. H. Farley, R. E. Callahan, Albert 
Elkus, James Popert, E. J. Carragher; clerk, M. J. Desmond; chief 
of police, Martin Coffey. 

1906-1907— Mayor, M. R. Beard; collector, M. H. Spaulding; 
auditor and assessor, Fred W. Carey; treasurer, C. M. Prodger; 
trustees— George H. Rider, Ed. McEwen (died 1906, J. H. Schacht 
appointed), John C. Ing, Jr., M. J. Burke, R. E. Callahan, Harry A. 
Nauman, James Popert, E. J. Carragher; clerk, M. J. Desmond; chief 
of police, John Denny. 

1908-1909— Mayor, Clinton L. White; collector, L. H. Spaulding; 
auditor and assessor, Fred M. Carey; treasurer, C. M. Prodger; 
trustees — Geo. F. Rider, J. H. Schacht, J. T. Murphy, E. P. Hammond, 
M. J. Burke, B. F. Catlett, Harry A. Nauman, 0. G. Hopkins, E. J. 
Carragher; clerk, M. J. Desmond; chief of police, John E. Sullivan. 

1910-1911— Mayor, M. R. Beard; collector, L. H. Spaulding; 
auditor and assessor, Fred W. Carey (died in 1910, Edward Haynes 
appointed) ; treasurer, C. M. Prodger (died in 1911, W. C. Hendricks 
appointed); city attorney, J. V. Hart; trustees — George Rider, C. H. 
Schacht, J. T. Murphy, E. P. Hammond, M. J. Burke, B. F. Catlett, 
H. Hoffman (died in 1911, C. W. Mier appointed), 0. G. Hopkins 
and E. J. Carragher; clerk, M. J. Desmond; superintendent of streets, 
R. C. Irvine; chief of police, William M. Ahern. 

1912-1913 — Mayor, M. R. Beard; auditor and assessor, Edward 
Ha^Ties; collector, L. H. Spaulding; city attorney, J. V. Hart; treas- 
urer, D. McDougall; trustees — Geo. Rider, John W. Crone, J. B. 
Hicks, E. P. Hammond, M. J. Burke, G. C. Simmons, C. W. Mier, 
.James Mangan and E. J. Carragher; clerk, M. J. Desmond; superin- 
tendent of streets, R. C. Irvine; chief of police, William M. Ahern. 
William Johnson was appointed by the commissioners chief of police 
durinsf the summer of 1913. 




FIRST DEPOT OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY RAILROAD, 
BUILT IN 1862 



K 



r -"f 








K STIJKIOT IN THE 't;2 FLOOD 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 105 

CHAPTER XV 
FLOODS 

The flood of 1850, heretofore mentioned as among the early dis- 
asters to the city, was only one of a series that devastated the city 
and county in later years, and some of which were far more wide- 
spread and destructive. Seasons of heavy rainfall have brought down 
from the mountains that bound the great Sacramento Valley on both 
sides torrents of rushing waters that have spread out over the low 
lands along the Sacramento river or overtopped the levees constructed 
to preserve the alluvial lands and swept away the banks erected as 
barriers, reminding man that his puny efforts to restrain and control 
the forces of nature were futile at such times. To-day the banks of 
the river in most places are crowned with substantial levees, many 
of them eighty to one hundred feet across the top, and holding back 
successfully the angry waters that surge and beat against them. But 
in many places these huge mounds have proved ineffectual in time of 
great floods, and the reclamation of the river lands and islands has 
been a costly and discouraging undertaking. The labor of months and 
years, costing many thousands of dollars, has often been swept away 
in a day and the fertile fields, often covered with a valuable crop, 
inundated and covered with several feet of sand and detritus. 

Long before the white man settled in the valley did these floods 
occur at different periods. The Indian mounds of past generations, 
the remains of which frequently appear on the low lands along the 
rivers, bear mute testimony to the rise of the raging waters and the 
necessity forced upon the aborigines of providing for the safety of 
themselves and their families from the devouring waters. Their tra- 
ditions give an account of various floods before the white man invaded 
the valley. The great flood of 1805 forms an epoch in their history 
from which they still reckon in speaking of subsequent events. That 
of 1825-6 was often referred to by the older members of the tribes who 
camped along the river in the early days of the state. The floods of 
1846-7 and of 1850 were familiar to the earliest pioneers and still 
remain vividly in the memories of the survivors of those days. The 
former did but little damage, for the reason that there was very little 
property subject to damage in those days. The latter, which has been 
referred to earlier in this volume, did an immense am.ount of damage 
to the infant city and occasioned much suffering. 

On the evening of January 8, 1850, a terrible southeast stonn set 
in, swelling the Sacramento river to such an extent that the slough 
on I street, between Second and Third, began to run over. Before 
night on Wednesday the water was running under the zinc building 
of Montgomery and Warbass, and torrents were rushing down Second 
and Third streets. On Thursday morning the whole city for a mile 
from the Embarcadero, except some high places on Tenth street, was 



106 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

under water. The next day buildings were carried from tlieir founda- 
tions. Very few buildings escaped having their lower floors flooded. 
The damage was immense, great quantities of provisions and goods 
being swept away. Dr. John F. Morse, in writing of the flood, says, 
among other things: 

"At 10 o'clock on the evening of the flood, when the back waters 
of the sloughs and the waters that came in from the banks of the Sac- 
ramento were rushing into the city, tearing up sidewalks and dislodg- 
ing merchandise, sweeping away tents and upsetting houses, — at this 
very time, and throughout the inundation, the city seemed almost 
mad with boisterous frolic, with the most irresistible disposition to 
revel m all the drinking, talking, swearing, dancing and shouting that 
were ever patronized by the wine-drinking son of Jupiter and Semele. 

"All the shipping and two-story houses became crowded with the 
unwebbed bipeds of hilarity and merriment. When hundreds of 
thousands of dollars in merchandise were being wrested from the 
merchants and traders by the sweeping currents that were running 
through the streets, in some places with irresistible force, no one 
could have found among the losers of the property a single dejected 
face or dejected spirit. There were no gloomy consultations, no long- 
ing looks cast upon the absconding produce, no animosities excited. 
A man who would purposely roll into the water that he might share 
in the general laugh that was entailed upon one who had accidentally 
fallen in, would not wet the sole of his foot to save a barrel of pork 
that was being carried off by the current. 

"In the early part of this great flood small boats would bring 
almost any price on sale or hire. A common-sized whale boat would 
bring $30 an hour, and sell readily for $1,000; but in an incredibly 
short time every particle of lumber that would answer for boat or 
raft making was appropriated, and in a few days the people were 
enabled to emigrate to the adjacent hills, where settlements were made, 
similar to the Hoboken of 1853. It would be impossible to estimate 
the amount of property destroyed by this terrible visitation." Team- 
sters lost from forty to fifty yoke of oxen and a large number of 
horses and mules were drowned, write the historians. On the 18th 
the water so far subsided as to leave some dry spots on the Embar- 
cadero and most of Second street. The great number of cattle drowned 
created much discomfort to the people. 

Another flood occurred in March, in which the city was saved 
from a second disaster by the energetic efforts of Hardin Biglow, 
who had built a levee across the sloughs at his own expense. This was 
the inception of the present system of levees which so effectually 
protects our city at present and renders it practically impregnable 
to the waters. 

Two years later came another devastating flood. For some days 
prior to Sunday, March 7, 1852, both the Sacramento and American 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 107 

rivers had taken on a threatening form, heavy rains in the foot-hills 
and a very heavy snowfall in the mountains having filled them hank 
full. About 1 a. m. Sunday the citizens were aroused from their 
slumbers by the clanging of the alarm bell, warning them of impending 
danger. Excited men soon thronged the streets, anxious to ascertain 
the cause. On investigation it was found that, owing to a sudden rise 
in the American river, the levee near its mouth had given way and 
the water was rushing fast through a breach in its crumbling banks. 
The mayor, chief engineer and many citizens were soon on the ground, 
making every effort to avert disaster. Timber, hay, sacks of barley, 
dirt and other things were cast into the breach, but to no avail. The 
earth on which the timbers of the sluice gate rested became loosened 
and about two o'clock the bridge gave way and was swept away by the 
current into the slough. Brooks' store house, on the levee, followed 
the bridge and as the opening widened the rush of waters increased 
and trees, houses, scows and tents were swept into the vortex and 
coming with tremendous force against the bridge across Third street 
snapped it like a pipe stem and it too was swept away, cutting off all 
communication with the peninsula and imperiling the safety of many 
residents. 

Boats were quickly procured and after great exertions all were 
rescued and conveyed to a place of safety. By four o'clock the water 
had reached the level of I street and was running up Second to J. 
The mayor issued a proclamation, calling on all to help stem the tide. 
A temporary embankment stopped the water at I street, but it soon 
found its way around to Seventh and submerged I street again. The 
embankment was continued to Seventh, where the ground was higher, 
but soon the water was pouring into J street through the slough. The 
Sacramento river at this time was two feet lower than in the flood 
of 1850, and lacked twenty inches of overtopping the levee, and the 
sloughs below the city contained less water than at the former flood. 
But the American was higher and was rising, while the Sacramento 
was stationary. The levee was crumbling and the water was trickling 
through and it appeared certain that the levee must >aeld to the 
rising waters. Much property had been destroyed already. Cattle, 
pigs and poultry floated by on the flood and the water stood from a 
few inches to two feet deep on the lower floors on I street. By six 
o'clock the city was almost wholly submerged, the buildings rising like 
so many pyramids on the desert over the face of the waters, only 
Sutter's Fort and the ''Ridge" being above the flood. 

By this time the American river, which had overflowed its banks, 
had crept insidiously around the city and a torrent rushed in on the 
opposite side. The east levee had broken and the water poured vio- 
lently in. The stores on K street were nearly all flooded several inches 
deep, but J street, being higher, was still above the flood. The entire 
city was wild with excitement. Every one who possessed goods or fur- 



108 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

niture was removing them to higher apartments or ground. Houses 
on the outskirts were ahnost deserted and the residents took refuge 
on scows. Carpenters became boat builders, but there was not half 
enough material or labor on hand to supply the demand. The water 
still rose and by Monday morning scarcely a foot of land was visible 
in the city. Then a cold southeast wind rose and the water receded 
four inches by noon, but still stood two feet deep on K street and also 
covered J, but not so deeply. From the commencement communication 
with the outside had been cut off. Stages for Auburn and Nevadg 
leaving on the 6th were forced to turn back. On the following day 
one was wrecked while trying to cross a slough at Sutter's race, and 
the horses were saved with difficulty. Little's bridge at Coloma, the 
bridge at Uniontown, the two covered bridges at Salmon Falls and all 
the bridges on the south and middle forks of the American river were 
carried away. Many horses and mules were drowned while trying 
to swim a deep slough near Brighton. Most of the losses sustained, 
however, were in the suburbs, or outside of the city. The merchants 
had, as a rule, profited by their experience in 1850, and removed their 
goods in time to escape damage. 

But with all the damage and danger, not to say discomfort, the 
elastic spirits of the pioneers were undaunted. Manj^ enjoyable ex- 
periences were not lacking and pleasure excursions took place over the 
submerged country outside. The Sacramento Daily Union of March 9, 
1852, had the following to say : 

"J street, up town, proved to be the center of attraction yester- 
day, and i^resented many enlivening and animating scenes through 
the day. Its bosom was covered with unique water craft of every con- 
ceivable description, and the ingenuity displayed in their construction 
was only equalled by the tact and skill with which they were managed. 
The greater number consisted of skiffs, and these constituted a regular 
line of ferry boats, plying from block to block. There were also 
freight boats laden with hay, barley, provisions, etc., which articles 
were transported in accordance with established rates. Then came 
the fancy sail boat of the man of leisure, shooting swiftly past the 
meaner craft and stretching upward for more sea room ! We noticed 
one of these far out on the prairie, close-hauled to a southeast wind 
and apparently bound for Stockton. Among other craft, the omnibus 
boat was conspicuous. They are made by fastening two or three empty 
boxes together. These appeared to be the favorite conveyance of 'the 
people,' although scarcely a trip was successfully performed, owing 
to the ])ilots getting off their course, throwing their craft on their 
ends, and spilling their passengers overboard. Then, by hoisting 
signals of distress, these attracted the attention of some other catama- 
ran, which bore down to their relief. One cute cha]) built a big box 
with wheels attaclied, and after getting 'steam u])' threaded his way 
through K street. Besides these, there were metallic boats, dug-outs, 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 109 

hide boats and canoes — all filled with people, out on business or pleas- 
i^YQ — all, too, joyous and happy. It was, in fact, an aquatic carnival, 
and the town was afloat on a frolic." 

The high land at the head of I street, near the plaza, was densely 
crowded during- the flood with human beings, wagons, tents, cattle and 
horses. As in the flood of 1850, the dwellers near the sloughs on the 
south side of the city and all those on lower ground escaped from the 
water and made this their camping ground. On J street a number 
of Mexicans and boys improved the opportunity given them by free 
water, of washing the surface ground in front of the different banking 
houses, in some instances with considerable success. The wild animals 
also sought refuge and fifteen rabbits were caught at one time in a 
dwelling near the slough, which proved a treacherous refuge for them. 
A large number of rats took up their abode on a big stump on Sixth 
street, where they were soon slaughtered by men and boys, much to 
the disgust of a crowd of Chinamen who deprecated the destruction 
of so much good food. 

The flood lasted four days before it began to subside. Before this, 
those who had urged the necessity of a substantial levee on the river 
front to keep out the flood waters had been largely in the minority 
and their arguments had been scornfully rejected and they often sub- 
jected to public denunciation for advocating the incurring of such 
a needless expense. It was claimed and believed by many that even 
if a levee were built, the water would percolate through and undermine 
it. But public opinion now underwent a radical change. The last 
flood had demonstrated the fact that it might become an annual occur- 
rence and men thought it wise to heed the warning, and arrange- 
ments were made at once to construct more efficient levees. 

December 19, 1852, a break occurred in the levee on the American 
river, between Stuart's and the ''Ridge." By the morning following 
the business portion of the city was submerged to a depth of several 
inches, but the water soon subsided, but little damage being done by it. 
The city was again completely flooded January 1, 1853. The 
water of the Sacramento river was twenty-two feet above low-water 
mark and two feet higher than during the great flood of 1850. Boats 
were again in great demand and New Year's calls were made in them. 
But the trade, although profitable, was brief, many of the boats being 
stranded by the quickly-receding waters. While but little damage 
was done in the city, the county and those adjoining it suffered con- 
siderable destruction of property and the incidental discomfort and 
suffering. The city now passed an ordinance for the improvement of 
the river levees. 

For nearly eight years after this Sacramento escaped the floods 
and her prosperity increased. She was fast growing into a large 
city. She had passed through fire and flood and all the privations and 
misfortunes incident to the history of a pioneer city, and far more than 



110 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the average of them. Her people had met all these discouragements 
and misfortunes with a smiling face and an undaunted courage. It 
seemed as if they had surmounted all their trials and their career 
henceforth was to be one of continued prosperity. But the end was 
not yet. Fate had not yet shot all her arrows of misfortune and one 
more, the most destructive of all, was yet to strike the city. 

The precursor of the great misfortune was a flood March 28, 1861, 
when the American again rose, quickly reaching a point twenty feet 
above low water mark. It swept away the wing-dam at Rabel's tan- 
nery and damaged the levee at that point greatly. The water from 
Sutter's lake overflowed its bounds and cut a channel through First 
street to the American river, Swift's bridge, and Lisle 's bridge across 
the American were both destroyed. Norris' bridge became impassa- 
ble and ferries had to be established, there being no other means of 
crossing the American between Folsom and Sacramento. 

About 8 o'clock on the morning of December 9, 1861, the an- 
nouncement was made that the levee on the eastern boundary of the 
city had given way and that the waters of the American river were 
sweeping down on the devoted city with uncontrollable fury. On they 
came with irresistible force. Well was it for Sacramento in that hour 
of trial that the break in the levee had not occurred in the night. Had 
it done so the loss of life would have been heavy. As it was, a number 
of persons were drowned and the property destroyed far exceeded in 
quantity and value that of any preceding flood. Bursting through the 
eastern levee, the water poured down along Thirty-first street till it 
struck the R street levee, which was swept away like an eggshell by 
the tremendous force of the car rent and the city was at the mercy of 
the flood. The other levees surrounding the city instead of proving a 
protection, now constituted a source of dancer and damage, confining 
the waters and forcing them to rise to a higher level than they might 
otherwise have attained. 

Within an hour of the first alarm many persons on Eleventh 
street found themselves surrounded by water and unable to escape. 
Their appeals for help were heartrending. Stock owners began to 
bestir themselves, and great numbers of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and 
sheep were driven across the Yolo bridge and down to Sutterville. By 
eleven o'clock the water had risen to such a depth at Fifth and Sixth 
streets that many houses were overturned and set afloat. Women 
and children clung to the doors and windows of these and cried out for 
assistance. There was a scarcity of boats, and for a time many per- 
sons seemed doomed to perish inevitably. Many families were driven 
from their homes in the vicinity of the Pavilion, on the corner of 
Sixth and M streets. The upper doors of the Pavilion being locked, 
they were burst open and many sought refuge in the building. 

The Howard Benevolent Society made its headquarters here, and, 
having four boats at its disposal, furnished soup and blankets to all 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 111 

who came through the da}^ In turn M, L, K and J streets were 
flooded by the water backing up from the R street levee. Inmates of 
one-story buildings deserted them while those living in two-story 
structures carried their bedding and furniture upstairs. Cellars were 
flooded and large quantities of merchandise of all descriptions de- 
stroyed. Boats and all imaginable kinds of craft were employed in 
saving life and property, and moved back and forth laden with pas- 
sengers and various things. Many were upset, and many a foot pas- 
senger plunged into a deep hole, suffering temporary submergement. 

Finally, the chain gang cut a hole through the R street levee and 
the water poured out of it in a torrent. The force of the water here 
drew many houses afloat in the vicinity — some of them two-story 
edifices — into the break, where they were torn to pieces. It was im- 
possible to obtain any data as to the number of persons who perished. 
A teamster was drowned near Sutter's Fort. A man was drowned 
with his team at the corner of Ninth and M streets through falling into 
an open cistern, and a child in the wagon was saved with great diffi- 
culty. It was generally supposed that many women and children were 
drowned in one-story houses, being unable to escape to the roofs of 
their dwellings. 

The only dry portions of the city were I street, the river front, the 
R street levee and Poverty Ridge, now known as Sutter terrace. I 
street and the levee were crowded with stock taken there for refuge. 
Many boats were employed in the evening in taking passengers to and 
from the hotels and restaurants for meals, the fires in many of which 
had been extinguished by the waters. 

The steamer Swallow, coming from Marysville, was dashed 
against the bridge pier, injuring two of her passengers. The train for 
Folsom went only to Poverty Ridge, passengers being carried thence 
in boats for half a mile and put on another train and carried to their 
destination. In many places the railroad track was destroyed. Early 
in the day the city gauge showed the water had risen to twenty-one 
feet, and at sundown it had risen six to eight inches higher, while 
the Yolo side was but slightly overflowed'. During the night several 
houses floated down the river and female voices within them were 
heard shrieking vainly for help. Two sections of Lisle 's bridge across 
the American were swept away, but lodged against the Sacramento 
bridge and were secured there. 

The next morning was clear and the waters had subsided several 
feet, leaving L street a bed of mud and those north of it likewise. 
Planks of sidewalks and crossings, stranded boats and scows used the 
day before, were scattered all around. The city south of L street was 
still under water, having first felt the fury of the flood, and here boats 
were still in use. The area was crowded with capsized houses, mer- 
chandise and other things, and the loss of property here was great. 

Many acts of humanity were performed, but avarice and callous- 



112 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ness were also found during these perils. Some men borrowed boats 
on the levee under pretense of rescuing sufferers, but instead turned 
them into a means of extortion. One man had placed his wife on the 
roof of a house about to fall, and was obliged to pay one of these 
scoundrels $75 to carry her to a place of safety. A man standing in- 
side of a house, up to his chin in water, begged to be taken into a boat. 
The boatman demanded $15 fare, but he said he had no money. "Then 
I'll leave you to drown," was the unfeeling reply. Fortunately an- 
other boat came along and rescued him. Such things were common, 
and near midnight two women were saved who had been on the roof 
of a house on Eleventh street, near L, for seven hours, unable to find 
a boatman who would take them off. The loss of property was esti- 
mated at $1,500,000. How many lives were lost will never be known. 
By December 11 the water had subsided and traffic was resumed. 

Scarcely had this flood passed away, however, than it was suc- 
ceeded by another. On December 23, while men were still employed 
in building up and strengthening the levee on Burns' slough, the 
American river rose again so rapidly that it carried away a portion 
of the new embankment and that portion of the city lying south of 
Tenth and L streets was inundated the second time to a maximum 
depth of about four and a half feet. The water soon subsided and the 
levees were so far repaired and strengthened that, although the Sac- 
ramento river five days later stood twenty-two feet and seven inches 
above the low water mark, the highest yet recorded, the city was quite 
free from water in its business portion. 

The rains still continued and as the lowlands could not clear 
themselves of flood water, a still greater calamity hung over the de- 
voted city and would have been the climax of disaster had not the 
previous floods warned the inhabitants to be prepared for anything. 
That there was less loss of life and property is largely due to this 
fact, as the flood came suddenly. On Thursday, January 9, 1862, in 
consequence of the continued rains and the melting of the snows in 
the Sierras, the American river overflowed the levee at Rabel's tan- 
nery and speedily covered the entire area lying east of the Thirty-first 
street levee, and before ten o'clock that night the water had covered the 
lower part of the city a foot deep. 

The levee commissioners after the flood of December, 1861, had 
established a camp of about thirty men in the vicinity of Burns' 
slough, under Charles Farley. The flood of January 9 came on them 
without warning, swept away the house and compelled its inmates to 
take shelter upon the roof of the barn, which, being banked up by sand 
and sediment withstood the flood. 

About four o'clock Burns heard their cries and came in a whale 
boat with an old sailor, to succor them. Farley, seeing his men pre- 
paring to jum]) into the boat, threatened to shoot the first one who 
did so without his orders, telling them that such a move would result 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 113 

in the loss of all their lives. As a result, only five men were taken off 
at this time and it then being too late to do more, the remaining 
twenty-five spent the night on the roof. During the night Mrs. Burns 
prepared soup and food for them and in the morning the whale boat 
brought them a large milk can filled with the hot soup. Burns, the old 
sailor and S. D. Carkhuff toiled all day and all were safely landed by 
night, Farley, the overseer, being the last man to leave the roof. 

At daybreak on the 10th the southern part of the city was under 
two and a half feet of water, while the eastern part, north of J street, 
was also flooded, and by one o'clock J and K streets were flooded to 
Ninth and during the afternoon the flood attained the same height as 
the highest rise of December 8, 1861. 

The scene in the afternoon was an animated one. Merchants 
erected platforms for their goods above the line of supposed danger 
and stock owners were driving their horses, mules and cattle to the I 
street and Front street levees. Women and children moved to the 
upper stories or to the higher streets and hundreds of boats were afloat 
on the streets, carrying passengers. Many of them contained people 
apparently bent on pleasure excursions. There was much less danger 
than on former occasions and fear and anxiety were also less. The 
balconies were crowded with spectators and there was plenty of mirth 
and hilarity. In the southern and eastern parts of the city, however, 
many were forced to leave their homes without knowing where to go. 
All the hotels were soon overcrowded and the pavilion again came into 
requisition as the headquarters of the Howard Benevolent society, 
many persons being lodged and fed there. 

The committee of safety had some time previous to this flood 
constructed a new levee at Rabel's tannery, leaving the old one stand- 
ing to protect it as a breakwater, letting the water in gradually to 
form a basin of still water and thus protect the new enbankment. A 
person cut the old levee without authority and let the current flow 
against the new one, and only by the most strenuous exertions and the 
liberal use of g-unny sacks, was the danger averted. A subsequent 
report of the engineers to the state board of swamp land com- 
missioners states that at this point the river makes an acute angle to 
the northwest, the effect being to throw up a wall of water there, two 
feet higher than at any other point in the channel, and the water 
flowed over the levee, causing a crevice through which the flood ]ioured 
at the rate of 60,000 cubic feet per second, with a torrent velocity due 
to the fall in the river of 3000 feet in seventy-five miles. 

During this inundation four deaths from drowning were reported 
and the destruction of property was considerable. About three- 
quarters of a mile of the Folsom railroad track was washed away. 
Many small buildings were carried through the R street levee and 
destroyed. One thousand feet of the wall surrounding Agricultural 
park, which was twenty feet high and fourteen inches thick, fell to the 



114 HISTOEY OF 8ACEAMENT0 COUNTY 

ground. The river rose five inclies higher than on any previous 
occasion. The fires in the Daily Union office were extinguished, 
stopping the press while it was running off its weekly edition. The 
steamer Gem of the California Navigation company was swept by the 
current through the break at Rabel's tannery, and stranded at 
Twenty-third and Z streets in a peach orchard, whence she was 
laum.'hed with much difficulty in the following February. Two dead 
bodies were found floating on the American river and two milkmen 
on Eighteenth street near R, lost seventy head of milch cows. The 
new levee at Rabel's tannery was only saved by using all the raw 
hides in the tannery to spread over its weak points. 

The legislature was then in session and on January 11th, a resolu- 
tion was adopted by the senate, by a vote of 20 to 13, to adjourn to San 
Francisco for the remainder of the session. The resolution was de- 
feated in the assembly after a long discussion, by a vote of 40 to 36, 
but a further flood appearing, the assembly agreed to the measure 
and on January 23, the legislature, with its attaches and furniture, 
removed to San Francisco. 

On January 12, the steamer Defiance went up the river to Patter- 
son's, twelve miles above the city and seven miles higher than any steam- 
boat had hitherto reached, and for some time after she made daily trips 
to that point. On the same day Wilson's bridge over the Cosumnes 
was overturned by the flood. From this time on the flood began to 
subside and navigation of the streets soon became impossible, the only 
means of traversing them being to wade through the mud with its accu- 
mulated filth and carcasses of dead animals. The half-drowned and 
starving cattle along the rivers gave employment to all the steamboats 
and other craft in rescuing them. The flood was equally destructive 
throughout the county. At this time the only mining that had been 
done was mostly in a primitive way. No levees, except in the case of 
the city, had been erected to repel the flood waters, as hydraulic mining 
had not yet raised the bed of the river. The water had full sweep over 
the valley, almost to the foothills of the Coast Range on one side and 
to the rolling lands west of Folsom on the other. This fact may give 
some idea of the immense volume of water poured into the valley by 
the continued rains. As one pioneer expressed himself to the writer: 
"We had six weeks' rain in January." An equal amount of rainfall 
now, in so limited a time, would do incalculable damage to the dwellers 
of the lowlands. 

The Daily Union of Monday, January 13, 1862, has the following: 
''Upon Friday night the American river rose sixty feet above low 
water mark, and destroyed a large amount of property. The old flour 
mill of Stockton and Coover, built some seven or eight years ago, and 
the new one built by them last summer in conjunction with Carroll & 
Moore of this city, were both carried away, and in their course took 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 115 

off the wire suspension bridge of Kinsey & Thompson. The new mill 
was designed to run nine pair of burrs, and is reported to have cost 
between $20,000 and $30,000. A large quantity of wheat therein stored 
was also lost. The wire bridge was built in the summer of 1856, and 
cost about $18,000. A wooden bridge some ten feet lower had been 
previously destroyed. The railroad bridge belonging to the California 
Central Railroad Company, some fifteen feet higher than the wire 
bridge, and of a single span, is still standing. So far as we have 
received information from various parts of the country, we are con- 
vinced that the late flood spread over a much greater area of territory 
and was far more destructive than any which has occurred since the 
county was settled. 

"The waters from the American did great injury at Brighton; 
those from the Sacramento, a great deal in the townships bordering 
on that river, and those from the Sacramento and Mokelumne, pro- 
duced a corresponding result in the southern part of the county. 
We are informed that families were taken from the tops of houses 
in boats, their buildings were carried away, and most of their stock 
destroyed. A large amount of stock on the Lower Stockton road has 
been lost. Norris' bridge, on the American river, some four miles 
from its mouth, which withstood the flood of December 9th, gave way 
on Saturday afternoon (January 11th) to the still stronger torrent. 
At about half past four o'clock two sections of the structure were 
carried off, and lodged on the north bank of the river, a short distance 
away. There is now no bridge standing on the American river, that 
we are aware of, excepting only the railroad bridge at Folsom." 

While the elements were dealing death and destruction to man- 
kind, animals and property, human philanthropy was not idle. Steam- 
boats were dispatched daily from San Francisco, laden with cooked 
food for the sufferers. An aid society was organized at Folsom, and 
a deputation sent to Sacramento to invite tlie suffering and distressed 
to partake of the hospitality of that town. The work of the Howard 
Society of Sacramento should never pass into forgetfulness. It will 
always live in the memory of those who were its beneficiaries and 
should never be forgotten by their children or descendants. 

But the troubles of the city from flood were not yet ended. 
January 23, 1862, the new levee at Rabel 's tannery broke and a crevice 
of 150 feet wide was opened, which speedily increased to 800 feet, 
flooding the business portion of the city. While it lasted only a short 
time, it was followed by the flood of February 24, wliich poured in 
through a break in the same place. The water encroached on the 
following day to such an extent that the great railroad scales on 
R street, sixty feet in length, had to be removed. The railroad soon 
after being repaired, communication with Folsom was once more 
established. 

The city was by this time aroused to the necessity for better pro- 



116 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tection and the autliorities began to take active steps in the matter, 
and moved energetically to that end. Between the recession of the 
flood and January 1, 1863, more than $200,000 was spent in elevating 
the streets and otherwise improving them and in strengthening the 
levees. Since that time many hmidred thousands of dollars have 
))een spent in raising and strengthening the levees. After the flood 
of 1862 it became evident to the business men of the city that it was 
unsafe to depend entirely on the levees. A movement was put on foot 
for raising J and K, the principal business streets. It was an arduous 
job, but men were found to contract to do the work, and the buildings 
were raised, the streets tilled in from six to eighteen feet and the 
city began to take on a more solid and permanent appearance. The 
flood of '62 was the last one to do any damage to the business portion 
of the city, and it was not till sixteen years afterwards that the water 
invaded the city limits. 

On the morning of February 1, 1878, it was reported that a break 
had occurred in the levee below the city, near the Lovdal ranch. The 
gophers had honeycombed the levee and in a very short time the 
crevice, at first about twelve feet wide, had grown much larger and 
by the next morning was 300 feet wide and very deep. The roar of 
the waters pouring through the break could be heard for a great dis- 
tance. The lowlands were soon flooded and the road to the city ceme- 
tery was soon covered and impassable. Attention was immediately 
turned to closing the openings on the streets passing under the R 
street levee, which at that time was the city's only protection on the 
south. By nightfall these were rendered secure, but the seepage water 
came up as far as Sixth and N streets before the flood subsided. 

On February 14 it was found necessary to cut the R street levee 
at Eighteenth street, to allow the accumulation of water from Burns' 
slough to pass away. On the 20th the river rose to twenty-five feet 
ten inches above low water mark and a strong gale forced the flood 
up against the levee, endangering it, but the citizens turned out at 
the alarm and made it secure. Steps were taken to close the break 
at the Lovdal place and by April 10 the city was once more safe. 

The last flood of any consequence was in 1904, and is known 
as the "Edwards break." It occurred on February 26, of that year, 
at a ])lace in the levee about three miles below the city. It was said 
at the time that it was caused by water seeping through gopher holes 
in the levee, and that it was discovered by a Portuguese in the vicinity 
just after it had begun to trickle through, and could have been stopped 
at the time by stuffing a bale of hay or straw into the hole, but that 
the man valued the straw too highly to use it in that way. By night 
the crevasse had increased to one hundred and fifty feet wide, and 
later it widened to three hundred feet. About fifteen thousand acres 
were flooded, the water running down until it emptied into Snodgrass 
slough. A number of residents had narrow escapes from drowning, 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 117 

but uo lives were lost. Much sand was carried down by the current, 
badly damaging a number of farms. So strong was the current that 
many attempts to close the break by driving piles and filling in were 
unsuccessful, and not until some months atterwards, when the river 
fell, was it possible to repair the levee. At present the levee below 
the city is high and strong, the Southern Pacific having built one on 
which to run the Sacramento Southern railroad trains. 

CHAPTEE XVI 
SACRAMENTO COUNTY SENATORS 

Sacramento county has furnished a long list of legislators to the 
history of the state and many of them finished their career begun 
in the state legislature by being promoted to high office. 

At the first session of the legislature the members represented 
Sacramento district, which was the northern part of the state, there 
being at that time no county subdivisions. It was provided in the 
constitution of 1849 that until the legislature should divide the state 
into counties, and into senatorial and assembly districts, Sacramento 
district should be entitled to four senators and nine assemblymen. 
The list of the first legislature shows twelve assembhonen, but this 
was caused by the resignation of three of those ori,ginally elected. 
Cornwall resigned January 28, 1850, and was succeeded on March 4th, 
by Deal. White resigned February 9, 1850, and was succeeded on 
March 15th, by Henley. Dickerson's seat was declared vacant De- 
cember 18, 1849, and Bigler was seated in his place. 

The first legislature made Sacramento county the twelfth sen- 
atorial district, April 4, 1850, and provided for its representation 
by one senator and three assembh^nen. May 1, 1851, the county 
was made the eleventh senatorial district, to be represented by two 
senators and four assembhanen. There was a reapportionment of the 
state. May 18, 1861, and the county was constituted the sixteenth 
senatorial district, to be represented by two senators and five assem- 
blymen. The Political Code, adopted March 2, 1872, retained this 
apportionment, but May 16, 1874, the legislature fixed the apportion- 
ment at two senators and three assembhmien and renamed the county 
the eighteenth senatorial district. March 8, 1883, there was another 
reapportionment and the county was changed to be the thirteenth 
senatorial district, with one senator. By the act of March 13, 1883, 
the first and third wards of the city were made the eighteenth 
assembly district, the second and fourth wards the nineteenth assembly 
district and the remainder of the county the twentieth district, each 
being entitled to one assemblyman. 

The senators from the county have been as follows : 1849-50, John 
Bidwell, Elisha O. Crosby, Thomas J. Green and Henry E. Robinson. 



118 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Bidwell was a man wlio became prominent in the history of the state. 
He was one of the earliest pioneers, arriving here in 1841 by the 
overland route, after a journey of six months. He was given charge 
of Forts Bodega and Ross and also of General Sutter's Feather river 
property. During the war with Mexico he saw service in the army 
and rose to the rank of major. He was the first man to find gold 
on the Feather river. Elected from the Sacramento district to the 
constitutional convention in 1849, he did not serve as a delegate. He 
was a delegate to the Charleston national Democratic convention in 
1860, and was elected to congress from the old third district in 1864. 
He was defeated by George Gorliam for the nomination for governor 
in the Republican convention of 1867, and Gorham was beaten at the 
election by Henry H. Haight. In 1875 Bidwell was nominated for 
governor, but was defeated by William Irwin, the Democratic nominee ; 
he was nominated again for governor on the Prohibition ticket in 
1890, and on the same ticket for president in 1892. For many years 
he made his home at Chico and there he died, April 4, 1900. 

Arriving in California in 1848, Elisha 0. Crosby was a member of 
the first constitutional convention and lived at Alameda for a number 
of years. Green was elected a major-general by the legislature in 
1850. He left C-alifornia a few years afterwards and died in Warren 
county, N. C, December 18, 1863. Robinson, a lawyer by education, 
but engaged in mercantile ]mrsuits, arrived in San Francisco in 
March, 1849, on the California, the first steamer that ever entered 
that port. In his will he left $40,000 to be used by the board of 
supervisors of San Francisco for the benefit of the poor of that city. 
Robinson was a member of the first council of Sacramento and one 
of the early postmasters. He amassed a large fortune in Alameda 
county and died at Norwalk, Conn., January 9, 1880. 

185], Henry E. Robinson; 1852, Henry E. Robinson and James 
H. Ralston, Ralston was for a number of years one of the leading 
law>^ers in Sacramento, but went to Washoe during the mining excite- 
ment in that district and afterwards settled at Austin, Nev. While 
prospecting in search of mineral ledges in May, 1864, he lost his way 
and yjerished of starvation after many days of wandering. An Indian 
discovered and buried his body, which was afterwards disinterred nnd 
buried at Austin. 

1853, James H. Ralston and A. P. Catlin; 1854, A. P. Catlin and 
Gilbert W. Colby. The latter was a pioneer who in the early days ran 
a ferry across the Upper Sacramento at Colby's landing. He was 
surveyor of Sacramento county two terms, from 1862 to 1866. For 
a number of years afterwards he made his home at Nord, but later 
located at Martinez and became interested in banking. He died in 
San Francisco, August 20, 1881. A. P. Catlin was born in New 
York and came to California in July, 1849. He was instrumental in 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 119 

getting the capital located in Sacramento, was prominent in politics 
and as a lawyer. He died on November 5, 1900. 

1855, Gr. W. Colby and A. S. Gove. The latter, who was a mer- 
chant, returned to Vermont and died there. At the time he was 
elected to the senate he was a member of the city council. 

1856, A. S. Gove and W. I. Ferguson. The latter was a na- 
tive of Illinois and was shot in a duel with George Pen Johnston, 
dying in San Francisco from the effect of his wound, September 
14, 1858. Ferguson was a lawyer of much ability and an 
effective and popular speaker. The nick-name of "Ipse Doodle" was 
given to him, for some reason not explained. Ferguson was a man of 
great courage and it is stated that when he received the wound that 
caused his death, he exclaimed as he fell, "I am a gone community." 
His body is interred in the state plat of the Sacramento city cemetery. 
Johnston died in San Francisco, March 4, 1884. 

1857, W. I. Ferguson and Josiah Johnson. Johnson was at one 
time a member of the board of supervisors and afterwards a city 
trustee. He died in Sacramento, December 10, 1888. 

1858, W. I. Ferguson and Josiah Johnson; 1859, J. M. McDonald 
and Dr. Johnson Price. McDonald removed to San Francisco some 
years after and became prominent as a capitalist and mining man. 
Price was a Kentuckian and was elected at a special election to fill 
the vacancy caused by Ferguson's death. He had been an officer dur- 
ing the Mexican war and a member of the convention to revise the 
constitution of his own state. He came to California in 1849 and 
practiced medicine in Sacramento. He was appointed secretary of 
state January 10, 1860, by Governor Latham, and held the office 
until the expiration of Governor Downey's term. Afterwards he was 
a stock broker in San Francisco and died there of consumption, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1868. 

1860, J. M. McDonald and Robert C. Clark. The latter, a son of 
James Clark, an early congressman, supreme judge and governor of 
Kentucky, arrived in this state in 1853 and began practice of the law 
in Sacramento. He was elected county judge in 1861, and was contin- 
uously re-elected to that office until it was abolished by the new con- 
stitution in 1879, when he was elected superior judge of this county, 
filling that office until his death, which occurred January 27, 1883. 

1861, R. C. Clark and E. H. Heacock. Heacock practiced law in 
this city for a number of years, and was city attorney from 1863 to 
1867. He moved from here to Santa Cruz and served as county judge 
there for a number of years. Later he removed to Santa Barbara 
and was ap])ointed superior judge of that county by Governor Per- 
kins, to succeed Eugene Faucett, deceased. Faucett will be recol- 
lected as the judge who tried Sprague for the killing of Moore. Hea- 
cock represented the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and 
Ventura in the state senate for several terms. 



120 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1862, E. H. Heacock and Dr. A. B. Nixon. Dr. Nixon practiced 
medicine in Sacramento for many years and was in charge of the 
Railroad hospital here. He was one of the first in the county who 
espoused Republican principles. Later he became identified with the 
Prohibition movement and ran for mayor in 1884 on the Prohibition 
ticket against John Q. Brown. He also ran as a St. John elector in 
1884. He died in this city, November 2, 1889. 

1863, Dr. A. B. Nixon and Newton Booth. A sketch of the latter 
will be found elsewhere. 

1864, J. E. Benton and E. H. Heacock. At the time of his elec- 
tion Mr. Benton was a minister at Folsom. An anecdote regarding 
him relates that on one occasion he was so shocked at a remark made 
by a young rough in Sacramento that he reproved him for his lan- 
guage. The young man asked him brusquely who he was, and Mr. 
Benton replied, ''I am a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus." 
''Well," rejoined the offender, "if I was the meek and lowly and 
such a looking fellow as you was following me around, I would hit 
him on the nose." Benton built the first church erected in Folsom. 
Afterward he became postmaster of Oakland, and died there, Feb- 
ruary 18, 1888. 

1865-66, J. E. Benton and E. H. Heacock. 

1867-68, E. H. Heacock and N. Greene Curtis. Curtis arrived in 
California in May, 1850, and was recorder or police judge of this city 
from 1853 to 1855. For many years he practiced law here and was 
regarded as the best among the criminal lawyers of the state. Soon 
after his arrival in Sacramento he was appointed deputy postmaster 
and shortly afterwards Jonathan Tittle, the postmaster, having gone 
east on business, left Curtis in charge of the office. While Tittle was 
absent, Richard Eads appeared and claimed that he had been ap- 
pointed to the office. Curtis refused to surrender the office until Eads 
presented his commission and filed his bond, and he retained the office 
for some months, until Eads had complied with these formalities. 
When Eads came in he retained Curtis as his deputy until the latter 
was elected recorder. Curtis was a Democrat, and was elected to 
the senate three times and the assembly once. He was a regent of 
the State University from 1880 to 1883, and was Grand Master of 
Masons of California from 1857 to 1860. He died at Sacramento, 
July 27, 1897. 

1869-70, N. Greene Curtis and A. Comte, Jr. Comte was a lawyer 
and afterwards went to San Francisco. He graduated from the 
pubnc schools of this city and from Harvard CoUecre. and received 
his legal training and was admitted to the bar from our local law 
offices. He also served in the assembly from Sacramento. 

1873-74, James A. Duffy and Henry Edgerton. A native of Ver- 
mont and a distinguished lawyer, Edgerton served for several terms 
as district attorney of Napa county. As such, he conducted the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 121 

prosecution of Edward McGowan for liis connection with the killing 
of James King of William (the editor of the San Francisco Bulletin), 
which led to the forming of the vigilance committee of 1856, and the 
purification of San Francisco. He was senator from Napa county in 
1860 and 1861, and ran unsuccessfully for congress in 1861 and 1862. 
He was also a member of the last constitutional convention and was 
the only Republican presidential elector elected in 1880, and was 
re-elected in 1884. He died in San Francisco, November 4, 1887. 

1875-76, Henry Edgerton and Creed Haymond. Haymond was a 
brilliant lawyer, with a" national reputation. He came from Virginia 
to California in 1852, and locating in Plumas county, practiced law 
there for a number of years, removing thence to Sacramento. In 
1870 he was appointed one of the commissioners to draft a code of 
laws for the state. He was a delegate to three national Republican 
conventions and held a prominent position in the law department of 
the Central and Southern Pacific railroads at San Francisco until his 
death there, January 13, 1893. 

1877-78, Creed Ha>anond and N. Greene Curtis. 

1880, Grove L. Johnson and William Johnston. In 1849 Johnston 
came from Pennsylvania to this state and engaged in mining, but 
afterward bought a place near Richland, in this county, where he 
passed the rest of his life, dying at his home, November 15, 1905. 
He was a member of the senate for two terms and of the assembly 
one term. He was master of the State Grange two terms and twice 
a delegate to the National Grange, and was Grand Master of Masons 
of California. In 1883 he was a member of the state board of equal- 
ization by appointment of Governor Perkins, served as a dele- 
gate to the national Republican convention in 1880, and in 1886 was 
a prominent candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant- 
governor. 

1881, Grove L. Johnson and William Johnston. 

1883, Frederick Cox and Joseph Routier. Routier was born in 
France and came to Cahfornia in 1853. He planted one of the first 
orchards near Folsom and settled ten miles from Sacramento, becom- 
ing a successful fruit-raiser. In 1877 he was a member of the assem- 
bly, and in 1886 he was appointed by Governor Bartlett as a member 
of the board of fish commissioners. He died at his home at Routier 's, 
February 6, 1898. Frederick Cox came to this state in 1850. He was 
president of the State Agricultural Society for several years. With 
C. W. Clarke he engaged in raising cattle for many years, on a 
large scale. 

1885, Frederick Cox and Joseph Routier. 

1887, Findlev R. Dray. As a boy of seventeen, Mr. Pray came 
to California with his father in 1850. He mined and farmed for 
several years in different parts of the state, and finallv settled here 
in 1863, being appointed a deputy by Sheriff James McClatchy. After 



122 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the close of McClatcliy's term Mr. Dray was elected public adminis- 
trator, and then assessor, for eight years. Judge Clark then ap- 
pointed him a supervisor, to fill out the term of H. 0. Seymour, 
deceased, lie engaged in real-estate and insurance and later became 
connected with the Sacramento Savings Bank. He died in this city, 
November 30, 1901. 

1881)-91, Findley R. Dray. 

1893-95, Elijah C. Hart. Judge Hart is well known throughout 
the state, and for many years has been a resident of Sacramento. 
He was a member of the assembly in 1889-91, served as superior 
judge of this county from 1897 until 1906, and was elected in 1907 
a justice of the third district court of appeals, which office he has 
filled most creditably. Judge Hart possesses a host of friends. 

1897-99, Gillis Doty. Mr. Doty was one of the sturdy farmers 
of the county, respected by all for his high character and incorrupti- 
ble integrity. He was a member of the assembly for the twenty-fifth 
and twenty-ninth sessions, and from 1897 to 1902 was a member of 
the auditing board to the commissioner of public works. In addition 
he served two terms as a member of the board of supervisors of this 
county. He died at his residence in Elk Grove July 23, 1909. 

1901-03, R. T. Devlin. Mr. Devlin was 1)orn in this city and 
resided here all his life until recently, being a member of the law firm 
of Devlin and Devlin ever since its formation many years ago. In 
1884 he was appointed a state prison director. In 1885 he was ap- 
pointed ])enology commissioner and continued as a member of the 
board of prison directors until 1905, when he was a]ipointed United 
States district attorney for the northern district of California, which 
office he still holds. He is considered one of the soundest and most 
capable lawyers in the state. 

1905-07, J. A. McKee. For a generation Mr. McKee has been 
a successful practicing physician in this county and resides in this 
city, still practicing his profession. 

1909-11, Charles B. Bills. Mr. Bills is a successful business man 
of this city and is the head of the Pioneer Fruit company. 

CHAPTER XVII 
SACRAMENTO COUNTY ASSEMBLYMEN 

The first assemblvmen, members of the legislature of 1849-50, 
were IT. C. Cardwell,'P. B. CornAvall, Rev. W. Grove Deal, W. B. 
Dickerson, T. J. Henley, E. W. McKinstry, John Bigler, George B. 
Tinuley, Madison Walthal, Dr. Thomas Jolm A\'hite, John T. Hughes 
and John F. "Williams. Sacramento district was entitled at that time 
to nine assemblvmen, as it comprised all of the northern part of the 
state, but Cornwall resigned and was replaced by Deal; White re- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 123 

signed and was replaced by Henley, and Bigler took the place of Dick- 
erson, whose seat was declared vacant. Cardweli died at Los Angeles, 
July 4, 1859. 

Cornwall arrived in Sacramento in Augnst, 1848, and was a mem- 
ber of the first city council. He, with Sam Brannan, foresaw that a 
great city would soon spring up on the Sacramento river at the head 
of navigation, so they came up from San Francisco to investigate. 
Seemingly unimportant events often bring about great clianges. They 
decided that Sutterville would be the most eligible spot for the city, 
on account of the high ground there. Accordingly, they endeavored 
to make satisfactory arrangements with L. W. Hastings, who owned 
the land there, for going into business. They were unable to do so, 
and having on their way up passed two launches loaded with supplies 
for the mines, they returned and met them and persuaded them 
to go farther u]:> and unload their cargoes on the Sutter Embarcadero 
at Sacramento. Through this little circumstance their trading post 
was established at this place, and soon a small city sprang up. Had 
Hastings agreed with them, the city would have been located at Sat 
terville. Cornwall afterwards went to San Francisco and enga,2:ed 
in business and died there September 5, 1904. He was a member of 
the first constitutional convention and of the board of regents of the 
University of California. 

Henley was the father of ex-Congressman Barclay Henley, and 
was a native of Indiana. In that state he served several terms in the 
assembly, being once speaker. He was congressman from Indiana 
three terms, serving with President Lincoln. He arrived in California 
in 1849 and engaged in banking in Sacramento. In 1852 he was a 
presidential elector; was chosen postmaster in San Francisco in 1853; 
appointed superintendent of Indian affairs in 1S54, and defeated for 
presidential elector in 1868. He died at his farm in Round valley, 
Mendocino county, May 1, 1875. 

McKinstry was a native of Michigan, and arrived in California 
in March, 1849. He was elected judge of the seventii district, Novem- 
ber 2, 1852 ; re-elected September 1, 1858 ; elected judge of the twelfth 
district (San Francisco) October 30, 1873, but resigned in the latter 
part of 1873, having been elected a justice of the supreme court Oc- 
tober 15, 1873. He was re-elected supreme justice September 3, 1879, 
and resigned- October 1, 1888. He died at San Jose, November 1, 1901. 

Bigler was a Pennsylvanian, and was a journalist and lawyer. 
He arrived in Sacramento in 1849, and became an auctioneer and 
also a woodcho])])er. For a time he was speaker of the first assem- 
bly ; he was elected governor Sei)tember 3, 1851 ; re-elected September 
7, 1853; defeated for that office in 1855. He served as United States 
minister to Chile from 1857 to 1861; was defeated for congress in 
1863; served as a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 
1864 and 1868; was appointed assessor of internal revenue for this 



124 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

district in 1866 and edited the State Capital Reporter from January, 
1868, until his death, November 29, 1871. His body was interred in 
the City Cemetery. 

Tingley was a native of Ohio and was a brilliant lawyer. He 
removed to Indiana and there served in the legislature with T. J. 
Henley and Vice-President-elect T. A. Hendricks. He was an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for the United States senate and was defeated for 
congress in 1851. He died at San Francisco, August 3, 1862. 

White served as speaker till February, 1850, when he resigned 
the office and was succeeded by Henley. He was at one time city coun- 
cilman, and died at Los Angeles in December, 1861. 

Deal, a Methodist minister, was elected to succeed Cormvall 
(resigned) and he qualified March 4, 1850. He died in Indiana in 
Junei 1892. 

1851, John Bigler, D. J. Lisle and Dr. Charles Robinson. Tjisle 
built the Twelfth street bridge across the American river. At a 
special election he was cliosen to fill the vacancy caused by the death 
of L. Dunlap, who had been elected, but died of cholera before the 
meeting of the legislature. He went to San Francisco and died there 
February 8, 1855. 

Robinson came here from Massachusetts. He was prominently 
identified with the squatter element in 1850 and was second in com- 
mand of the forces of that party in the riot which took place in 
August of that year. He was wounded in the fight and was arrested 
on the oath of several citizens that he had been seen to aim deliber- 
ately at the mayor, who was shot four times during the fight. He 
Avas confined in the prison brig when he was elected to the assembly. 
In 1854 he, with S. C. Pomeroy, led one of the parties of free state 
men into Kansas, and was prominently connected with the Free State 
party in the slavery agitation in that commonwealth. He was elected 
governor by the Free State men under the Topeka constitution Jan- 
uary 15, 1856, and was indicted in May by the grand jury for treason, 
with the other officers who had been elected. Some of them fled from 
the territory, but Robinson was arrested and confined for four months. 
While in prison his residence was burned in the sacking of Lawrence. 
He was elected the first governor of the state after the adoption of 
the constitution in 1859, and died at Lawrence, August 17, 1894. 

1852, Gilbert W. Colby, Alpheus Kip, G. N. McConaha and Dr. 
Joseph C. Tucker. Colby was also senator one term, McConaha was 
a lawyer and was drowned by the upsetting of a boat at Seattle, 
May 4, 1854. Kip lived on the farm near Brighton where Sheriff 
McKinney was killed by Allen, its then owner (1850). The farm was 
owned later by John Rooney. Kip left this country many years ago. 
Tucker went to live in San Francisco and died in Oakland, Decem- 
ber 22, 1891. 

1853, J. W. Harrison, J. Neely Johnson, Robert Robinson and 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 125 

J. H. Estep. Robinson was afterward county judge, and was for 
many years connected with the law department of the Central Pacific 
Railroad Company. He was adjutant-general in 1865-66 and died at 
San Francisco, September 26, 1894. Estep removed from Sacramento 
and died at Lakeport January 11, 1876, Harrison left Sacramento 
in the '50s. Johnson was elected district attorney of Sacramento in 
1850 and in 1855 he was elected governor on the Know Nothing ticket. 
After his term as governor he removed to Nevada, where he served 
as a member of the constitutional convention and as supreme justice. 
He died from the effects of a sunstroke at Salt Lake City, August 
31, 1872. 

1854, J. M. McBrayer, Dr. F. A. Park, T. R. Davidson and J. W. 
Park. F. A. Park was a dentist and at one time was deputy sheriff. 
He died at San Francisco, November 13, 1870. The others removed 
from Sacramento some years after they served. 

1855, John G. Brewton, Philip L. Edwards, H. B. Meredith and 
James H. Vineyard. Edwards was a native of Kentucky. He visited 
San Francisco with a party of traders in 1836 and returned to the 
east. Pie was admitted to the bar, elected to the Missouri legislature 
in 1843, chosen a delegate to the Whig national convention in 1844, 
removed to Sacramento in 1850, defeated as the Whig candidate for 
congress in 1852, and ran unsuccessfully for United States senator 
in 1855. He died here May 1, 1869. Vineyard was a member of the 
city council at the time of his election to the assembly. He died at 
Los Angeles, August 30, 1863. Meredith, a brother of ex-supervisor 
James H. Meredith, of Folsom, practiced law while living in Sacra- 
mento county. In 1864 he removed to New York, where he carried 
on business as a broker, and where he died. Brewton went to San 
Francisco and died there. 

1856, George H. Cartter, George Cone, George W. Leihy and 
Dr. J. W. Pugh. Cone was for many years justice of the peace in 
Center township and was an unsuccessful nominee for county treasurer 
on the Democratic ticket. He was a brother of ex-Railroad Commis- 
sioner Cone, and died at Red Bluff, November 12, 1883. Leihy, a 
farmer and miner, was murdered by Indians in Arizona November 18, 
1866. Cartter was district attorney in 1852 and 1853. He left this 
state many years ago and went to Oregon, where he died at Portland 
February 24, 1862. Pugh removed from the county many years ago, 
and died at Stockton January 24. 1896. 

1857, A. P. Catlin, Robert C. Clark, L. W. Farris and John H. 
McKune. Catlin and Clark were also senators. A sketch of Judge 
McKune will be found elsewhere. Farris was in business here for a 
number of years, but removed to another part of the state, and died 
at Altaville, Tuolumne county, in April, 1878. 

1858, R. D. Ferg-uson, Charles S. Howell, James E. Sheridan and 
Moses Stout. For many years Ferguson conducted a horsemarket 



126 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

here and then went to Nevada and in 1868 was a member of the 
legishiture of that state. Later he went to Arizona. Sheridan was 
a farmer near Georgetown (now known as P^'ranklin) and died on his 
farm there, October 12, 1872. Plowell was a farmer living near Wal- 
nut Grove and was killed by the explosion of the steamboat J. A. 
McClelland, near Knights Landing, August 25, 1861. Stout died on 
his farm in this county December 20, 1879. 

1859, Dr. R. B. Ellis, A. R. Jackson, James E. Sheridan and Dr. 
Charles Duncombe. Jackson, a well-known school teacher, died in 
San Francisco, August 30, 1876. Ellis practiced medicine here at 
the time of his election. He removed to Nevada in 1861 and died at 
Carson, that state, January 12, 1873. Duncombe was once a member 
of the city council. His election gave rise to a novel contest in the 
assembly and one that is often cited in the legislature in contested 
election cases. He was born in Connecticut and about 1817 removed 
to Canada. A couple of months afterwards he was elected to the 
colonial parliament and took an oath of allegiance to the then English 
king. He was denounced as a rebel and fled to the United States in 
1837, but was never naturalized. His seat in the assembly was con- 
tested on the ground that he was not a citizen and January 22, 1859, 
the house declared his seat vacant. A special election was called and 
on February 19 9he was elected again by a large majority. On the 14th 
he had been admitted to citizenship under the act of 1795. His seat 
was again contested on the ground that he had not been a citizen 
for the constitutional ])eriod at the time of his election, and the house 
again declared his seat vacant. Sacramento county therefore lost 
part of its representation at the session. Duncombe died at Hicks- 
ville, October 1, 1867. 

1860, Dr. R. B. Ellis, L. C. Goodman, Henry Starr and D. W. 
Welty. Goodman was at one time a supervisor and afterward re- 
moved from the county. Starr was a practicing attorney and died 
in this city about three years ago. Welty removed to Nevada, then 
returned to Sacramento and practiced law. He removed to Oregon 
and died at Chehalis, Wash., March 24, 1891. 

1861, Amos Adams, Charles Crocker, N. Greene Curtis and Dr. 
Joseph Powell. Adams, at that time a farmer, afterward became 
prominent as a member of the Grange. He removed to San Francisco 
and died at San Jose, March 18, 1896. Crocker was then a dry-goods 
merchant and afterwards acquired national reputation as one of the 
builders of the Central Pacific Railroad. He was at one time a city 
councilman. He died at Monterey, August 14, 1888. Powell prac- 
ticed medicine at Folsom, where he died November 27, 1869. 

1862, W. H. Barton, John E. Benton, James B. Saul, James H. 
Warwick and R. D. Ferguson. Barton was president of the New 
Liverpool Salt Company in San Francisco for many years. Benton 
served also as a senator. Saul removed to Yolo county, where he 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 127 

managed a large fruit ranch. He died at Davisville, October 30, 1881. 
Warwick, an - actor of ability and a fine orator, removed from here 
many years ago. 

1863, Amos Adams, W. H. Barton, M. M. Estee, James H. War- 
wick and Dr. Charles Buncombe. Estee served the county as district 
attorney in 1864-65. In 1882 he ran for governor and was defeated 
by Stoneman. He was chairman of the national Republican conven- 
tion; a presidential elector in 1876; nominee for governor in 1894; 
United States district judge of the Hawaiian Territory, appointed 
June 5, 1900. He lived for a number of years at his home in Napa, 
and died at Honolulu, October 27, 1903. 

1863-64, Alexander Badlam, William B. Hunt, John P. Rhodes, 
Francis Tukey and J. R. Watson. Badlam, in partnership with M. M. 
Estee, John Simpson, H. C. Bidwell and others, published a paper 
called the Evening Star for about three months from May 25, 1864. 
He removed to San Francisco and was elected assessor. He ran for 
re-election in 1882 and when his friends expressed fear that he might 
not win, he said that "it would be a cold day when he got left." The 
day after the election some of his friends sent him a ton of coal and a 
cord of wood, with a note saying that it might serve to keep him 
warm during the cold day. He was port warden at San Francisco, 
1890-91, and died in that city, January 25, 1898. Hunt kept the French 
Hotel on Second street for many years. He was an old New York 
fireman in the days of the volunteer companies and was chief en- 
gineer of our fire department. He was known as the "Sacramento 
Statesman" when he was assemblyman; was an assembhrnian from 
San Francisco in 1885, and died there November 13, 1889. Rhodes 
was a farmer on the Cosumnes, and died there on his farm, December 
20, 1866. Tukey was marshal of Boston at the time of the Webster- 
Parkman murder. He was city superintendent of schools in 1855 and 
died on his farm near this city, November 23, 1867. For many years 
Watson was jnirchasing agent for the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany, and superintendent of the hosjntal. He died in this city, Sep- 
tember 11, 1889. 

1865-66, Thomas Hansbrow, Dwight Hollister, Peter J. Hopper, 
William B. Hunt and J. B. Maholmb. Hansbrow was in business in 
Sacramento for some years. He was at one time a supervisor, and 
died August 31, 1868. Hollister was a farmer and fruit-grower near 
Courtland. He was once a supervisor and served in the assembly 
a second time, in the twenty-sixth session. He died on his ranch at 
Courtland, September 7, 1904. Hop])er was a lawyer and newspaper 
publisher at Folsom and afterward moved to Sacramento. He died 
July 22, 1883. Maholmb was a farmer on the Cosumnes, but afterward 
moved to San Francisco. 

1867-68, Marion Biggs, Paschal Coggins, A. Comte, Jr., Bruce B. 
Lee and Charles Wolleb. Marion Biggs removed to Butte county, 



128 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

where he lived until his death. He was a member of the second con- 
stitutional convention and a member of congress from 1887 till 1891. 
Coggins was for some time local editor of the Union, and was a mem- 
ber of the board of education, but left here, shot himself in the head 
in San Francisco and died from the effects of the wound, November 
18, 1883. Comte was also a senator. Bruce B. Lee was a son of 
Barton Lee, one of the pioneer merchants and bankers, whose deeds 
of charity in the early days of Sacramento are worthy of remem- 
brance. He was subsequently harbor commissioner and later removed 
to Red Bluff and engaged in the real-estate and insurance business. 
A prominent Mason, he was chosen grand commander of the Knights 
Templar of California. He died at Red Bluff, October 30, 1890. 
WoUeb was secretary of the Germania Building and Loan Association 
for years. He died at Fruitvale, Alameda county, December 21, 1883. 

1869-70, James A. Dutfy, Isaac F. Freeman, M. S. Horan, John A. 
Odell and R. D. Stephens. Duffy was also a senator. Freeman was 
a farmer near Elk Grove. Born in Ohio, he came to this state in 1852, 
driving a herd of cattle across the plains and walking all the way. 
After staying a year he returned east, but came back in 1859, settled 
near Elk Grove and carried on a farm there for many years. He was 
highly respected by his neighbors, by whom he was familiarly known 
as ''Uncle Isaac." He died at his home, December 7, 1892. Horan 
was afterwards a police judge and practiced law in San Francisco and 
died there, December 10, 1892, three days later than Freeman, his 
colleague. Odell died at Folsom, May 29, 1881. Stephens was born 
in Illinois and came overland to California in 1849 with his father. 
They located near Mayhews, where the son still has a very valuable 
vineyard and orchard. He has been one of the foremost fruit-growers 
in the county and has done much to build up the fruit interests of the 
state. He was elected constable in 1859, to the legislature in 1869, 
served as warrant clerk in the controller's office from 1875 to 1880, 
and was a candidate for controller in 1882 in the Democratic conven- 
tion. He took an active part in the constitutional convention of 1879, 
and in 1885 was appointed by President Cleveland postmaster of Sac- 
ramento. He was state library trustee, 1889-94; member of the state 
board of viticultural commissioners, 1890, and the state board of hor- 
ticulture from 1896 to 1903. He still lives in Sacramento and carries 
on his horticultural interests. 

1871-72, C. G. W. French, Dr. Obed Harvey, Peter J. Hopper, 
William Johnston and E. B. Mott, Jr. French practiced law at Fol- 
som and in this city for many years. He was appointed chief justice 
of Arizona by President Hayes in 1877; was trustee of the state 
library from 1866 to 1870, and died in San Francisco, August 13, 1891. 
Dr. Harvey came from Illinois to California in 1850. In 1859 he was 
a delegate to the first railroad convention held in the state. In 1869 
he located near Gait and acquired large land holdings. He served in 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 129 

the state senate and was a director of the insane asylum at Stockton 
for many years. He died at Gait, January 16, 1894. Johnston was 
also a senator. Mott was for many years a member of the firm of 
Gillie:, Mott & Co., and was afterward connected with the Pacific Mu- 
tual "life Insurance Company. He was trustee of the state library 
from 1872 to 1878, and died here August 4, 1882. 

1873-74, James N. Barton, W. E. Bryan, Paschal Coggins, Reuben 
Kercheval and P. H. Russell. Barton removed to Humboldt county. 
He was a member of the second constitutional convention. He is still 
living near Sacramento. W. E. Bryan was a farmer residing m this 
county Kercheval was a fruit farmer with large holdings on Grand 
Island and died there, May 9, 1881. Russell was formerly a prominent 
grocer in this city. He removed to San Francisco and died there, 

February 12, 1906. -r r.i • ^ a t^ t^ +^ 

1875-76, Marion Biggs, Jr., Thomas J. Clunie and A. D. Patter- 
son Biggs, the son of Marion Biggs, Sr., was a farmer near Frank- 
lin but afterwards moved to Butte county. He died m Sacramento, 
January 19, 1903. Clunie practiced law for many years m this city 
and afterwards removed to San Francisco, being sent to congress from 
that citv and also represented it in the state senate. In 1884 he was 
a deleo-ate to the Democratic national convention. He died m ban 
Franci°sco, June 30, 1903. Patterson was a native of Pennsylvania. 
He came to California in 1849 and soon afterwards located at Kou- 
tier's, liis familv coming out here in 1852. He was postmaster at 
Routier's for fifteen years. In 1851 he was elected sheriff and the 
first three men executed by the authorities were hung during his term. 
He died at Routier's, December 4, 1884. What is known as Rentier s 
for years was called Patterson's, until the name of the postoffice was 

chang^cl^^^ Grove L. Johnson, Reuben Kercheval and Joseph Rou- 
tier Johnson and Routier were also senators. 

1880, Elwood Bruiier, Seymour Carr and John N. loung. Bruner 
and Young were both members of the city board of education The 
f^mei has been grand master of the order of Odd Pel owso Cd. 
fornia, and was elected district attorney m 1886 and 1888^ He went 
to Alaska some vears ago. Young was an attorney here for a num- 
ber of vears and finally removed to San Francisco, w-here he still prac- 
tices law. Carr was a farmer near Clay stati^Du, where he still lives. 

1881, John E. Baker, W. C. Van Fleet and J. N. Young. Baker 
was a soldier during the Civil War, and was ^ farmer down the Sac- 
ramento river. He died in this city. May 2, 1881. Judge Van F eet 
was born in Ohio and came to California in 1869, and studied aw 
with Beattv and Denson. He was admitted to the bar m 187o and 
practiced in Nevada, returning here in 1876; was appointed a_ state 
prison director in 1883; elected to the superior court m 18»;>-'-; -l^^^- 
tice of the supreme court, 1894-99; trustee state library, 18.'-^; eocle 
commissioner, 1899-1903; judge of the United States district court, 
northern district, in 1907, which office he still holds. 



130 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

J883, Gillis Doty, Hugh M. LaRne and Frank D. Ryan. Doty 
was for many years a farmer near Elk Grove and enjoyed tlie con- 
fidence of tlie commnnity. He was supervisor several times and was 
also a state senator for two terms. He was a member of the auditing 
board for the commissioner of ]:>ublic works from 1897 to 1902. He 
died at Elk Grove, July 23, 1909. La Rue was born in Kentucky and 
came to California in 1849, locating at Fiddletown (now called Oleta), 
but came to Sacramento in 1850. In 1857 he was elected sheriff by a 
few votes, but lost the office on a contest. He was elected again in 
1873, and in 1879 was a member of the second constitutional conven- 
tion. In 1863-64 he was a member of the assembly, being speaker for 
both terms. He was a delegate to the national Democratic conven- 
tion in 1884; was president of the State Agricultural Society for sev- 
eral years and an ex-ofificio regent of the State Univ^ersity, and served 
as railroad commissioner from 1895 to 1899. He died at Sacramento, 
December 12, 1906. Ryan was born in Sacramento, was admitted to 
the bar in 1880 ; was grand president of the Native Sons in 1889 ; 
trustee of the state library, 1898-1902; trustee Chico Normal School, 
1899-1901; trustee Sutter's Fort, 1891-1903; commissioner of public 
works, 1899-1907; died near Pleasant Grove, February 9, 1908. 

1885, Winfield J. Davis, Charles T. Jones and Dwight Hollister. 
Davis was a valuable man in the history of this county. Having a 
taste for literature and history, he preserved many of the early in- 
cidents and records, and in 1890 published a history of the county, 
collected with much care and to which the writer of this history is 
nmcli indebted for valuable matter, both then and subsequently. A 
biographical sketch of him will be found elsewhere. He died at 
Marysville, August 3, 1909. Jones served the county several terms 
as district attorney and still lives in this city, practicing law. He was 
chosen an alternate elector in 1888. 

1887, H. W. Carroll, L. S. Taylor and Seymour Carr. Carroll was 
born in Sacramento, was a University of California graduate, and 
engaged in various kinds of ])usiness here. He was a prominent 
Mason and was engineer officer, brigade inspector, lieutenant-colonel 
and aide-de-camp on the statf of Governors Stoneman and Bartlett. 
He removed some years ago to Seattle, where he is city controller at 
present. Taylor was a native of Ohio and came to this state in 1850. 
He spent some time in the mines and later went to Solano, holding for 
a year the position of deputy district attorney. For some years he 
practiced law in this city and was a county commissioner. He was a 
past grand master of Odd Fellows, and died in this citv, February 6, 
1895. 

1889, E. C. Hart, W. M. Petrie and L. H. Fassett. Judge Hart 
was a member of the senate in 1893-95, and is now a justice of the 
third disti-ict appellate court. Mr. Petrie has been for nearly fifty 
years a resident of this city and a successful merchant. He served a 
number of terms as a member of the city board of education, of which 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 131 

he was a member until the new city charter abolished the board, hav- 
ing been re-elected term after term. Mr. Fassett was a farmer and 
died at his home near Freeport, December 16, 1889. He served one 
term as supervisor. 

1891, Elwood Bruner, Judson C. Brusie and Gillis Doty. Mr. 
Brnner was for many years a resident of Sacramento, but went to 
Alaska during the gold excitement some years ago and still resides 
there. He was also a member of the assembly in 1879 and was dis 
trict attorney of this county for a time. Judson 0. Brusie, a prac- 
ticing attorney of this city and previously an assemlilyman from 
Amador county, was secretary of the railroad commissioners from 
1903 to 1908. He died in Los Angeles, June 10, 1908. In addition to 
being an attorney and public man, he was a very versatile writer 
and the author of a successful play. 

1893, H. C. Chipman, W. A. Anderson and Eben B. Owen. Mr. 
Chipman was a resident of this city for many years and died here, 
May 26, 1899. Judge Anderson is an old-timer, having come to this 
county with his father at four years of age, in 1849. He was elected 
city auditor and took the office four days after attaining his ma- 
jority; was admitted to the bar of the supreme court while yet a 
minor. In 1868 he entered the practice of the law and has been for 
many years one of the best known and successful attorneys in the 
state. He has filled the office of city attorney for several terms and 
also that of city justice. From 1867 to 1875 he was assistant ad- 
jutant-general of the Fourth Brigade, N. O. C, with the rank of 
major. Mr. Owen was a farmer living near McConnell's on the 
Cosumnes, where he has a large ranch. 

1895, L. T. Hatfield, John E. Butler and Judson C. Brusie. Mr. 
Hatfield, an attornev, has been for a number of years legal adviser 
of the Sacramento Electric Gas and Railway Company of this city. 
Mr. Butler was a farmer who lived above Folsom. He died about a 
vear ago at his home in Oak Park. 

1897, Scott F. Ennis, L. M. Landsborough and William M. Sims. 
Mr. Ennis is a prominent citizen of Sacramento, in the wholesale 
produce and commission business. Mr. Landsborough was a fruit- 
raiser of Florin and is now a successful business man in that town. 
Mr. Sims was for a number of years a practicing attorney here, but 
of late years has been a resident of San Francisco, where he prac- 
tices his profession. 

1899, W. D. Knights, Grove L. Johnson and Morris Brooke. Mr. 
Kniglits was for a number of years engaged in business here, but has 
for some years past been a resident of San Francisco. Mr. Brooke 
was a fruit-raiser for some years, Init is at |)resent the head of a 
large and successful real-estate firm. 

1901, Louis F. Reeber, W. W. Greer and Grove L. Johnson. Mr. 
Reel)er was a well-known citizen of Sacramento. He was elected 
as a Democrat and was backed by the labor organizations of the city. 
Mr. Greer was a farmer and prominent in Grange circles. He still 



132 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

resides on his farm, southeast of the city. 

1903, Grove L. Johnson, W. W. Greer and J. M. Higgins. Mr. 
Higgins has been for a nnmber of years foreman of the bindery in the 
state printing office and is very popular among the labor unions. 

1905, Frank J. 'Brien, Edward F. LjTich and C. 0. Busick. Mr. 
O'Brien and Mr. Busick are both practicing lawyers of this city. Mr, 
Lynch is a farmer living near Mills station" on the Folsom and 
Placerville railway. 

1907, Grove L. Johnson, Frank J. O'Brien and Edward F. Lynch. 

1909, E. L. Hawk, W. W. Greer and Grove L. Johnson. Mr. 
Hawk has been for many years a prominent real-estate dealer of this 
city, and is very prominent in Grand Army circles, having been de- 
partment commander in 1910. 

1911, John C. March, Charles A. Bliss and E. F. Lynch. Mr. 
March is well known in this city, and was city justice for two terms. 
Mr. Bliss, a practicing attorney here, at the recent election under the 
new charter was elected one of the city commissioners. 

CHAPTER XVIII 
CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY 

In 1850 the legislature took the first active step toward securing 
a state library by enacting a law directing that the scattered books 
which were the property of the state be gathered together and placed 
in the custody of the secretary of state, who should also serve as 
state librarian. This was done, but no considerable addition was 
made to the number of volumes so collected until 1856, when 3500 
standard law books were bought, at a cost of about $17,000, and 
placed in the library, which soon began to grow, comprising in 1860 
about 20,000 volumes; in 1870 it had increased to 25,000; in 1880 
to 50,000 ; in 1890 to about 70,000. 

Nearly every stranger in Sacramento visits the California State 
Library, whose headquarters are in the Capitol building, where they 
occupy the largest part of the east wing, extending from the base- 
ment to the top floor. On the shelves of the library are about 
165,000 volumes. Its average annual income has been about $45,000. 
The institution was established by an act of the state legislature in 
1851, and was intended originally as a legislative reference collection 
only. In 1899 the right to appoint the state librarian passed from the 
legislature to the governor, thus taking the state librarianship out 
of the danger of periodic scrambles for office incident upon legis- 
lative changes. The strength and influence of the office was greatly 
strengthened by the ap])ointment in the same year of the present 
state librarian, J. L. Gillis, a librarian of unusual executive power. 
Under his administration the library has widened its sphere of use- 
fulness until it has become the controlling factor in library work 
throughout the entire state. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 133 

The work of the institution is carried on through about seven de- 
partments, briefly summarized as Order and Accessions; Catalogue; 
Law; Reference; Documents; California; Department for the Blind, 
and County Library Extension. The most original work is conducted 
by the last three departments. The California includes besides all 
books written about California or by California authors, a splendid 
file of pioneer records, arranged in card-catalogue form, and con- 
taining invaluable information concerning the social and political 
history of the state written first-hand by actual observers of the 
events that make up the annals of early California. A like record is 
kept of the state's authors, musicians and artists, together with files 
containing reproductions of the canvases of California painters. Pho- 
tographs are also on file of the interesting persons connected with any 
part of the state's history, political, social or artistic. An unique 
index to California's newspapers and magazine literature is main- 
tained by this department. 

Books for the blind are sent out upon request to countless readers 
all over the state. The resources of this branch of the work are 
some 2,132 books in different kinds of raised type, and nearly all the 
leading magazines for the blind ; to which are being constantly added 
writing appliances, games and puzzles of new invention. 

Nowhere is the influence of the state library more helpful than 
in its organization and encouragement of the county libraries which 
are rapidly appearing on every side, and promise to spread throughout 
all the counties of the state. These county libraries, through a well 
organized system of inter-library loans managed by the state library, 
are able to secure a constant supply of rare, valuable or technical 
books which would otherwise be unattainable by them. Also the 
standard of scholarship and efficiency of these smaller libraries is 
kept up to a high level through a system of report-making to the 
state library; through county library conventions conducted by the 
state library ; through personal yearly visits of the state librarian, and 
through the- influence of the state library board of examiners, which 
conducts competitive examinations for applicants for county librari- 
ans hip. 

California is among the first of all the states to recognize the 
large value of a strong, central library which shall foster the smaller 
county organizations, and naturally the people of the state are proud 
of the good work accomplished and yet to be accomplished by their 
state library at Sacramento. 

CHAPTER XIX 
CITY FREE LIBRARY 

Along in the middle '50s the need for a public library began to 
be recognized, and in 1857 the Sacramento Library Association was 



134 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

organized and a. good library collected, which, in spite of loss by fire, 
steadily increased. In 1872 the building on I street, between Seventh 
and Eighth, which is now occnpied by the Sacramento City Free 
Library, was erected, and furnished at a total cost of $17,000. $11,000 
of this amount was raised by a gift enterprise and mortgage for 
$6,000 was given. The library opened under favorable auspices, but 
its existence was not as prosperous as had been expected or was 
desirable. In 1879, therefore, the directors offered to donate the 
property to the city, to be maintained as a free library, if the city 
would assume the debt. When the question was submitted to the 
voters of the city at the election in March following, the offer was 
accepted. Soon after the library was re-arranged and re-catalogued 
and on June 15, was thrown open to the public as a free library with 
6,067 volumes on the shelves. It has steadily grown in size and use- 
fulness and comprises many thousand volumes. The leading papers 
of the state and many of the leading newspapers of the Union are 
to be found in its reading room, besides a number of representative 
foreign newspapers and periodicals, numbering in all, between two 
hundred and three hundred. Books may be drawn from the library 
by any citizen of Sacramento, free of cost, upon obtaining the neces- 
sary permit. The library is supported by a public tax and is under 
the control of a board of trustees appointed by the mayor of the city. 
For a number of years they were elected by the people. Among those 
who have served as library trustees were the following: Judge S. C. 
Denson, William H. Mills, William C. Fitch, Samuel Howard Gerrish, 
Add C. Hinkson, Mrs. G. W. Hancock, Miss Georgiana Brewster, 
Albert Hart, Kirke W. Brier, Francis Le Noir, A. S. Hopkins, L. E, 
Smith, E. B. Willis. 

In 1908 the library, under an agreement with the board of super- 
visors, extended the library privileges to all the residents of Sacra- 
mento county, being the first library in the state to undertake this 
county library work. Branch libraries and deposit stations to the 
number of twenty-eight have been established in various parts of the 
county, and school-room libraries have been provided for all schools 
desiring this service. 

The library now has approximately 50,000 volumes, including 
the county and schools collections, serves 10,000 card holders, and 
circulates about 200,000 books a year. Under the new city charter, 
effective July 1, 1912, the management of the library is placed in the 
hands of a librarian, subject to the supervision of the commissioner 
of education. The last board of library directors to serve in this 
capacity, who will go out of office with the incoming of the new charter, 
consists of W. C. Fitch, president; S. H. Gerrish, secretary; L. J. 
Hinsdale, F. B. Sutliff and D. S. Watkins The first two have served 
continuously since the library became a free library. The librarian, 
Lauren W. Ripley, has been connected with the institution since Jan- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 135 

uary, 1882, and is assisted by a staff of ten people at the central 
library and twenty-eight branch librarians and custodians of deposit 
stations. 

CHAPTER XX 
GOVERNMENT OFFICES 

The Sacramento postoffice was established in the early days of 
the city's existence. Since that time its business has increased with 
the growth of the city, but the facilities for carrying it on have 
always been less than its needs. The rapid growth and extension 
of Sacramento and its suburbs during the past few years have sorely 
taxed the resources of the office, the government furnishing additional 
carriers and clerks when it could no longer shut its eyes to the fact 
that the force was inadequate. 

R. M. Richardson, the latest postmaster, assumed his duties in 
1904. The total receipts of the office for that year were $117,792.55. 
The tremendous growth since then is apparent when it is stated that 
for the year ending December 31, 1911, the receipts were $284,807.86. 
When Mr. Richardson took charge in 1904, there were twenty-six 
carriers and twenty-two clerks. At the present time the force con- 
sists of forty-one carriers and forty-nine clerks, with the prospect 
that another' increase will be necessary before long. The addition 
which during the past year has been made to the building provides 
for about double the lobby space, and greatly increases the general 
working room of the main office. At the present rate of increase in 
postal "receipts and the amount of work to be handled, the present 
building will hardly be sufficiently large to accommodate the postal 
business of this city in a few years. 

It is estimated that over 60,000 people are now receiving city 
delivery service, which includes Oak Park, Highland Park, Curtis 
Oaks and East Sacramento. The adjacent country Mng within a 
radius of about nine miles from Sacramento is served by two rural 
carriers. Owing to the fact that it has become so thickly populated, 
it has become necessary to make request for two additional rural 
routes in order to serve the patrons. 

In addition to the main office there are fifteen branch offices withm 
the old limits of Sacramento and one at Oak Park. 

The Post Office, Internal Revenue Office, United States Land 
Office, Weather Bureau and some minor offices are in the fine sand- 
stone Government building that stands on the northeast corner of 
Seventh and K streets, on the site formerly occupied by St. Rose's 
Ron- an Catholic Church. 

The United States Land Office dates back to the early history 
of the state, after its admission. There were formerly United States 
land offices at Marvsville and Stockton, but the two offices were con- 



136 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

solidated with the Sacramento office a few years ago and all their 
records transferred to Sacramento. John F. Armstrong is the reg- 
istrar and John C, Ing the receiver, and they have given to the office 
a reputation of promptness and careful management. 

The Internal Revenue office for this district comprises Northern 
California and Nevada — a wide extent of country — and which gives 
employment to a large clerical force, as well as numerous store- 
keepers, gangers, etc. It has been very efficient in the discharge of 
its duties for many years, and stands high on the roll of efficiency 
in the revenue department in Washington. It has not lost any of 
its prestige during the management of the present incumbent, Hon. 
W. A. Shippee, and his clerical force. (It was incorporated lately 
with the San Francisco office.) 

The United States Weather Bureau station in Sacramento was 
established July 1, 1877, by Sergeant B. B. Watkins of the Signal 
Corps, U.S.A. The office was located on the fourth floor of the St. 
George building, on the corner of Fourth and J streets. November 
28, 1879, the office was moved to the Fratt building, corner of Second 
and K streets, and June 1, 1882, it was again moved to the Arcad6 
building, on Second street, between J and K. February 1, 1884, it 
was moved to the Lyon & Curtis building, on J street, between Front 
and Second, and April 30, 1894, it was removed to the postoffice 
building, at Seventh and K streets, where it now is. The station was 
in charge of Sergeant Watkins until April 15, 1879, when he was 
relieved by Sergeant M. M. Sickler, who was relieved by Sergeant 
James A. Barwick, March 15, 1881. Sergeant Barwick remained in 
charge of the station, except as temporarily relieved on account of 
sickness or other causes, until August 18, 1901, when he was relieved 
by James H. Scarr, and transferred to Denver, his health having 
failed. Mr. Scarr was relieved May 3, 1908, by T. A. Blair, who 
had temporary charge until relieved by N. R. Taylor, the present 
incumbent. May 8, 1908. By his uniform courtesy and personal quali- 
ties Mr. Taylor has made many friends in the community, and during 
his incumbency has instituted great improvements in the service. 

During his incumbency of twenty years Sergeant Barwick made 
great strides in the efficiency of the service and is held in most kindly 
regard by older residents of the city. Formerly the data concerning 
the stage of the river and the forecasts in winter concerning it were 
publislied in the San Francisco office, but May 1, 1905. the data con- 
cerning the river were transferred to Sacramento. Here the river 
observation service was re-organized by Observer Scarr, and he 
made great improvements in it, which brought it to a high state of 
efficiency and which have been continued and expanded by Observer 
Taylor. Today all the flood stages of the Sacramento river and its 
tributaries are accurately forecast by him from data gathered from 
the stations in his district. This station now has the collection of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 137 

data from the San Joaquin watershed below the mouth of the Mokel- 
umne, embracing that of the Mokehimne, Cosumnes, Stanislaus, Cala- 
veras rivers, and Mormon slough. Observer Taylor has also, within 
the past two years, established a number of stations for the observa- 
tion and recording of the snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

CHAPTER XXI 
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 

In an earlier chapter reference was made to the sutfering in 
1849 and 1850 of the inhabitants of Sacramento and the immigrants 
who came across the plains or ''around the Horn," in search of gold. 
Some of them had lost their stores of provisions or exhausted them. 
Some had started without calculating on the conditions they would 
find here. Some had lieen despoiled by the attacks of Indians, and, 
losing their horses or cattle, had been obliged to abandon part of 
their wagons and stores. And some of those coming by both of the 
routes had been attacked by scurvy on account of the scarcity of 
vegetables, and were in wretched condition when they arrived here. 
The generosity of General Sutter afforded the impoverished strangers 
temporary relief, but more than temporary relief was needed where 
there were so many destitute and suffering. 

The situation in Sacramento was graphically set forth by Dr. 
Morse in his history. He says: "At this time Sacramento was a 
nucleus of attraction to the world. It was the great starting ]ioint 
to the vast and glittering gold fields of California, with the tales of 
which the whole universe became astounded, and which men of every 
clime and nation sought to reach, without a moment's reflection upon 
the cost or hazard of such an adventure. The only consideration 
upon the part of a hundred thousand gold-seekers who were prepar- 
ing for emigration to California was dispatch. Time wasted on pru- 
dential outfits, upon the acquirement of means beyond the passage 
fee to San Francisco, and peradventure a little spending money to 
dissipate the impatience of delay, was as well wasted in any other 
way. What were a few dollars that required months to accumulate in 
the Atlantic states, to the gold-gleaming ounces that California gave 
weekly as compensation to the simplest labor? 

"All that men seemed to wish for was the means of setting foot 
on California soil, and few were sufficiently provident in their calcu- 
lations to provide anything beyond the mere landing at San Francisco. 
Out of the thousands who landed at the above place in the interval 
referred to, not one in a hundred arrived in the country with money 
enough to buy him a decent outfit for the mines. Such was the heed- 
lessness with which people innnigrated to this country during the 
incipient progress of the gold-seeking fever. In all parts of the world 
vessels of every size and condition were put up for the great El 



138 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Dorado, and as soon as put up were filled to overflowing with men 
who had not the remotest conception of the terrible sufferings they 
were to encounter. Along the entire coast of the American continent, 
in every prominent port in Europe, in nearly every maritime point 
in Asia, and in nearly all the islands in the world, were men struggling 
with reckless determination for the means of coming to California. 
The savings of years were instantly appropriated, goods and chattels 
sold at ruinous sacrifices, homesteads mortgaged for loans obtained 
upon destructive rates of interest, and jewelry, keepsakes and pension 
fees pledged for the reimbursement of a beggarly steerage passage 
for thousands of miles to the town of San Francisco. 

"These are facts with which the world is now familiar, and this 
being the manner in which people embarked for the Eureka state, it 
can be easily imagined how those landed who survived the untold 
and unutterable suffering endured from port to port. From the 1st 
of August, 1849, the deluging tides of immigrants began to roll into 
the city of San Francisco their hundreds and thousands daily; not 
men robust and hearty by a pleasant sea voyage, but poor miserable 
beings, so famished and filthy, so saturated with scorbutis diseases, 
or so depressed in spirits as to make them an easy prey of disease 
and death, where they had expected naught but health and fortune. 

"Thus did mining adventurers pour into San Francisco, nine- 
tenths of whom, for a few months, took passage to Sacramento. How- 
ever debilitated they might be, however penniless and destitute, still 
this, the great focus of mining news, the nearest trading point for 
miners situated on a navigable stream, was the only place that men 
could think of stopping at for recuperative purposes. Hence, from 
Cape Horn, from all the isthmus routes, from Asiatic seaports, and 
from the islands of the Pacific, men in the most im]^overished health 
were converging at Sacramento. But these were not the only sources 
of difficulty to Sacramento in 1849; for at the same time that the 
scurvy-ridden subjects of the ocean began to concentrate among us, 
there was another more terrible train of scorbutic sufferers coming 
in from the overland roads, so exhausted in strength and so worn 
out with the calamities of the journey as to be but barely able to 
reach this, the Valley City. 

"From these sources Sacramento became a perfect lazar house 
of disease, suffering and death, months before anything like an ef- 
fective city government was organized. It must be remembered that 
in proportion as these scenes began to accumulate, men seemed to 
grow indifferent to the appeals of suffering, and to the dictates of 
benevolence. The more urgent and importunate the cries and be- 
seeching miseries of the sick and destitute, the more obdurate, des 
potic and terrible became the reign of cupidity. 

"In the month of July, 1849, these subjects of distress and the 
appeals of misery became so common that men could not escape them ; 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 139 

and if there bad been tbe utmost attention paid to the exercise of 
charity and protection, it would have been impossible to have met the 
demands of the destitute, sick and dying as a commensurate sympathy 
would have dictated. Such was the difficulty with which facilities for 
the care of the sick could be procured, that even the few who had 
money could not purchase those comforts which even the poorest 
in the Atlantic states can enjoy. Dr. Craigan's hospital at the Fort 
was the most comfortable place, but such were the necessary demands 
for boarding and nursing that men could not avail themselves of such 
care. Soon after the establishment of this hospital, Drs. Deal and 
Martin opened another hospital in one of the bastions of the old 
Fort. This led to a reduction of the cost of hospital board and 
attendance, but still it was too dear a comfort to be purchased 
by more than one in five of the accumulating invalids of the town. 
The sick of the city were in consequence thrown upon the exclusive 
attention of a society which had become so mammon-ridden as to be 
almost insensible to the voice of want. Not only were the victims 
of scurvy evolving a general distress, but also those who supposed 
themselves acclimated were beginning to feel the sweeping miasmatic 
fevers which were peculiarly severe during this first season." 

The first organized efforts to relieve the suffering were made 
by the fraternity of Odd Fellows, individual members of which formed 
an informal organization. Gen. A. M. Winn was elected president, 
Mr. McLaren, secretary, and Captain Gallup, treasurer. They devoted 
themselves untiringly to the sick and suffering, and an immense 
amount of relief was dispensed. Still men sickened and died and 
often were not even wrapped in a blanket for burial. Coffins were 
from sixty to one hundred and fifty dollars apiece and could not 
always be procured, but the association spent thousands of dollars 
for them. 

As before related, the cholera made its appearance on the 20th 
of October, 1850, and raged for nearly a month, the death roll of 
which can never be known. The stricken city was nearly depopu- 
lated for a time. In April, 1850, the Freemasons and Odd Fellows 
together built a hospital, the board of trustees being elected by both 
orders. 

Dr. Dow had a ^'Thompsonian Hospital and Botanic Medicine 
Store" on K street, between Second and Third. The- price of admis- 
sion per day was from five to twenty-five dollars, "according to 
trouble and expense." 

Drs. T. J. White and C. D. Cleveland had a large hospital at 
the corner of Ninth and L streets that would accommodate one hun- 
dred patients, and Drs. James S. Martin and B. R. Carman con- 
ducted the "Sutter's Fort Hospital" inside of the Fort. Drs. Morse 
and Stillman also had a hospital at the corner of Third and K streets. 

Besides these, there were several physicians, first at Sutter's 



140 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Fort and afterwards in the city, who received boarding patients, but 
very few sick persons had the means with whicli to pay the prices 
asked. It became necessary, therefore, at an early date, for a public 
hospital to be established, at which all cases could be taken in and 
cared for. This was done, the first one being opened in the business 
part of the city, Drs. J. F. Montgomery, Johnson Price, George W. 
Williams and Proctor being among the first physicians connected 
with it. The city directory of 1853 contains the announcement, "Drs. 
Johnson Price and George W. Williams, Physicians to the County 
Hospital, corner of I and Seventh streets." About that time Proctor 
and Price established a hospital on Second street, between I and J, 
with seventy-five or eighty beds, and entered into a contract with the 
county for keeping the poor, numbering about fifty, and charging very 
liigh prices. Three or four years afterwards the county, having 
meanwhile built itself a hospital on the corner of Tenth and L streets, 
endeavored to break the contract, but Price and Proctor sued and 
obtained judgment against it. This county hospital was erected on 
the northeast corner of the present Capitol Park. It was torn down 
and removed shortly after it was vacated, soon after the Civil War. 

Dr. Montgomery was the county physician again in 1857 ; 1858-59, 
Dr. G. L. Simmons; 1859-60, Dr. Montgomery; 1861, from November, 
Dr. G. J. Phelan; 1869, from September, Dr. Montgomery; 1870, Dr. 
A. C. Donaldson, with Dr. G. A. White as assistant. 

The county then purchased some land from James Lansing, there 
being about sixty acres on the Upper Stockton Road, a mile south of 
the city limits, paying al)out $11,000 for it. Here the county erected 
a fine building and removed to it about seventy-five patients from the 
old one. This hospital was burned October 5, 1878, and the patients 
were removed to the "Old Pavilion," corner of Sixth and M streets 
and cared for temporarily, until the present one was built, in 1879. 
It was more commodious and better arranged than the first one, but 
has nearly outlived its usefulness and a new one will undoubtedly 
be constructed in the near future, with more up-to-date appurtenances. 
It was built on the "pavilion" plan with four wings radiating from 
the central structure and cost about $65,000. The farm provides 
fruit, vegetables, milk and various other things for the use of the 
inmates. 

Dr. G. A. White became county physician in 1872, and continued 
as sucli until 1908, with the exception that in the s])ring of 1879, the 
homeopathists were put in charge of the hospital, Dr. George Pyburn 
serving for three months, and Dr. George M. Dixon the succeeding 
four. Dr. Laine, regular, finished out the unexpired term. Dr. 
White brought the hospital up to a high state of efficiency and stands 
in the front rank of the surgeons of the state. He was succeeded, 
in 1904, by his son. Dr. John L. White, who is the present county 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 141 

physician and has already won the name of one of the most promising 
young surgeons on the coast, 

SOUTHERN PACIFIC HOSPITuAX, 

In the early days of the Central Pacific history, the road ran 
through a sparsely settled country, with the towns few and far be- 
tween and of small size. Accidents in the railroad man's life are 
frequent. In those days most of the road's employees were new men 
on the coast and but few of them had relatives that could take care 
of them when disabled. It remained then, in most cases, for the com- 
pany and their comrades to take care of them. These calls for dona- 
tions were frequent and burdensome and the company finally con- 
cluded that it would be best and most humane for it to build a hos- 
pital where the employees could be treated and cared for when sick 
or disabled, whether they had means or not. Sacramento was the 
place chosen for the hospital and an old residence was leased for the 
purpose. In 1869 the Central Pacific Hospital was built at a cost of 
$64,000. It was of four stories, 60x35 feet, and two wings, 35x52 
feet, and a kitchen twenty-four feet square. It had six wards, be- 
sides eight private rooms for patients, and had a library of fifteen 
hundred volumes. The executive and medical staff was excellent. 
It was supported by a monthly contribution of fifty cents from each 
officer and employee, which entitled them to free medical treatment 
in case of sickness or injury while in the employ of the company. It 
proved of very great benefit to the employees. In 1900 it was aban- 
doned and removed to the Charles Crocker residence on F street and 
Eighth, where it now is, but the construction of a new one was begun 
in 1911 on Second street. It was completed in 1912, and has since 
been used chiefly as an emergency hospital, most of the ordinary cases 
being sent to the company's hospital in San Francisco. 

PROTESTANT ORPHAN ASYLUM 

Early in 1858 the necessity for caring for orphan children was 
discussed, and an association for that purpose was formed, but it did 
not prove of long continuance and the matter was dropped for some 
years. In 1867, however, the governor and a number of citizens were 
interested through the efforts of Mrs. Elvira Baldwin in the care of 
a family of seven children orphaned by the death of their mother, a 
poor woman. The direct influence of this movement was the awaken- 
ing of a new interest in the subject, and the organization of a society 
for the care and maintenance of destitute orphans in the county, and 
ultimately in the state. Mrs. I. E. 'Dwinell was the first president 
of the organization and the society rented and furnished a building 
at Seventh and D streets, where fourteen or fifteen children were 
immediately ])laced in the care of the first matron, Mrs. Cole. The 
association erected a building the next year on the block between K 
and L, Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets, where the new high school 
building now stands. . The l)uilding was considerably damaged by fire. 



142 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

December 7, 1878, but was soon repaired and another and better 
building was added to it, making it commodious and well-arranged. 
The year previous a neat school building had been erected, and the 
school was made part of the city public-school system and placed 
under the care of the city board of education. No children except 
the inmates of the institution were allowed to attend the school. 

Many noble women have devoted much time and money to the 
welfare and upbuilding of the institution. Among them was Mrs. 
Sarah E. Clayton, who was president of the society in 1877-88, and 
traveled nearly five thousand miles in fifteen years, caring for orphans 
who were afterwards furnished with homes through the efforts of 
the society. In 1905 the property was sold to the city of Sacramento 
for high school purposes and the institution was removed to a site 
on the Lower Stockton Road, just beyond the William Curtis place. 

THE MARGUERITE HOME 

The first of the monuments to the memory of Mrs. Margaret 
Crocker was the home for aged women known as the Marguerite Home. 
the second being the gift of the Crocker Art Gallery to the city. The 
home is situated at Seventh and I streets and was originally the 
residence and grounds of Capt. William Whitney, comprising a half- 
block on I street. A fine building was added to the residence, mak- 
ing twenty-eight large bedrooms, with parlor, reception room, office, 
kitchen, laundry and diningroom. Everything was done for the com- 
fort and convenience of the inmates and the rooms are well-lighted 
and ventilated, and the house heated by hot-air pipes. The grounds 
are well shaded by fine trees and kept in good order by the trustees. 

The Marguerite Home was dedicated February 25, 1884, the 
sixtieth anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Crocker, the occasion being 
celebrated by a reception of the older citizens of Sacramento at the 
home. After the congratulations were over, Mrs. Margaret Crocker 
made the presentation of the home to the trustees in the following 
words, which explain the purpose and status of the gift: "Frank 
Miller, Albert Gallatin, John li. Carroll, Gustavus L. Simmons and 
Charles McCreary: Gentlemen — Herewith I deliver into your pos- 
session a deed in trust for certain money, real and personal prop- 
erty, by means of which I propose to establish a home for aged 
and indigent women in Sacramento, to be known as the 'Marguerite 
Home.' I have the honor, gentlemen, to solicit your acceptance of 
this trust; the deed expresses my intentions without placing restric- 
tions on your mode of management. 

''Knowing your intelligence and ability, and having full faith in 
your character and in your disposition to aid in all benevolent pur- 
poses, and believing you to be in full accord with my views in respect 
to the especial objects in my regard in this gift, I have left, as you 
will see upon a careful examination of the deed, to your discretion 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 143 

and superior knowledge and to your kind and earnest efforts, which 
I most heartily invoke, the success of this trust." 

Mayor John Q. Brown, Dr. G. L. Simmons and Hon. Joseph Stef- 
fens made appropriate responses to the tender of the generous gift. 
The deed, in addition to the property purchased for the home, dedi- 
cated also $50,000 as an endowment fund, besides $12,000 as a further 
aid to the maintenance of the home. While the money was apportioned 
to the support of the inmates, the trustees, anxious to extend the 
benefits of the institution to a wider range, concluded to take for life 
such worthy and respectable women as may desire to enter the home 
and as are able to pay the expenses incident to their maintenance. 

Of the original trustees, all except Frank Miller are dead, Dr. 
Simmons passing away a little over a year ago. The present board 
of trustees consists of Ludwig Mebius, president, Dr. W. A. Briggs, 
vice-president, Dr. W. E. Briggs, C. F. Dillman and H. A. Fairbanks! 
The death of Dr. Simmons was a great blow to the board of directors, 
as he had given his time and effort unstintedly and unselfishly to 
looking after details important to the efficiency of the home and the 
comfort of its inmates. The patronesses of the home are Mrs. W. A. 
Briggs, Mrs. Mebius, Mrs. C. F. Dillman, Mrs. W. E. Briggs and 
Mrs. Fairbanks. Miss Sue M. Clarke is the present matron. 

OTHER HOSPITALS 

From time to time other hospitals have been provided for the 
care of the sick, which, while not strictly speaking, charitable institu- 
tions, are for the alleviation and cure of the ills of suffering humanity, 
and may therefore be spoken of under this head. All ''water cures" 
and "health institutes" are hospitals, and after the rush of the gold 
seekers to this state was fairly on, it is surprising how quickly all 
the eastern institutions of that class were established on this coast, 
although not on an extensive scale. There is no record as to when 
the first water cure was established in this city, but it was probablv 
in the early '50s. We find Dr. T. P. Zander in 1857 advertising one 
at the southwest corner of Fifth and K street, and later a Dr. Burns 
established one which afterwards became the Pacific Water Cure and 
Electric Health Institute. 

This fell later under the management of Dr. M. F. Clavton, a 
graduate of the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, who 
carried it on until his death, when Mrs. Clayton took charge of it 
for a number of years, being succeeded in its active management by 
her daughter, Mrs. A. J. Gardner. In 1910 the institution was closed 
and the fine structure known as the Hotel Clayton was erected on 
its site. 

MATER MISEEICORDIAE HOSPITAL 

The care of the sick is one of the chief objects of the order of 
bisters of Mercy, and as Sacramento for so manv vears could not 



144 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

lay claim to any institntion for the care of the sick except those of 
the city and county and the railroad liospital, the Sisters, in 1895, 
witli very little money, l)ut with great faith in God's providence, ])iir- 
chased the half block l)etween Q and R, Twenty-second and Twenty- 
third streets, of the late Dr. G. L. Simmons for $12,000 on a 
mortgage note. The two small buildings known as the ''Ridge Home," 
on Twenty-second street, were a small beginning, and ])oorly equipped, 
but their faith was rewarded l\v the appreciation of the public and 
in 1896, the large building now known as the Hospital Mater Miser- 
icordiae was erected. It has since been enlarged, and porches run 
all around it, and is one of the best equipped and best patronized 
hospitals on the coast, having four elegant operating rooms of the 
latest pattern. Ridge Home is now utilized as a home for the aged. 

THE WENTWORTH-TGO HOSPITAL 

The Wentworth Igo Hospital was opened September 1, 1900, at a 
cost of $13,000, at No. 2515 I street. It had twenty-five beds, and 
increased rapidly in popularity. Dr. Wentworth died in 1901 and 
Miss Louise Igo continued the management of the hospital until 1902, 
when she severed her connection with it and graduated from the 
Medical College of the University of California. In March, 1910, 
she opened the Louise Igo Hospital with eight rooms for patients, 
and her business grew so rapidly that she lias determined to build a 
larger institution. 

WHITE HOSPITAL 

January 12, 1910, Dr. J. L. White opened the White Hospital at 
Twenty-ninth and J streets, with five four-bed wards, two four-bed 
wards and thirty private rooms. He is the owner and manager. For 
more than ten years he was superintendent of the County Hospital 
and is considered one of the most successful young surgeons in North- 
ern California. Mrs. Staley is superintendent of the nurses and has 
a number of assistants, and twenty-one nurses in training. The ap- 
proximate value of the hospital is $90,000. The annex was completed 
in May, 1911, with twelve rooms on the upper floor for patients. The 
hospital rapidly found its way into ]:»ublic favor and is in a very 
prosperous condition, 

THE HOME OF THE MERCIFUL SAVIOUR 

The Home of the Merciful Saviour, on the J Street Road, is an 
institution for the treatment of crippled and invalid children. Al- 
though under the fostering care of the Episcopal Church it is 
wholly non-sectarian as to admissions and has received as patients 
children from the length and breadth of California, the only requisite 
for their acceptance being a ])hysician's certificate indicating their 
need of medical or surgical treatment and tlie age restriction of twelve 
years for boys and fourteen for girls. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 145 

The Home owes its existence to a memorial gift of $250 don«tf.H 
by the late Mrs. James Palaehe, of Berkeley, in "remembrance ofher 
daughter That nest egg was augmented by the generosity of many 
Sacra„,entans and other friends in the diocese, and the propertTon 
J treet was pnrclmsed, the bouse renovated and the Home opened 

ttefuttTeTner "' ""'"^"*^' '""^ ^' ''''' ^^''^ ^ '-'-' '^^^ "^ 
In the five succeeding years one Inindred and twenty-five children 
have been admitted, many have been discharged "cured " some -im 
proved" and there have been eight deaths. The fatalities have al- 
most mvariably been due to the hopeless condition of the children when 
brought to the Home. The average size of the family at the pies 
ent time is from twenty to twenty-five. ^ 

frn Jwl ^'S'^^^^^*^^^ «^ *^^ Home consists of a board of directors 
from whose number are elected a president, vice-president, treas- 
urer, corresponding and recording secretaries, the bishop of the 
diocese being ex-officio president. There is a sustaining member- 
ship of annual subscribers and a life membership comprising don- 
ors of one hundred dollars or more in one sum. ^ - "^ 
There is also a Memorial Endowment Fund, the interest from 
which IS applied to the maintenance of the Home, and from which 
It IS hoped m time to realize an adequate annual income for the 
support of the institution. This is being created by special gifts, 
endowed beds and bequests. Legacies to this charitable institu- 
tion are made payable to the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of 
bacramento, a Corporation Sole, in trust for the Home of the Mer- 
cirul baviour. 

'^THE HOWARDS " 

^ The Howard Benevolent Association of Sacramento was oro-an- 
ized m a time of great tribulation and distress in this citv The 
rush of gold seekers in 1849 had brought with it much of 'disease 
and poverty, and the Masons and Odd Fellows had risen noblv to 
the occasion and dispensed charity with open hands and willing 
hearts, counting not the cost when they could alleviate distress In 
later times, when the floods and fires brought povertv and suffer- 
mg, another organization arose. This one was formed purelv and 
so ely for the relief of the destitute and sick, and well and "faith- 
tully It played its part. No one will ever know how much it did 
tor the needy, for those who disbursed its funds never boasted of 
the deeds, and most, if not all, of the original members have passed 
away. The name of the Howards, however, should alwavs be held 
m reverence by every citizen of Sacramento. 

The first steps looking to the organization of the societv were 
taken as early as December 21, 1857, N. A. H. Ball being the leader in 
the good work. The officers elected for the first vear were: George 



146 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

W. Mowe, president; L. A. Booth, James P. Robinson, John McNeill, 
R. A. Pearis, James E. Perkins and N. A. H. Ball, directors; James 
M. Kennedy, secretary, and John S. Bien, treasurer. The income 
of the society was derived from membership fees, voluntary con- 
tributions, donations by the legislature, and various other sources. 
None of the officers except the steward received any salary. Dur- 
ing the floods of 1861-62 the association had its headquarters at the 
Old Pavilion on M street, as stated in a previous chapter, and as- 
sisted hundreds of homeless people. For many years it distributed 
to the needy about $4000 a year and numbered about thirty active 
members, who elected the directors. Of late years the Howards have 
not had so many calls on their charity, as the county has taken hold 
of such matters more systematically. For this reason their reserve 
fund has accumulated until it amounts to about $20,000. The pres- 
ent board of directors consists of R. D, Finnic and Fred Biewener, 
John Weil, the third member having died in January, 1912. 

The Catholic Ladies' Relief Society, No. 1, has been in ex- 
istence for many years and has faithfully looked after the needs of 
the destitute and sick of their denomination. 

The Young Men's Christian Association was organized October 
3, 1866, and elected officers as follows: N. N. Denton, president; H. 
B. Eddy, secretary, and M. L. Templeton, treasurer. Twenty-six 
names were enrolled at the organization. At a subsequent meeting 
October 22, 1866, at the Congregational Church, the organization 
was completed by electing other officers, as follows : Sparrow Smith, 
corresponding secretarv; George Wick, librarian; H. W. Earl, regis- 
trar; G. W. Bruff, Seth Babson, A. Aitken, J. M. Ripley, G. W. 
Bonner, board of managers ; and the following vice-presidents : Frank 
Miller (Congregational Church), G. R. Forshee (Sixth Street Metho- 
dist Church), A. Aitken (Presbyterian Church), C. Emery (Baptist 
Church), and Henry Garrett (Christian Church). 

The association died down in 1877 and 1878, but was soon after 
revived. Its headquarters were at No. 309 K street, the St. George 
Building, and on the west side of Sixth street, between K and L. 
At present they own the building at the Northwest corner of Fifth 
and J streets, but it has been razed, and a splendid building, costing 
with the lot about $200,000, is being erected on the site. The associa- 
tion is strong and prosperous and has a large membership. 

CEMETERIES 

The New Helvetia Cemetery, which lies south of and adjoining 
McKinley Park, just east of Thirty-first street, is the oldest bury- 
ing ground in Sacramento, and is embraced in the original plat of 
Sutter's Fort. Ten acres here were donated for burial purposes 
by Gen. John A. Sutter to the city, about the first of December, 
1849. The first person buried was Major Cloud, a paymaster of 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 147 

the United States army, who was killed in 1847 some distance south- 
east of the fort, by being thrown from a horse. The second person 
buried in the cemetery was Miss Susanna Hitchcock, who died early 
in 1849 at the new diggings on the Stanislaus; the third was James 
McDowell, who was shot in Washington, just across the river from 
this city. Many interments were made here in 1849 and 1850, dur- 
ing the times when sickness and cholera were so prevalent. Since 
the annexation of the suburbs beyond it in 1911, bringing this and 
the Jewish cemeteries within the city limits, it is proposed to re- 
move the remains of those buried there to some other place, and 
abolish those cemeteries. 

The City Cemetery was located south of Y street in 1850, on 
the southern boundary of the city limits, on Tenth- street. It origin- 
ally comprised about twenty acres, but the area has been largely in- 
creased by additions. It is beautifully adorned with trees, flowering 
shrubs and plants, and many fine monuments are to be seen there. 
The Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Red Men, Firemen, Pioneers, Print- 
ers, Veterans of the Mexican war, and other organizations have 
plats within the enclosure, as has also the state, where a number of 
state officials were buried. This cemetery is owned by the city, and 
is controlled by a superintendent elected by the board of trustees. 

The Hebrew Cemetery is under the control of the Congregation 
B'nai Israel, but is ovnied by the Hebrew Benevolent Society. A 
chapel has been erected on the grounds, which are enclosed by a 
wall. 

St. Joseph's Cemetery belongs to the Catholic diocese of Sac- 
ramento and was consecrated by Archbishop Alemany in 1865. It is 
located at Twenty-first and Y streets, and is well kept by the sup- 
erintendent. 

East Lawn Cemetery is the most modern of all the cemeteries, 
having been opened by a private corporation in 1904. It is located 
on a knoll which is part of the farm formerly owned by Governor 
Booth, on the M street road, or Schley avenue, as it is called, a short 
distance east of the former city limits, but now far within them 
since the annexation of the eastern suburbs. It occupies a beautiful 
site and will, in time, be one of the first in the state. It was fur- 
nished with a furnace for cremation a vear or two ago. 



'&" 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE PRESS 

One of the first accompaniments of civilization is the newspaper. 
The savage communicates with his fellows by breaking twigs on the 
trail or by smoke and other si.gnals in the hills and on the plains. 
Civilized man uses more universal and wide-spread devices for dis- 
seminating the news. In the days of '49 the people were no less 



148 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

eager to hear the news than are we of the present day, who must 
devour the news from the daily paper while we devour our break- 
fast. News from the mines was no less eagerly sought by the dweller 
in the city than was the news from the city and the east by the 
miner at his claim. It was a foregone conclusion, therefore, that 
as soon as society was organized, the journalist should open his 
office and begin to supply the demand. 

The Mo liter 61/ Calif oriiiau was the first newspaper issued in 
C^alifornia and was published and edited by Rev. Walter Colton, a 
cha])lain in the United States navy, and Dr. Robert Semple. The 
type was principally long primer, an old Spanish font, badly worn 
and battered. As there is no "w" in the Spanish language, two 
"v's" were substituted in words containing "w. " The press was 
an old Ramage, which had been used by the Mexican authorities for 
printing their edicts and other public papers. The first issue of 
the Californian was printed on an inferior quality of paper used 
for tobacco wrappers, and was issued in the summer of 1846. John 
R. Gould, of Baltimore, afterwards secretary of the Maryland As- 
sociation of Veterans of the Mexican War, assisted by a boy, set 
the type, worked off the paper and kept the books of the office. B. 
P. Kooser, a corporal in the United States army, was compositor 
and pressman on the Californian in 1847, and subsequently pub- 
lished the Santa Cruz Sentinel and was a commissioner from the 
state at the Centennial Exposition. 

The second paper published in this state was the California 
Star, the first number being issued in San Francisco January 9, 
1847. It was a weekly a little larger than the Californian and was 
published by Sam Brannan and edited by E. P. Jones. The press 
was a tolerably good one and the Son or a Herald afterwards used 
it. On the 17th of April, 1848, Mr. Jones resigned and E. C. Kemble 
succeeded him as editor. The last number of the first volume was 
issued January 1, 1848. The first number of the second volume ap- 
peared January 8, 1848, in enlarged form and its publication was 
continued regularly till May 26, when the printers went to the mines 
and its ])ublication was discontinued. The Californian having been 
discontinued for the same reason, California was without a news- 
pa])er from the last of May till the latter part of June, 1848. 

About July 1, 1848, a few printers returned disgusted from the 
mines and commenced the publication of the third volume of the 
Californian, and published it irregularly until August, when it re- 
commenced its regular weekly issues under the editorial manage- 
ment of H. T. Sheldon. In September Mr. Kemble, who had re- 
turned from the mines, ])urchased the Californian, as well as the 
interests of his partners in the Star, and united the two under the 
title of the Star and Californian and recommenced where the Star 
had left off — Volume III, No. 24. It was the only paper then pub- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 149 

lislied in California and was issued weekly till the last of December, 
1848, when it was discontinued. January 1, 1849, Mr, Kemble took 
into partnership Messrs. Gilbert and Hubbard, and began publish- 
ing the Alta California. They published it weeklj^ until November 
10, 1849, when it was issued tri-weekly and after January 23, 1850, 
it was published daily, simultaneously with the Journal of Com- 
merce, published by W. Bartlett. March 4, 1849, the Pacific News 
also appeared daily. The fourth paper started in California and the 
second published in 1849 was the Placer Times, at New Helvetia, 
Sutter's Fort, April 28, 1849, published by E. Gilbert & Co., in Sac- 
ramento, and edited by Jesse Giles. It was a weekly sheet and a 
small one. It was printed on sheets of foolscap size. Printing paper 
was very scarce in California, but the market was overstocked with 
unruled foolscap, which was made a substitute. The Pacific News 
was the third newspaper published in the state, at this time, and 
was the first tri-weekly. It was published in San Francisco on fools- 
cap paper, the lack of size being compensated for by supplementary 
sheets. 

During the winter of 1849-50, George Kenyon Fitch came by 
the Isthmus route, bringing with him a hand and a card press, ink, 
type and about thirty reams of printing paper. He proposed to five 
attaches of the Pacific News — F. C. Ewer, H. S. Warren, J. M. 
Julian, Theodore Russell and S. C. Upham — the formation of a com- 
pany to publish a newspaper at Sacramento, and the proposition was 
accepted. They rented the second floor of a frame building on Second 
street, between J and K streets, and April 1, 1850, the initial number 
of the tri-weekly paper was issued, which was christened the Sacra- 
mento Transcript. It was published on a folio sheet, in brevier and 
nonpareil t^^oe. A steamer edition, for circulation in the Atlantic 
states, was printed once a month, selling at fifty cents a copy, while 
the tri-weekly sold at twelve and one-half cents and advertisements 
were inserted for $4 a square, each insertion. The six copartners 
accepted positions on the paper as follows : G. K. Fitch, heavy and 
fighting editor; F. C. Ewer, literary editor; H, S. Warren, foreman; 
J. M. Julian, compositor; Theodore Russell, pressman; and S. C. 
Upham, local rejoorter, business manager, printer's devil, ''dead 
head," etc. 

In its salutatory the Transcript uttered a sentiment that it would 
be well for the papers of the present day to adopt. It said in part: 

"The opening of a new paper is like the planting of a tree 

Its shade should be free to all. It should reach forth its branches to 
shield the innocent from the pelting storm, and, conscious of its fear- 
less might, men should come to it for protection, and find refresh- 
ment in its shade. It should be nurtured by no unhealthy influences; 
it should be propped up by no interested motives ; its growth should 
be free and unrestrained. Perchance it may wither in its youth, and 

10 



150 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

no longer be the home of healthy" influences. Perhaps it may be 
stricken in its manhood by the storms of adversity. Perchance it 
may flourish through the years and grow green; but of all dangers 
that assail it from without, the insidious influence of those who may 
cluster round it for their own private ends is the most withering 
and the most to be feared. A newspaper should never be used. It 
is too tremendous a lever to be brought to bear for any purpose, 
save for the good of the public." , 

The day of ])ublication of its first number was, besides being 
''All Fools' Day," the first election day under the new charter and 
there were three tickets in the field — the Democratic, the ranchers' 
and the citizens' ticket. The total number of votes cast was 2,943, 
and Plardin Biglow, the people's candidate, received a majority of 
323 over all the others. The Transcript was the fifth newspaper pub- 
lished on the Pacific Coast and the first daily outside of San Fran- 
cisco published in California. Ten days later the Placer Times came 
out daily. 

The Transcript was a financial success, but Mr. Julian retired 
within two months and Mr. Upham a month later sold his interest 
to G. C. Weld, California correspondent of the New York Journal of 
Commerce. Mr. Weld was a model business man and a fine writer, 
but died within six weeks of the time he became one of the proprie- 
tors and the paper beginning to run down, was consolidated with the 
Placer Times. A year later, the Times and Transcript removed to 
San Francisco and took a leading position as a Democratic organ, 
under Pickering and Fitch. It died in 1856 of a Democratic contro- 
versy. 

When the Placer Times was started the office was not equipped 
with a. modern plant ecjual to those nowadays. A lot of old type 
was ]iicked up out of the Alt a office, an old Ramage press was re- 
paired, a. lot of Spanish foolscap was secured in San Francisco, and 
the whole was shipped to Sacramento on a vessel named the Dice me 
Nana (says my mamma), the first craft to carry tyj^e and press to 
the interior of California, and which made the trip in eight days. 
An office was built for the paper about six hundred feet from the 
northeast corner of the bastion of Sutter's Fort, and near what is 
now the corner of Twenty-eighth and K streets. The structure was 
a queer mixture of wood, adobe and cotton cloth, but it answered 
the pur])ose. The paper was 13x18 inches in size, and the title was 
cut from wood with a pocket knife. All sorts of ex])edients were 
resorted to in cutting off and piecing out letters to round out a com- 
|)lement of "sorts" for the cases. The press had a wooden platen, 
which needed constant planing to kee]) it level, and the rollers were 
not a most brilliant success. The plant like its owners was a pioneer 
in that line, but with all its defects, it "filled a long felt want," and 
the merchants of the city rallied around the pioneer publisher and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 151 

subscribed liberally to secure him from loss. It has been said that 
in this country the newspaper is the herald of progress, and in an 
energetic community like that of early Sacramento the truth of the 
assertion was certainly made good. 

When the Times and Transcript were combined under the double 
head in June, 1851, the new paper was enlarged. The Transcript 
had been started as an independent paper, but in 1850 it came out 
for the Democratic party, thus being the first interior Democratic 
paper. The Times had also originally been neutral, but had also in 
1850 leaned toward Democracy. When the Squatter riot excitement 
arose, it had been valiant in defense of the real-estate owners, but 
under its new management it became less partisan. At the time of 
the consolidation G. K. Fitch had become state printer and Lorin 
Pickering had the city printing. This formed an advantageous basis 
for the fusion, Fitch retaining a half interest in the printing and 
Pickering and Lawrence the other half. The three were the editors. 
The State Journal became an active rival to the new paper and in 
June, 1852, the Times-Transcript abandoned the field to its rival and 
removed to San Francisco, where it was published by the old firm, 
which was afterwards succeeded by George Kerr & Co., composed of 
George Kerr, B. F. Washington, J. E. Lawrence and J. C. Haswell. 
From then it passed to Edwin Bell and later to Vincent E. Geiger & 
Co. In the meantime Fitch & Co. had acquired the Alta California 
and December 17, 1854, they repurchased the old Times-Transcript 
and absorbed it into the Alta. 

October 30, 1850, the Squatter Association started a paper, styl- 
ing it the Settlers' and Miners' Tribune. Dr. Charles Robinson, who 
had become noted for the part he took in the Squatter riots and who 
subsequently became the free-state governor of Kansas, was the 
editor; James McClatchy and L. M. Booth were the associate editors. 
The tyi^e was brought from Maine by Sirus Rowe. Except for Sun- 
days, it was a daily for a month, but tlien declined into a weekly and 
after another month it died quietly and took its place in the journal- 
istic boneyard. 

The Sacramento Index was started December 23, 1850, by Lynch. 
Davidson & Rolfe, practical printers, with J. W. Winans, since a 
prominent San Francisco lawyer, as editor, and H. B. Livingstone as 
associate. It was of good size, typographically neat and a paper of 
rare literary ability. It was the first evening paper in Sacramento 
and was printed in the Times office. Having taken ground against 
the action of a vigilance committee in hanging a gambler, it lost in- 
fluence. After a career of three months it died March 17, 1851, and 
joined the squatters' paper in the boneyard. 

Before the union of the Times and the Transcript, the compe- 
tition between them became so fierce that the prices of advertising 
declined until they fell below the price of composition. At last the 



152 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

printers in both offices rebelled and the greater number of them quit. 
They held a meeting in a building adjoining the Transcript office, 
which thereby acquired the name of ''Sedition Hall," and resolved 
to start a new paper, for which they secured as editor Dr. J. F. 
Morse. Buying their stock in San Francisco, they launched the Sac- 
ramento Daily Union at No. 21 J street, March 19, 1851, renting 
rooms for it in the Langley brick building. The fate of several of 
the proprietors was tragic. Alexander Clark went to the Society 
Islands and was never heard from afterwards; W. J. Keating died a 
few years afterwards in an insane asylum; Joe Court was burned 
to death at the Western Hotel fire in this city, in the fall of 1874. 
The others were Alexander C. Cook, E. O, Jeifries, Charles L. Han- 
secker, J. H. Harmon, W. A. Davidson and Samuel H. Dosh. The 
latter subsequently became editor of the Shasta Courier and died 
prior to 1875. 

It was nearly a year, however, before type could be procured. 
A lot had been ordered, but failed to arrive. J. W. Simonton having 
made an appearance with a full fledged printing office, with the in- 
tention of starting a "Whig paper, was persuaded to sell and his 
stock was purchased by the Union men. 

The daily edition of the Union started with five hundred copies 
and rapidly increased. The paper was 23x34 inches, with twenty- 
four columns, thirteen of which were filled with advertisements. It 
was an independent, outspoken paper and ably edited. The edition 
printed March 29, 1851, was entitled the Steamer Union, and was 
designed for reading in the eastern states. April 29, 1851, the Union 
hoisted the Whig flag, at the same time declining to be ranked as a 
subservient partisan. S. H. Dosh soon sold out for $600 and in 
June, Harmon sold out for a like sum. On April 23 the paper was 
enlarged to the size it has since averaged, and appeared in the new 
tjHpe at first ordered. H. B. Livingstone became associate editor in 
January, 1852, and Hansecker sold out for $2,000, the firm now be- 
coming E. G. Jeffries & Co. They next sold out to W. W. Kurtz 
for $2,100. The first Weekly Union was issued January 10, 1852. 
February 13, Cook sold out to H. W. Larkin, and April 3, Davidson 
sold to Paul Morrill. In May Dr. Morse retired as editor, being 
succeeded by A. C. Russell, who remained until August. Lauren 
Upson succeeded him as editor, retiring for a time in 1853, when 
John A. Collins filled the place. 

November 2, 1852, the Union was burned out in the great fire. 
A small press and a little type were saved and the second morning 
after the fire the paper came out foolscap size, but soon resumed its 
former dimensions. A brick building was erected for it on J street, 
near Second. May 16, 1853, Jeffries & Kurtz sold to the other part- 
ners and to James Anthony, who had been in the business depart- 
ment of the paper since November, 1851. The firm became James 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 153 

Anthony & Co. Keating sold to Morrill, Anthony, Clark and Lar- 
kin, and in December Clark's interest passed to the tirm. A steam 
engine was installed June 20, 1853, to run the press. 

In May, 1858, Morrill sold his interest to J. Gray, and went to 
New Hampshire, renniinins: between one and two years, when he re- 
turned and bought back Gray's interest. In February, 1875, the 
firm sold out to the Sacramento Publishing Company, which also 
purchased the Sacramento Daily and Weekly Record and the two 
papers assumed the title of the Sacramento Daily Record Union. Be- 
sides the daily issue, the semi-weekly feature of the Record was 
maintained, being issued on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since that 
time the daily has been issued on each day of the week except Sun- 
days, which day was added in 1893, with a double or eight-page edi- 
tion on Saturdays and a mammoth sheet on each New Year's day. 

Mr. Upson remained chief editor of the Union about twelve 
years. He was succeeded by H. C. Watson, who served until his 
death in June, 1867, and was succeeded by Samuel Seabough, who 
served until the merging of the Union with the Record. George 
F^rederick Parsons, editor-in-chief of the Record, then became editor- 
in-chief of the Record-Union, and continued as such until his re- 
moval to New York in 1883, and J. A. Woodson became the editorial 
writer. When the Record was consolidated with the Union, W. H. 
Mills, one of the proprietors of the Record, became the manager and 
remained in charge until his removal to San Francisco in January, 
1883, and C. E. Carrington was appointed local managing editor, 
with T. W. Sheehan business manager. April 1, 1889, Mr. Carring- 
ton retired and E. B. Willis and T. W. Sheehan were appointed 
general managers of the paper, the former assuming the duties of 
managing editor and the latter remaining in immediate charge of 
the business department. Mr. Willis continued as managing editor 
for seventeen years, the longest term of anyone who held that posi- 
tion, resigning to accept the secretaryship of the state commission 
to the St. Louis Exposition. Mr. Sheehan remained as business man- 
ager until after the paper changed hands in June, 1904, Alfred Hol- 
man becoming publisher. Mr. Holman remained as publisher until 
the paper was purchased by Col. E. A. Forbes in December, 1906. In 
February, 1908, the paper again changed hands, the Calkins S;sTidi- 
cate purchasing it, but becoming involved in financial difficulties 
caused by broadening out and assuming the proprietorship of several 
other papers in the state, the control passed from the hands of the 
syndicate. In 1910 the paper was purchased by Lewey E. Bontz. 
who had been superintending it for the creditors, and had been busi- 
ness manager from Holman 's time. The paper is now owned by the 
L. E. Bontz Publishing Company. 

May 19, 1889, the publication of the Sunday Union was begim 
and it was mailed to all the subscribers for the Weekly Union, the 



154 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

semi-weekly having been discouiinued. The fine three-story build- 
ing which was built for the Union in 1861, on the east side of Third 
street, is now occupied by the Union, the name of the paper having 
been changed from the Record-Union to the Union by Mr. Holman 
during his proprietorship. The building was remodeled by the 
(.^alkins Syndicate during their ownership and a splendid new press 
l)ut in, besides other expensive changes. 

Among the earliest of the defunct journals comes the Democratic 
State Journal, the initial number appearing February 5, 1852. It 
was a morning paper, about the size of the Record-Union. V. E. 
Geiger & Co. were the publishers and Geiger and B. F. Washington 
were the editors. It battled valiantly for the Democratic party, sup- 
porting John Bigler in his political aspirations, while its contem- 
porary, the Times and Transcript, supported William M. Gwin. Early 
in 1853 Washington retired, and was employed on the Times and 
Transcript, and B. B. Redding, afterwards land agent of the Central 
Pacific Company, became editor. The destruction of the office by the 
great fire of 1852 greatly impeded the paper, and in June, 1853, a 
new firm was composed, consisting of B. B. Redding, P. C. Johnson, 
S. J. May and James McClatch>. In April, 1854, Johnson sold to 
Colonel Snowden, and in June, Mr. May sold to Redding and Snow- 
den. All of these pioneer newspaper owners have been dead for many 
years. 

In the fall of 1854 William Walker, who afterward became known 
as General Walker, of Nicaragua filibuster fame, the "gray-eyed man 
of destiny," became editor. Mr. McClatchy sold out to D. J. 
Thomas in October, 1854. Walker retired in February, 1855, and Mc- 
Clatchy became editor, being succeeded in a month by John White. 
In 1856 Snowden sold out to Redding and Thomas and in June, 1857, 
the party having failed to give adequate support to it, the paper was 
sold, under attachment and bought in by the printers in the office. 
It resumed publication in about four weeks, with Henry Shipley & 
Co. as publishers, and after various vicissitudes yielded up the ghost 
June 24, 1858. At one time it ran a column in French and was the 
only Sacramento paper that had a department in a foreign tongue. 

In August, 1852, T. Alter began the publication of a weekly Bap- 
tist paper, with 0. C. Wheeler and E. J. Willis as editors. It had its 
office in the courthouse and lived about a year, losing $3000 to its 
publishers. 

November 17, 1852, E. Williamson & Co., with James McClatchy 
and D. J. Thomas as editors, started a settler Democratic daily 
paper, super-royal in size and in April, 1853, S. J. May bought one- 
fourth interest and became editor. It was burned out and started 
again in an old deserted kitchen bought from the county for that pur- 
pose. On July 30th it fused with the State Journal. 

The California Statesman, a morning paper published by J. W. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 155 

Gish & Go. and edited . by Henry Meredith, started November 13 
1854. It was Democratic and supported William M. Gwin for United 
States senator against Broderick. March 1, 1855, Gish & Woodward 
the publishers, sued Gwin and Hardenbergh on a claim that they had 
agreed to pay $2500 for the support of Gwin by the paper >hey 
alleged that Gwin also agreed to give the paper the public printing 
They placed their damages at $20,000, but were thrown out of court 
on the ground that the agreement was contrary to public policy 
Hardenbergh then sued for possession and the Statesman died. 

The California Farmer and Journal of Useful Science, which 
had been published in San Francisco, appeared in Sacramento in 
May, 1855, as a weekly paper, published bv Warren & Son and J 
K. Philips & (^o. In 1856 it moved back to San Francisco. 

In March, 1854, Dr. Morse and S. Colville issued the first and 
only number of a monthly magazine called ''Illustrated Historical 
Sketches of California, with a minute history of the Sacramento Val- 
ley." It was a good number, but the business department was poorly 
managed and the second number never appeared, 
wn-"^^^^ ^«cz^r Recorder appeared July 15, 1854, edited by E J 
Wilhs and was to be the organ of the Baptist church. It was a neat 
semi-monthly and July, 1855, it became a weekly, but in March follow- 
mg it was discontinued. 

June 8, 1855, the State Tribune, a daily paper, appeared, edited 
and published by Parker H. French and S. J. May. It was pro- 
fessedly indei)endent of politics, but had Democratic proclivities 
In September French sold out to May and left with the Nicarao-ua 
expedition. J. N. Estill became editor August 1st, and opposed John 
i^igler and the Democracy so vigorously that it soon became promi- 
nent as an opposition journal. French returned to the state and 
bought into it again, but some of the arrangements for pa>Tnent were 
left m such form that difficulty ensued. He sold to George W Gift 
who had assigned to Monson and Valentine, who attached the paper! 
b. J. May and his three remaining partners set out these thina-s in 
a card and issued a new Tribune, so that October 16, 1855, two 
Iribuues appeared, each claiming to be the genuine one. Mav & 

00. s issue was from the material of the defunct Statesman The 
other Tribune was published by Farwell & Co. Both papers were 
ardent American or Know-Nothing sheets, and each was very bitter 
against the other. The war lasted two weeks, when Farwell & Co. 
Iribune^ gave uj) and the Tribune came out with James Allen & Co., 
as publishers, still advocating Know-Nothingism. It lived till June 

1, 1856. A new paper sprang up the next day from its ashes, called 
the California American, and was as radical in its Know-Nothingism 
as Its predecessor. James Allen, J. E. Eidge and S. J. May were 
the proprietors. Allen at the time was state printer and was said to 



156 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

have sunk $15,000 on the paper, which never .was a success. He died 
in February, 1856. 

The Water Fount and Home Journal, a weekly paper, was issued 
December 15, 1855, by Alexander Montgomery & Co., with Montgom- 
ery as editor. It was the official organ of the Sons of Temperance 
and lived only nine months. 

December 6, 1855, George H. Baker and J. A. Mitchell started an 
independent evening paper called the Spirit of the Age. In June, 
1856, it changed its name to the Sacramento Age, and was enlarged, 
with A. A. Appleton & Co. as publishers. In the summer of 1856 
it was sold to the Know-Nothiugs and made their fight till the elec- 
tion was over, dying in 1857. 

December 24, 1855, A. Badlam & Co. started the Daily Evening 
■Times, a gratuitous advertising sheet 10x18 inches and worked on a 
wooden press made bv the publishers. It died of inanition in March, 
1856. 

December 11, 1856, C. Babb and W. H. Harvey, with Paschal 
Coggins as editor, started the publication of a daily morning inde- 
pendent paper of small size, called the City Item. It lived seven 
months. 

Cornelius Cole & Co. commenced the publication August 15, 1856. 
of the Daily Times, a morning paper, Republican in politics. It was 
very lively in the canvass for Fremont, and was edited with ability. 
It became an evening paper in November and issued a weekly, but 
became so weakly that it succumbed January 24, 1857. Mr. Cole, the 
editor, afterwards became United States senator. 

The Chinese News, which began publication in December, 1856, 
lasted for a couple of years, first being a daily, then a tri-weekly, 
next a weekly and finally a monthly. It was printed in the Chinese 
language, Ze Too Yune, alias Hung Tai, being editor and publisher. 

The Temperance Mirror, a quarto monthly, issued one number in 
January, 1857, 0. B. Turrell, publisher, and W. B. Taylor, editor. 
It removed to San Francisco, where it died in March. 

The Daily MornDig Bee was born February 3, 1857, as an inde- 
pendent in politics. J. R. Ridge and S. J. May were the editors, and 
the proprietors were L. C. Chandler, L. P. Davis, John Church and 
W. H. Tobey. It was much smaller than the present Bee, having but 
five columns to the page. April 6, 1857, it became an evening paper, 
and in the following summer Ridge retired and James McClatchy suc- 
ceeded him. The firm changed in 1858 to F. S. Thompson, L. P. 
Davis and W. H. Tobey and the paper changed its size to seven col- 
umns. April 8, 1860, Thompson's interest was purchased by J. 
O'Leary and the firm name changed to L. P. Davis & Co. Decem- 
ber 28, 1863, C. H. Winterburn bought out Tobey and sold his in- 
terest to James McClatchy, February 12, 1866. McClatchy bought 
the interest of Davis June 26, 1872, and the firm name became, as 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 157 

at present, James McClatchy & Co. August 1, 1872, J. F. Sheehan 
purchased a one-third interest from McClatchy. Since that time the 
paper has been further enlarged and is today one of the most pros- 
perous and profitable journals in the history of Sacramento. James 
McClatchy admitted his son, Charles K. McClatchy, to a partner- 
ship in the business and the firm members were then J. F. Sheehan, 
James McClatchy and C. K. McClatchy. October 23, 1882, James 
McClatchy died at Paraiso Springs, leaving his title and interest in 
the paper to his wife and two sons. January 29, 1884, J. F. Shee- 
han sold his interest in the paper, it being purchased by the mem- 
bers of the McClatchy family, the firm name remaining James Mc- 
Clatchy & Co. From then on the paper was conducted by the two 
sons, C. K. as managing editor and Y. S. as business manager. 
Steadily progressing in circulation and influence, it is one of the 
afternoon papers that receive the full Associated Press report, and 
is regarded as one of the most influential papers on the coast. It 
put in a fast stereotyping plant in 1888, and was the first evening 
paper in California to do so. 

In July, 1857, the Star of the Pacific, a religious journal. Rev. 
A, C. Edmonds, a Universalist minister, editor and proprietor, re- 
moved from Marysville to this city. In December, 1857, it suspended 
animation, revived in May, 1858, and passed away that fall. 

The Daily State Sentinel, a Republican paper, was issued in small 
size July 27, 1857, by J. R, Atkins & Co., as a morning paper. In 
October C. D. Hossach & Co. took hold of it and C. A. Sumner be- 
came its editor. It had bright prospects for a while, but followed to 
the charnel house in 1858. 

C. A. Sumner, August 22, 1857, began the publication of a sheet 
called the Eye Glass, but only one number appeared. 

The Covenant and Odd Fellows' Magazine, a monthly of thirty- 
two pages, started August 31, 1857, with J. D. Tilson publisher and 
A, C. Edmonds, editor, but gave up the ghost with the tenth number, 
in 1858. 

The Temperance Register, H. Davidson & Co., began as a monthly 
September, 1857, changed to a semi-monthly in October, and on De- 
cember 12 became a monthly again and then died. 

A Sunday paper, the Herald of the Morning, appeared in De- 
cember, 1857, with J, C. McDonald & Co., publishers, and Calvin 
McDonald, literary editor. It was a spiritualistic paper and passed 
to the spirit land in four weeks. 

The Phoenix, afterwards the Ubicuitous, was a scurrilous sheet, 
fathered by E. McGowan, issued as an occasional in the fall of 1857. 
and as a weekly during the following winter. The hot summer 
weather killed it. 

The Watch Dog, a similar publication, issued January 1, 1858, 
died in the followins: March. 



158 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

During the same March, the Sacramento Visitor, by Brown, 
Ingham & Co., J. Coggins, editor, a daily evening paper of moderate 
size and lively and independent in tone, began publication, but ceased 
to exist June 1, 1858. 

The Sacramento Mercury, a straight-out Democratic newspaper, 
began publication March 28, 1858, with H. Foushie, publisher, and 
W. S. Long, editor. It was about half the size of the Record-Union 
and in the summer A. Montgomery became its editor, but it died 
October 12, 1858. 

The second California Statesman took the place of the old one 
in May, 1858, with S. W. Ravely, publisher, and A. C. Russell, edi- 
tor, as a Democratic daily. It succumbed June 24th, the same year. 

The Calif ornian, second of that name, a neutral daily of small 
size, was edited by D. J. Thomas. It was born July 9, 1858, but lived 
only one week, departing July 15th. 

The Baptist Circular, the third effort of the Baptists to start a 
paper in Sacramento, commenced in August, 1858, with Rev. J. L. 
Shuck as editorial manager, but only survived until the next spring. 

In 1858 and 1859 the Democracy becanie split into two factions 
— the Lecompton and the anti-Lecompton. The contest between them 
became so hot that the anti-Lecomptonites, goaded by the assaults 
of Charles I. Botts from the Lecompton side, started a paper called 
the Daily Register and issued every morning except Monday. It 
was about the size of the Bee. Dr. Houghton furnished most of the 
money and .the firm was Harvey, Houghton & Co. The editors were 
J. C. Zabriskie and William Bausman, who held small interests. It 
was vigorous, but too scholarly and not lively enough for the times 
and Bausman soon left it. The Register office was at the corner of 
Fifth and J streets and the outfit and dress of the paper were good. 
Houghton sunk a large amount of money in it, but the second day 
before the general election that fall, it died a peaceful death. 

The Register's rival, the Daily Democratic Standard, a better 
paper from a purely journalistic point of view, was born February 
26, 1859. J. R. Hardenbergh was its publisher and Charles T. Botts 
its editor. It was a morning paper, about the size of the Record- 
Union and was a vigorous exponent of the doctrine of the Lecomp- 
ton faction. In July, 1859, Bolts became its proprietor. Its office 
was on Third street, between I and J. June 2, 1860, it ceased its 
daily issues, and for some months appeared weekly, with M. G. 
Upton and, Hon. Gr. Gorham as editors, but soon after the fall elec- 
tion in I860 it became defunct after draining the pockets of its owners. 

In June, 1860, Henry Bidleman & Co. started the Daily Demo- 
crat, issued from the Standard office, with M. G. Upton as editor. 
It made a lively campaign, but died with the election, 

June 24, 1860, F. R. Folger & Co. put forth the Daily Morning 
News, a Douglas Democratic newspaper and the Folger s were its 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 159 

first editors. Later, George C. Gorham and Albert S. Evans were 
its editors. It continued about nine months. 

The Evening Post, published by R. W. Lewis & Co. in October, 
1860, as an independent paper, subsequently became Republican in 
politics. Small in size at first, it was enlarged and when it was five 
months old W. S. Johnson & Co. took hold of it. Various writers 
became its editors and it was discontinued September, 1861. 

The Independent Order of Good Templars began the publication 
of its organ. The Rescue, in San Francisco, in 1862, removing shortly 
to Stockton and then to Sacramento. Its first editor was Edwin H. 
Bishop. He was followed by W. H. Mills, 1864 to 1871. Then came 
Albert D. Wood, of Vallejo, who conducted it till 1876 and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. George Morris of Dixon. It was removed successively 
to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Francisco again. In October, 
1855, it was brought back to this city and George B. Katzenstein became 
its editor. The editors of the paper were elected by the Grand Lodge 
of the order or its executive committee. It has been removed from this 
city since. 

The Evening Star was started as a daily by J. J. Beebe, Alexander 
Badlam, G. I. Foster, J. Simpson, M. M. Estee and H. C. Bidwell, May 
25, 1864. It was an independent journal. It sunk under financial diffi- 
culties in about three months. 

The California Repuhlican, a Democratic paper of the hard shell 
variety, began publication January 4, 1863, and died a natural death 
that fall. The publishers were Conley, Patrick & Co., and the editor 
Beriah Brown, afterwards of the Free Press of San Francisco, which 
was destroyed by a mob in the early part of 1863. 

The Golden Gate, a spiritualistic weekly started by Ingham & Mc- 
Donald in the spring of 1894, died soon after its birth, surviving only 
a few weeks. 

Judd & McDonald started a gratuitous sheet called the Advertiser, 
in 1860, but it lived only a few weeks. 

December 23, 1866, Alexander Montgomery removed the California 
Express, a Democratic journal he had been publishing at Marysville, 
to this city, expecting patronage from the then dominant party. He 
did not receive it, however, and the paper, which was issued ns a morn- 
ing daily, died in July, 1867. 

The Sacramento Daily Record, published by an association of 
printers composed of J. J. Keegan, John L. Sickler, J. R. Dray and 
R. E. Draper, first appeared as an independent evening paper February 
9, 1867. Its first editor was Draper, who was succeeded in about a 
month by W. S. Johnson. He remained about a year and was succeeded 
by J. B. McQuillan, who gave way in a few months to R. A. Bird. The 
paper was subsequently sold to William H. Mills and A. D. Wood. 
Mr. Wood was afterwards manager of the Record-Union. A ])ortion 
of the then and subsequent Record editorial staff, as also a portion of 



160 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the Sacramento Union's then and subsequent staff, afterwards com- 
posed the Record-Union staff. Among these was E. B. Willis, who had 
been a member of the Union staff, and also of the Record staff. The 
Record became a morning paper December 2, 1867. At first it was a 
small five-column sheet, but after being enlarged several times finally 
attained the present size of the Record-Union. During the winter of 
1871 and 1872 the Record distinguished itself by the fullest and most 
elaborate phonographic reports of legislative proceedings ever pub- 
lished in the United States, frequently printing morning after morning 
nineteen columns of solid nonpareil of the proceedings of the Senate 
and House. For several years the Union had published annual New 
Year's statistical sheets. The Record entered the same field January 1, 
1873, and eclipsed its rival by publishing the largest and fullest holi- 
da}^ statistical sheet ever published in the United States to that time. 
Each year afterwards until 1906 it and its successor issued a similar 
mammoth paper. It was the first daily paper here to publish and main- 
tain a semi-weekly edition. The contest for patronage and public 
favor was very warm between the Record and the Union for years, 
and until they were consolidated in February, 1875. Thereafter the 
consolidation was known as the Record-Union. 

The Expositor, published by C. D. Semple, as a daily and old-line 
Democratic paper, appeared July 23, 1867, and died the 9th of Sep- 
tember. 

February 24, 1864, Richard Bowden published a juvenile paper. 
The Young American, as a weekly. It ceased publication eleven weeks 
after, on the death of Mr. Bowden, who was accidentally killed. 

Several other weekly papers, of a local character, were published 
about this time, viz: My Paper. Pioneer, Blusterer, The Anti-Office 
Seeker, a lot of State Fair papers, the Sunday Times, Hesperian, Stu- 
dents' Repository, and others. 

Charles De Young, afterwards of the San Francisco Chronicle, 
began the publication in the winter of 1864, of the Dramatic Chronicle, 
a gratuitous daily advertising sheet of small dimensions. He removed 
it to San Francisco about nine months later, enlarged it and published 
it until the Daily San Francisco ' Chronicle grew up from it, the old 
Dramatic Chronicle being swallowed up by the Figaro of San Francisco, 
published by J. P. Bogardus. 

The Traveler's Guide was published as an advertising sheet weekly 
by L. Samuels and N. Towns in 1865. T. "W. Stanwell began in the 
same vear the monthlv Railroad Gazetter, published bv H. S. Crocker 
& Co." 

The State Capital Reporter, a daily Democratic paper, appeared 
January 12, 1868, with a glowing announcement of its plans, and nomi- 
nated II. H. Haight for President of the United States. By legislative 
enactment it became the litigant paper, in which all summonses had to 
be published. While this gave it a good income, it rendered it obnox- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 161 

ious to the entire press of the State and made it unpopular with the 
people. The act of February 21, 1872, repealed the litigant act and 
deprived the Reporter of its fat job. It ceased to appear as a daily, 
sending out its last daily issue May 7, 1872, when the law took effect. 
Thereafter it issued a half sheet once a week, to run out the legal adver- 
tisements on hand and July 30, 1872, it gave up the ghost quietly. It 
was published by a joint stock company and lost money for every one 
who touched it. At first it was controlled by John Bigler, and its first 
editor was Henry George, afterward of the San Francisco Post, who 
became widely known to the world as the author of "Progress and 
Poverty," and the chief apostle of the land theory of single tax. The 
paper was edited with much ability and for a long time was a vigorous 
periodical. J. F. Linthicam, an old editor, still living in this city, suc- 
ceeded Mr. George, and kept up the able tone of the paper. John Bigler, 
ex-governor of California, who about this time had returned from Chile, 
where he had filled the post of minister, was editor of the Reporter some 
months before it died and conducted it with vigor and dignity. 0. T. 
Shuck was its last editor. 

The Sacramento Democrat was a small daily born August 3, 1871; 
died September 5, 1871, just after the election. It was started under 
the auspices of a publishing company, with Cameron H. King as editor 
and its office was at the corner of Third and J streets. 

The Locomotive was a six-column weekly advertiser and local pa- 
per which was excellent in its way and did a prosperous business for 
some months with R. L. Lawrence as the manager in the spring of 1873. 
Its office was on J street between Second and Third streets. T. F. Case 
bought a half interest and subsequently the whole interest, selling half 
of it to Dr. A. P. Truesdell, who became editor. The name of the 
paper was changed to that of the People's Champion, but in the 
smmuer of 1874 it threw up the sponge and was counted among the 
dead ones. 

The only foreign paper, with one exception, published in Sacra- 
mento prior to 1885, was the Semi-weekly Sacramento Journal (German) 
published by K. F. Wiemeyer «fe Co., and edited by Mr. Wiemeyer. Its 
first number came out June 6, 1868, and it had a successful career for 
many years. The Sacramento office was at No. 314 J street and about 
1890 Wiemeyer «fc Co. established an office in Oakland, publishing the 
paper at both places simultaneously. It was Republican in tone and 
independent in its utterances. 

H. B. Eddy early in 1873 started a small weekly paper called the 
Valley World. It aimed at literary excellence, and was neatly printed 
and critical. Mr. Eddy died that fall, and the paper was continued for 
a few weeks, being ably edited by Rev. J. H. C. Bonte, Rector of 
Grace Church and afterwards secretary of the University of California, 
since deceased. 

The Evening News, a daily, Sundays excepted, and neutral, was 



162 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

first published March 26, 1869, by B. F. Huntley & Co. Vincent Ryan, 
a member of the firm, did most of the writing, with Frank Folger and 
W. S. Johnson in the other departments. The paper died in three 
months. 

The Sunday Free Press was started in February, 1873, by Beers 
& Co., but its initial appearance was also its last, although it was a 
lively number, local and jolly, and its proprietors mourned its loss for 
grave financial reasons. 

In February, 1874, the Sacramento Valley Agriculturist began its 
existence as a monthly, with Davis and Stockton as editors and pub- 
lishers. In June, 1874, it changed to a weekly and the next month it 
bought uj) the old Champion material and was enlarged considerably. 
April 15, 1875, Davis sold his interest to W. T. Crowell. The paper 
was devoted entirely to agricultural matters, with a city edition on Sun- 
day mornings, and some local news. It ceased publication many 
years ago. 

The Occidental Star, a weekly paper of four pages, devoted to the 
interest of the return of the Jews to Palestine, began in January, 1873, 
and ran for about five months, with Mrs. L. I. L. Adams as proprietor. 

The Winning Way was a weekly paper edited and published by 
Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Potter and devoted to the cause of woman and 
sociability. It was started in September, 1873, and went the way of 
many others in February, 1874. 

Comm'on Sense was published as a weekly of four pages by Dr. 
A. P. Truesdell in January, 1873, and discontinued in March, 1874, but 
was afterwards revived and published in San Francisco. 

The Mercantile Globe was an advertising sheet published by Byron 
& Co., August, 1872, and changed to the Sacramento Globe October 18, 
and published by Kelly & Farland. It ran for several months, sus- 
pended, and was again started by Raye & Ford, December 5, continuing 
weekly until A])ril 17, 1875, being afterwards published at intervals 
by B. V. R. Raye. 

The California Teacher was started by the State Board of Edu- 
cation about 1877, being purchased from the San Francisco Teachers' 
Association. It has had a checkered existence since, with various pub- 
lishers, as a state journal, under various titles. 

The State Fair Gazette has been published by H. S. Crocker & 
Co. for a number of years at the annual State Fair, as an advertising 
sheet distributed gratuitously. 

The Evening Herald was started March 8, 1875, as a small evening 
paper, independent in policy. The publishers were Gardner, Larkin, 
Fellows, and Major E. A. Rockwell, a well-known journalist of wide 
experience, as editor. He had formerly occupied a position on the 
Morning Call of San Francisco and had served a time in the legislature 
creditably. 

The Enterprise was started as a Sunday morning paper, by Crites. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 163 

Davis and Alexander, August 29, 1875. It was well conducted and vig- 
orous, but the proprietors were handicapped by not finding a business 
manager to suit them and ceased publication with the ninth issue. It 
was printed from the old Reporter type. 

The Seminary Budget, an occasional publication by the young ladies 
of the Sacramento Seminary, was issued for some years, attainiiig some 
literary excellence and doing credit to its student editors. 

The Business College Journal was issued occasionally for a number 
of years by E. C. Atkinson, lately deceased. 

The Sunday Leader appeared in October, 1875, issued by J. N. 
Larkin, who retained his connection with it as editor and proprietor 
until his decease in May, 1911, since which time his son, W. H. Larkin, 
who had been associated with him for some years, under the firm name 
of J. N. Larkin & Son, continues its publication. In 1884-5 it was the 
official paper of the county. In politics it has always been straight 
Eepublican. Mr. Larkin was a veteran of the Civil War, straightfor- 
ward and uncompromising, and had a host of warm friends who re- 
gretted his passing away. The Leader is a neat sheet, 28x42 inches, 
and presents a creditable appearance. 

The Daily Sun was started as a workingman's organ immediately 
after the adjournment of the legislature of 1879, which provided for a 
constitutional convention. It was published by a company of stockhold- 
ers, with William Halley as manager. When the delegates to the con- 
vention were elected and he was defeated, he withdrew from the man- 
agement. A new company was formed and J. F. Clark continued as 
editor for a few months, when the paper ceased publication. 

The Sunday Capital was started in 1883 by J. L. Robinette and 
C. C. Goode. It was a four-page folio, independent in politics and 
devoted to news and literature. After about a year Robinette disposed 
of his interest to William Ellery, but six months later it was discon- 
tinued. 

The Sacramento Medical Times, afterwards changed to the Occi- 
dental Medical Times, was a large octavo monthly started in March, 
1887, by five physicians and has been a successful publication. J. H. 
Parkinson, M.D., has been its editor-in-chief for many years and among 
his associates have been W. A. Briggs, William Ellery Briggs, W. R. 
Cluness, Thomas A. Huntington and G. L. Simmons of Sacramento; 
J. F. Morse, W. H. Mays, Albert Abrams, W. Watt Kerr and D. W. 
Montgomery of San Francisco, and J. W. Roliinson of Napa. Of late 
years Drs. Cluness and Hunting-ton have been residents of San Fran- 
cisco. Dr. Simmons died in 1911. 

The Baily Evening Journal was begun July 4, 1888, by H. A. 
Weaver and ran until October 1 following. It was devoted to general 
news and literature. 

Charles Schmitt issued the first number of the Nord-California 
Herold, a German paper, September 5, 1885, and it has taken front rank 



164 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

amoni*' the German papers of the state. Mr. Schmitt came to this state 
in 1865, and after mining several years, became one of the founders 
of the xibend Post, the second German daily published in San Francisco. 
In May, 1868, he came to Sacramento and founded the Sacramento 
Journal (German) and continued with it till 1881. Mr. Schmitt is a 
ready writer of wide experience and intelligence and his paper has a 
powerful influence in the field it occupies. 

Themis was an able eight-page quarto Sunday paj^er, published in 
the interest of Sacramento and devoted to dramatic and governmental 
criticism and miscellany. It was printed with large type and on the 
finest paper. It was started in February, 1889, by Winfield J. Davis, 
W. A. Anderson and George A. Blanchard. The editors were among 
the early residents of the cit}^ and county, thoroughly conversant with 
its history in all respects, and eminently fitted for the task they had 
undertaken. The paper enjoyed a reputation for exceptional literary 
ability and the cessation of its publication in 1894 on account of a 
division of opinion between its proprietors as to the policy of the paper 
during the great railroad strike of that year, was regretted by a wide 
circle of citizens, who had enjoyed the perusal of its columns. 

In the early part of 1856 Dr. Bradley established the Granite 
Journal at Folsom, Granite being at that time the name of what is now 
known as Folsom. He conducted the paper for several years and it 
became one of the most widely known papers in the state in that day of 
only a few newspapers. When the name of the town was changed from 
Granite to Folsom, the Journal changed its name to the Folsom Tele- 
graph. The paper also changed hands about the same time, William 
Penry, afterwards treasurer of Amador county, becoming the editor 
and proprietor, being succeeded several years later by William Aveling. 
When Mr. Aveling died, his widow conducted the paper for a time, but 
soon sold it to Peter J. Hopper. About 1872 John F. Howe purchased 
the paper and from his death ten years later until July 19, 1884, Mrs. 
Howe held ownership. It then passed into the hands of Weston P. 
Truesdell, and he published it alone until August 1, 1888, when I. Fiel 
joined him. They conducted the paper until March 16, 1889, when Mr. 
Fiel purchased the entire interest and soon after sold out to Thad 
McFarland. Since the death of Mr. McFarland, May 4, 1894, his widow 
has been the owner. The paper has been ably conducted by their son, 
R. D. McFarland, as editor and manager, and has been enlarged from 
six columns to seven. 

The Gait Gazette has been in existence for a number of years and 
has a fair circulation in the southern end of the county. 

The Daily Evening Neivs was started in 1890, by John Dormer, a 
well-known newspaper man of Nevada, and Wells Drury, also a jour- 
nalist from the same state. Under their management the paper was 
]:)ublished for two years. It was then purchased by John A. Sheehan 
and June B. Harris, who had been for many years attached to the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 165 

editorial staff of the Daily Evening Bee. Sheelian and Harris were 
very capable newspapermen and the Daily Neivs prospered under their 
management. Their financial backers became interested in a plan to 
have the city water works pass into the hands of private interests, and 
as part of the bargain for the support of other newspapers, the Daily 
News was suspended immediately after an election at which the people 
voted to substitute well water for that supplied from the river by their 
own works. The plan was blocked and ultimately fell through. 

Soon after the suspension of the Daily Evening News, in 1893, the 
Sunday Neivs was started by Messrs. Sheehan and Harris, and was a 
pronounced success from the date of the first issue. About two years 
later Harris died, and his interest in the publication was purchased 
by Winfield J. Davis. In May, 1897, the Sunday Neivs was sold to the 
News Publishing Co., its present owner. Its size and pages were en- 
larged and a large modern publishing plant was equipped for its issu- 
ance with other printing and important publications. Mr. Sheehan 
continued as its editor until his decease in 1910. He was succeeded 
by Emmet Phillips, his former partner and editorial associate, who is 
at present editing the Sunday News, assisted by John H. Miller, for- 
merly of the Evening Bee. The plant of the News Publishing Co. is 
one of the largest in this part of the state, and the Sunday News is 
probably the most widely read and quoted weekly newspaper in Northern 
California. The present owners are Emmet Phillips, A. A. Trueblood 
and John H. Miller. 

The Sacramento Star was started November 21, 1904, being fur- 
nished by the Scripps-McRae telegraphic service, the Associated Press 
franchise for the city being owned exclusively by the Union and the 
Bee. It is under the management of E. W. Scripps, who is the owner 
of a large number of papers on the coast and in the west. It started 
as a four-page, seven-column paper, printed on a fiat press and in- 
creased successively to eight, ten and twelve pages of eight columns, 
in June, 1907, and subsequently. Henry White is editor and E. H. Car- 
penter general manager. The paper has grown steadily in prosperity 
and importance. 

Several papers printed in foreign languages are being published 
in this city. 

CHAPTER XXIII 
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS 

It is an accepted fact among the educators throughout the country 
that Sacramento has always kept abreast of the times in matters educa- 
tional and the events of the past few years have emphasized the fact. 
One of the first things noted in the history of the city in the days of 
the first rush of immigrants to the land of gold, was the establishment 
of a school in the summer of 1849, when the fevered quest for the yel- 



166 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

low metal pervaded all men's minds to almost the total exclusion of all 
other sentiments. And Sacramento has fully kept pace with progress 
along educational lines ever since, the last action of the city in voting 
bonds to the amount of $800,000 for new schools and playgrounds for 
her children being a patent evidence that her people were keenly alive 
to the importance of directing the rising generation into the pathway 
leading to intelligence and good citizenship. Destroyed several times 
by fire, grown decrepit by age, stunted by cramped quarters and 
needing more room for the constantly increasing number of children 
seeking knowledge, the school buildings have time after time risen 
like the Phoenix from their ashes, or given place to more modern 
and commodious ones. Manual training, domestic science and gym- 
nastic training have usurped in late years the time and attention for- 
merly given to fossilized studies and ideas and the watchword of 
"Progress" has shouldered out of the way the old and obsolete fea- 
tures that had retarded advancement. Our boys are today being 
fitted for the battle of life by the employment of their minds, eyes 
and hands in a practical wslj, instead of turning them out upon their 
struggle for a livelihood with their heads crammed with a mass of 
knowledge that can be utilized only in certain directions and in a 
very limited field. Our girls are being trained in the arts that pertain 
to the home and its comforts and conveniences. The arts of cooking 
and sewing, which have become almost lost arts in the feminine part 
of the community, and on which the comfort and harmony of the 
household so greatly depend, have been resuscitated and given their 
proper place in the economy of our daily lives, and the growing gen- 
eration of womanhood is being better fitted for wifehood and mother- 
hood. 

The influence for good these things will exert on the next gen- 
eration can hardly be calculated and must result in a great betterment 
of future economic conditions. The struggle for existence is becoming 
yearly more arduous and our children must be so trained as to be 
better fitted to encounter its future difficulties. Practical education, 
then, is necessarily taking the place of that which in the past was 
largely theoretical and impractical. 

The first school recorded in the history of our city was opened 
in August, 1849, by C. T. 11. Palmer. Rev. J. A. Benton, who was 
the first pastor of the Congregational Church in Sacramento, has 
given an interesting account of the first educational ventures in Sac- 
ramento, as follows: "C. T. H. Palmer, formerly of Folsom, taught 
the first school, so far as I know, that was ever taught in Sacramento. 
Tie taught during the month of August, 1849, and then abandoned the 
business. I do not know how many pupils he had, but the number 
could not have exceeded ten. I purchased from him in September the 
benches and furniture he had used, and opened tlie same school again 
October 15, 1849, at the same place in which he kept it. The place 



HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 167 

was on I street, in a building owned by Prof. P. Shepherd. The struc- 
ture was a one-story house about 14x28 feet, covered at the ends 
with rough clapboards, and the roof and sides were covered with old 
sails from some craft tied up at the bank of the river. Some 'shakes' 
and 'pickets' were nailed over the places not covered by the sails, 
close to the ground. The doorway was covered by a jDiece of canvas 
fastened at the top and dropping before the opening. There was no 
floor but the ground, and that was by no means level. The school house 
stood on the brink of the slough, or 'Lake Sutter,' near the northeast 
corner of Third and I streets. It was about sixty feet east of the east 
side of Third street and the southern side of it encroached a few feet 
on I street. I street was not then passable for wagons. The remains 
of a coalpit were in the middle of I street, a few yards eastward from 
the building. A small and crooked oak tree stood at the eastern end 
of the schoolhouse, close to it and near the door. A sycamore tree and 
some shrubs of ash and elder grew out of the bank on the northern 
side and close to the building. The filling up of I street and the 
advent of the Chinese now obliterate every trace of the building and 
its exact site. My school opened with four pupils, and increased to 
six, then to eight or nine. I do not think it ever exceeded twelve. 
By stress of weather and other circumstances I was compelled to close 
the school the 1st of December, 1849. That was the end of my en- 
deavors in the way of school teaching. It is my impression that 
Crowell opened a school in the spring of 1850, but it might have been 
during the following autumn. In the spring there were enough fami- 
lies to make school teaching desirable, and the weather and other 
circumstances were such as to make it practicable. I know of no other 
schools in 1849 than Palmer's and mine." 

Up to 1854 the public schools had been merged into those of the 
county, and were under the supervision of the county assessor, by 
virtue of his office. The state school law provided for a supervising 
school committee in each city, town and incorporated village. The 
attempt made in Sacramento to establish a common school under that 
law failed and in 1852 the legislature repealed that law and passed 
a new one, which gave to cities and incorporated towns the control of 
the common schools within their limits, with a provision that if the 
municipal authorities did not exercise that power the county assessor 
should have charge of them and be ex-officio county su])erintendent. 
This act was amended April 26, 1853, and in that year the county 
assessor. H. J. Bidleman, appointed under the law as amended a board 
of school commissioners for the city consisting of Dr. H. "\Y. Harknes^^. 
Gr. J. Phelan and George Wiggins. 

Judging from the articles in the newspapers of that day, fre- 
quentlv demanding that the commissioners do their duty and open 
a public school, thev must have been verv dilatorv in establishing the 



168 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

schools. At last, in February, 1854, the following advertisement ap- 
peared : 

"Public School. The citizens of Sacramento are hereby notified 
that the school commissioners for this city will open a public school on 
the southeast corner of Fifth and K streets, on Monday morning, 
February 20, 1854, at 9 o'clock. G. H. Peck will have charge of the 
male department, and Miss Griswold of the female department. By 
order of the Commissioners of Common Schools." 

The school was opened on the day designated and was the first 
public school opened in this city. The day of co-education had not 
then arrived, and two rooms were occupied, one by the boys and the 
other by the girls. The school opened on the first day with fifty boys 
and forty girls in attendance. Most of them were between seven and 
nine years old and the greater portion had never attended school 
before. The attendance increased rapidly and on the fourth day 
there were ninety boys and seventy girls in attendance. It was found 
that the school was growing so fast that there was not room for 
the accommodation of the pupils and soon there were 200 on the roll. 
The building not being large enough to accommodate all, another 
school was opened in an old building known as the Indiana House on 
I street, near Tenth, and the board appointed A. R. Jackson as 
teacher. This school in turn became too crowded, and another 
building was leased, on the corner of Tenth and streets. The girls 
of the I street school were removed to this place and placed in charge 
of M. E. Corby. On June 19 a school for girls and boys was opened 
near the corner of Seventh and K streets, W. A. Murray being placed 
in charge. The attendance still increasing, a primary school was 
opened in the rear of the Fifth street school, in a building formerly 
occupied as a mechanic's shop, and the care of the pupils was con- 
fided to Miss A. E. Roberts. 

And still the movement grew. In July, 1854, it is stated that 
there were 261 pupils attending the public schools, and 250 in private 
schools. The day of the children had come, and the city was becoming 
a city of homes instead of men only. From this time on the advance 
in the cause of education was rapid. October 2, 1854, the city council 
passed an ordinance which had been drafted by N. A. H. Ball, and 
which provided for the election of a city superintendent of schools 
and a board of education. The board was to assume the control of 
the city schools, which had heretofore been controlled by the county 
assessor. 

The council elected Dr. H. W. Harkness superintendent, and N. A. 
H. Ball, George Wiggins and Dr. T. A. Thomas trustees or members 
of the board, which organized on the 1st of the following month, 
Harkness occupying the chair and Ball being secretary. At this 
meeting the board estimated the school income and expenses necessary 
for the ensuing year at $22,000. A controversy arose between the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 169 

county superintendent and the board, the former declininj^ to sur- 
render control of the schools on the ground that it would deprive him 
-of his $1,000 salary. The matter was finally adjusted and on Decem- 
ber 7th the county commissioners and Superintendent Bidleman for- 
mally surrendered all the public schools in the city, the city board 
agreeing to liquidate all indebtedness. On the 11th the county super- 
intendent and commissioners resigned their offices and the city board 
assumed full control of the schools. 

On November 25, 1854, the following teachers were elected by 
the new board : For the Second Ward female grammar school. Miss 
Anderson; Second Ward female primary school. Miss Frost; Second 
Ward Male grammar school, G. H. Peck; Third Ward male grammar 
school, A. R. Jackson. The first common school house was erected 
on the corner of Tenth and H streets, upon land tendered free by 
John H. Gass, A. B. Asper contracting to build it in fifteen days for 
$1,487. It was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, January 20, 
1855. February 5, 1855, a primary school was established at Eleventh 
and I streets, with Mrs. Eliza A. Wright as teacher. The board 
apportioned scholars to the different schools, to the number of 574. 
The teachers were to register the applicants and if the pupil absented 
himself for more than a week without good cause the board and the 
parents were to be notified, his name dropped and the next applicant 
on the list admitted. Dr. Harkness in his first report showed accom- 
modations for only 414 pupils — 157 boys, 157 girls and 100 primary 
scholars. Five hundred and seventy-eight pupils had made application 
to enter, and the accommodations were insufficient, there being an 
average attendance of 463. 

In March, 1855, the authority to elect the board was taken from 
the council and given to the people by legislative act, the number of 
commissioners being increased to six. At the first election in April, 
1855, Francis Tukey was elected superintendent, and R. P. Johnson, 
H. Houghton, F. A. Hatch, J. F. Morse, George W. Wooley and George 
Wiggins commissioners. The new board organized April 11th. the 
salaries of teachers being at that time $1,350 monthly. On the 15th 
Lee & Marshall's circus gave a benefit to the schools, netting $321. 
and subsequently gave other benefits. The schools grew rapidly and 
on May 5th the new board elected teachers, there being ten principals 
and two assistants. In February, 1856, Tukey resigned as superin- 
tendent and F. W. Hatch was elected, in his place, AVilliam E. Cham- 
berlain being elected commissioner in place of Hatch. The report of 
Superintendent Hatch on March 18th showed that in the six grammar 
schools there were 199 boys and 267 girls, a total of 466; average 
attendance 254. In the five primary schools there were 270 boys and 
234 girls; total 504, average attendance 250. Twelve of the pupils 
were born in California and one in China. From Illinois came 93. 



170 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Early this year came W. H. Watson who succeeded Mr. Wooley as 
a member of the board. 

A superintendent and board of commissioners were elected in 
April, 1856, and met on the 11th. It consisted of F. W. liatch, re- 
elected superintendent; Dr. C. Burrell, David Maddux, John F. Dre- 
man, J. F. Thompson, A. Montgomery and C. H. Bradford. On May 
12th the board apportioned $25 a month for the colored school, which 
was to be taught by J. B. Anderson. This was the first aid the colored 
school had received. In November J. B. Harmon succeeded Burrell. 
The report of Superintendent Hatch showed studies pursued in the 
various schools as follows: Grammar, 312; arithmetic, 612; reading, 
821 ; spelling, 843 ; writing, 538 ; geography, 372 ; history, 103 ; algebra, 
63 ; Latin, 28 ; chemistry, 39 ; geometry, 4 ; composition, 227 ; declama- 
tion, 151. 

A new board consisting of J. G. Lawton, superintendent; Samuel 
Cross, R. A. Pearis, David Murray, H. J. Bidleman, P. W. S. Rayles 
and J. G. Simmons, commissioners, took their places. In the latter 
part of 1857 the building of the Franklin grammar school, at Sixth 
and L streets, now known as the old Armory, was begun. December 
22nd the corner stone was laid in the presence of a large assemblage, 
under the auspices of the Masons. The lot cost $4,500 and the building 
$7,500. 

May 4, 1858, the school directors, composed of the board of educa- 
tion appointed under the Consolidation Act, held their first meeting 
and elected Samuel Cross president and Dr. Simmons secretary, 
Daniel J. Thomas was appointed a director by the board of super- 
visors in place of Dr. R. A. Pearis, but the board of education de- 
clared the appointment illegal. 

The board of education organized October 4, 1858, consisted of 
G. J. Phelan, A. G. Richardson, H. J. Bidleman, T. M. Morton, H. B. 
Osborne, G. I. N. Monell, John Hatch and G. L. Simmons; Phelan, 
president. Hatch did not qualify and the board of supervisors elected 
David Meeker to fill his place. Dr. Simmons resigned in January, 
1859, and was succeeded by C. A. Hill. Early in 1859 a school build- 
ing was erected at a cost of $3,800, at Thirteenth and G streets and 
named the Washington school house. Secretary Bidleman was re- 
moved May 9th, and was succeeded by Monell. 

A new board met October 3, 1859, consisting of Cyril Hawkins, 
H. J. Bidleman, J. M. Frey, G. L. Simmons, J. J. Murphy, G. I. 
N. Monell, D. J. Thomas and Henry McCreary. Dr. Frey was presi- 
dent and Monell secretary. An unsuccessful attempt was made to 
establish a Normal School, to be taught two days in the week. At the 
close of the year there were one high, four grammar, two pri- 
mary and intermediate, and six primary schools in the city. Scholars 
enrolled, 1031, with an average attendance of 790. Fifteen teachers 
were employed, one assistant and ten monitors, salaries amounting 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 171 

to $1,850 a moutli, the board believing the monitorial system less 
expensive and giving more teachers. 

The board of education for 1860 met December 3rd, with Gr. 
Taylor, J. F. Crawford, H. Miller, J. M. Frey, J. M. Milliken, A. C. 
Sweetzer, S. M. Mouser and J. Bithell members; Miller president and 
Sweetzer secretary. It discharged all the teachers and monitors, 
graded the schools, decided that male teachers should be employed 
as principals of the high school and of the first grade of the grammar 
school. J. W. Anderson was elected principal of the Franklin gram- 
mar school and Miss Doyle his assistant. June 7, 1861, Anderson 
was elected principal of the high school, and Mr. Templeton to fill 
his place in the Franklin school. 

January 6, 1862, the board organized was composed of J. F, 
Dreman, D. J. Thomas, W. Bidwell, H. Miller, W. H. Hill, J. M. 
Milliken, S. M. Mouser and Edward Collins ; Hill, president. In March 
Mrs. Folger was elected teacher of the colored school, the board vot- 
ing to pay her salary whenever the building and furniture should be 
furnished by the parents interested. On the 3rd of March the schools, 
which had been considerably damaged by the flood, reopened, except 
the one at Sixteenth and N streets, which was still surrounded by 
water. Mouser resigned and his place was filled by J. T. Peck. The 
schoolhouse at Tenth and P streets was erected, at a cost of $2,500. 

The board elected in Januarv, 1863, comprised Edward Collins, 
John F. Dreman, W. H. Hill, H. H. Hartley, Paul Morrill, D. J. 
Thomas, W. Bidwell and H. J. Bidleman. Hill was president. At the 
close of the year 1093 pupils were enrolled, average attendance, 795. 
The graduating class numbered 215. Pupils in the colored school, 32, 
average attendance 27. A building for the colored school was erected 
at Fifth and streets, but was set on fire by an incendiary and con- 
sumed with its contents. Total disbursements for the eleven schools, 
$24,483.57. 

In January, 1864, W. Bidwell, M. C. Briggs, J. H. Carroll, J. F. 
Crawford, Henry H. Hartley, Paul Morrill, 0. D. Lambard aud H. J. 
Bidleman composed the board, which elected Briggs president. When 
the year closed the number of schools had increased to thirteen— - 
six primary, three intermediate, one high, one grammar, one ungraded 
and one colored, with 1202 pupils in attendance, 919 of whom were 
born in the state. The intermediate school at Thirteenth and G streets 
was opened, as also an ungraded one at Twenty-ninth and J streets. 
The board, in compliance with a petition from the colored peo])le, 
placed their school on the same footing as the white schools, except 
as to grade. The expenses for the vear were $28,660.08; receipts, 
$27,276.86. 

The board of 1865 organized in January, with M. C. Briggs, 
W. E. Chamberlain, 0. D. Lambard, Eugene Soule, J. W. Avery, 
J. H. Carroll, J. W. Crawford and Paul Morrill. Briggs was re- 



172 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

elected president. The Union schoolhouse at Seventh and G streets 
was completed and accepted February 7th. J. L. Fogg was chosen 
principal of the grammar school, Mr. Templeton being made prin- 
cipal of the high school. The total number of pupils had increased to 
1458, of which 870 were born in the state. The first story of the 
Union high school was completed May 1st, and two schools moved in. 
Cost, $15,786.56. Receipts, $31,489.35. Expenses, $34,459.68. 

In January, 1866, the new board organized, with J. W. Avery, 
W. E. Chamberlain, Paschal H. Coggins, John F. Dreman, G. R. 
Moore, 0. D. Lambard, Paul Morrill and Eugene Soule, directors; 
president, W. E. Chamberlain. The close of the year showed 1524 
pupils enrolled, 1010 born in the state. There were now fourteen 
schools in the city. H. H. Howe was elected principal of the grammar 
school, Fogg having resigned. A schoolhouse for colored children 
was erected costing $700, and a frame schoolhouse at Ninth and M 
streets, costing $3946, and school was opened there August 1st. Re- 
ceipts for the year, $34,443.31; expenditures, $32,136.43, receipts for 
the first time exceeding expenses. 

The board of 1867 was composed of the same members, Paul 
Morrill being president. At the close of the year 1736 children were 
on the rolls, 1227 l^orn in California and 457 elsewhere. Early in 
the year the Lincoln school building was erected, the cost being 
$8049.69. In March $200 was set aside from the state apportion- 
ment for a school library. About 250 volumes were purchased and 
the number has increased yearly since. Lambard resigned and was 
replaced by John F. Crawford, and Soule resigning, David S. Ross 
was elected in his i)lace. Receipts, $33,639 ; expenditures, $44,207. 

In 1868 the board was: J. F. Crawford, Joseph Davis, J. W. 
Avery, Henry Miller, D. S. Ross, F. A. Gibbs, Paschal H. Coggins 
and Horace Adams. Miller was president. The year closed with 
1727 names enrolled, — 920 boys and 807 girls,^ — with an average at- 
tendance of 1142. Born in the state 1241. Receipts, $43,194.68; ex- 
penses, $48,362. 

In February, 1869, the board was : J. F. Crawford, J. W. Avery, 
P. B. Redding," Henry Miller, David S. Ross, F. A. Gibbs, W. L. 
Campbell and Henry McCreary; Miller, president. The year closed 
with 2200 pupils enrolled — 1128 boys and 1072 girls; average at- 
tendance 1584. A wooden addition was made to the school building 
at Thirteenth and G streets, but within a fortnight it was destroyed 
by an incendiary fire, together with the old building, and the school 
had to be continued in other quarters until the new two-story brick 
building for the school could be completed. It cost $13,720 and was 
known as the Washington school. A wooden addition was also made 
to Franklin schoolhouse. In November 400 German citizens peti- 
tioned the board to introduce the German language into the schools, 
which was done. Arnold Dulon being elected teacher, with fifteen 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 173 

pupils in the high school and one hundred and ninety in the grammar 
school. At the close of the year there were seventeen schools in the 
city — one high, one grammar with four grades, four intermediate, 
nine primaries, one ungraded and one colored. Recepits, $78,000.94; 
expenditures, $77,840.44. 

In 1870 the board was composed of John H. Dreman, J. W. Avery, 
Henry Miller, David S. Ross, F. A. Gibbs, Daniel Brown, J. F. Mont- 
gomery and B. B. Redding, with Miller as president. H. H. Ilowe 
resigned the principalship of the grammar school and A. H. Mc- 
Donald was elected to the position, two new departments being added. 
A two-story brick schoolhouse was erected at Sixteenth and N streets, 
at a cost of $9,000, but a few days after its completion it was set on 
fire and destroyed. The board immediately erected another, which 
was completed the following year. The yearly roll showed 1219 boys 
and 1137 girls; total, 2356. Receipts, $81,115.51. Expenditures, $80,- 
770.47. 

The next board organized Januarv 26,1871, was composed of W. 

C. Stratton, J. W. Avery, E. T. Taylor, D. S. Ross, Henry Miller, 
Daniel Brown, J. F. Montgomery and Henry C. Kirk, Montgomery 
being president. The pupils increased in numlier to 2458 — ^1249 boys 
and 1209 girls. There were now twenty schools in the city and receipts 
for the year were $72,810 and expenses, $71,351. 

In 1872 the board was : Henry C. Kirk, W. C. Stratton, Henry 
Miller, E. T. Taylor, E. I. Robinson, John F. Dreman, C. H. Cum- 
mings and H. K. Snow; Miller, president. Judge E. B. Crocker ac- 
quired the ground on which the schoolhouse at Second and P streets 
stood, and the school was removed to Fourth and Q streets. The 
city donated the public square between I and J, Fifteenth and Six- 
teenth streets, and the present commodious brick building, known as 
the Sacramento grannnar school, was erected at a cost of $60,000, to 
accommodate the other grammar schools. George Rowland was 
elected a member of the board, vice Stratton, resigned. Underwood 
resigned as principal of the grammar school and A. H. McDonald suc- 
ceeded him. The board decided to open a night school in the two 
lower rooms of the Franklin grammar school, at Sixth and K streets. 

In 1873 the board consisted of C. H. Cummings, J. F. Dreman, 
James I. Felter, E. I. Robinson, H. K. Snow, George Rowland, Felix 
Tracy and B. B. Redding; Cummings presiding. The census showed 
3389 children between five and fifteen years of age, with 3053 en- 
rolled; average attendance, 1810. Receipts, $73,952; expenses, $67,300. 

The board as organized in 1874 consisted of C. H. Cummings, 

D. W. Welty, J. F. Dreman, J. I. Felter, George Rowland, Felix 
Tracy, George Waite and W. F. Knox; Tracy presiding. A new 
course of study gave two grades in the primary schools, instead of 
three. Intermediate School No. 5 and Primary School No. 10 were 
organized and an additional assistant was employed at the gram- 



174 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

mar school. The high school opened with a new corps of teachers and 
118 pupils. A truant officer was employed in September with good 
results. Mr. Straube resigned as German teacher and A. H. linger 
was elected. The receipts were $95,041; disbursements, $122,249, and 
the deficit of $27,208 was met with borrowed money. 

January, 1875, the new board as organized consisted of C. H. 
Cummings, J. F. Dreman, Albert Hart, W. F. Knox, T. M. Lindley, 
J. F. Montgomery, Felix Tracy and George S. Waite; Tracy pre- 
siding. Superintendent Hinkson reported the receipts as $68,946.05 
and the expenditures, $57,579.72. Total number enrolled, 2633; av- 
erage attendance, 2143; born in California, 2134. The cost for each 
pupil was estimated at $21.86. The Union and Lincoln and other 
schoolhouses were repaired during the year. The superintendent's 
report showed the schools to compare favorably with those of the 
other states, and the system of weekly and monthly examinations was 
instituted with satisfactory results. 

In 1876 the board was composed of John F. Dreman, Albert Hart, 
F. M. Lindley, T. B. McFarland, J. F. Montgomery, A.. T. Nelson, 
J. F. Richardson, Felix Tracy, and Secretary Hinkson. School Cen- 
sus Marshal's report showed an increase of 355 children during the 
past year. Total number of children attending school, 2850; average 
attendance, 1982; born in California, 1843; number enrolled for 
the German class, 191. Expenses, $64,894.35. The -superintendent 
reported against any change in text books. 

The board for 1877 organized with J. F. Dreman, J. I. Felter, 
H. H. Linnell, T. B. McFarland, John Stevens and J. N. Young. 
Felter presided. The superintendent's report showed that there were 
in the city 4011 white and 71 colored children between five and seven- 
teen yeai'S of age. Of these 2458 were attending public schools. There 
were 55 public school classes in the city and the high school was 
maintained for ten months during the year. There were in all, twelve 
school buildings; boys enrolled, 1627; girls, 1496; average attendance, 
ninety per cent. The high school erected this year was a fine struc- 
ture with four class rooms, library room, laboratory, etc. 

The board of 1878 organized with J. F. Dreman, J. I. Felter, 
E. Greer, Matt F. Johnson, H. H. Linnell, John Stevens and J. N. 
Young as directors; Felter presiding. Sixty-eight teachers were em- 
ployed, including one of French and German. Several new school 
rooms were rendered necessary this year by the accession of pupils. 
The number of pupils enrolled was 3148. Current expenses were $69,- 
872. The superintendent recommended that school books be fur- 
nished to all children under restrictions that would prevent abuses. 
Eight additional teachers were employed and two new classes estab- 
lished in the grammar grades. 

In 1879 the board organized with Director S. W. Butler, E. 
Greer, Matt F. Johnson, J. F. Dreman, John T. Griffitts, F. A. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 175 

Hornblower, James McClatchy and T. B. McFarland. The latter pre- 
sided. The superintendent reported the value of school property 
at $198,000. Number of pupils enrolled, 3539. Receipts, $78,947.26; 
expenditures, $74,082.94. He recommended the erection of an addi- 
tional school building in the southern part of the city, the grading of 
teacher's salaries, and free supply of books to the pupils; of the 
sixty-three class rooms one had been abandoned on account of its 
unhealthy location. Seventy-three teachers were employed, with an 
average salary of $72.83. Prof. Albert H. Unger, principal of the 
German classes, died this year. The night school had one hundred 
pupils enrolled, under Professor Brier, and was reported as in a 
high condition of efficiency. 

The board of 1880 organized with Directors S. W. Butler, J. T. 
Grriffitts, F. A. Hornblower, W. R. Knights, J. D. Lord, James Mc- 
Clatchy, W. D. Stalker and K. F. Wiemeyer. Griffitts presided. 

Knights resigned and Felix Tracy was elected to the vacancy. 
F. L. Landes succeeded A. C. Hinkson as superintendent. The latter 
reported receipts for the previous year as $82,380.32 ; disbursements, 
$81,014.95; one new schoolhouse, a tine ten-class primary school on 
Q street, between Ninth and Tenth, costing $9,413, and other build- 
ings, amounting in all to $10,733 and furniture to the amount of 
$1852 were among the items, giving ample accommodations for 
pupils. The sale of the Franklin grammar school, at Sixth and L 
streets, occupied only as a night school, was recommended. Total 
number of pupils enrolled, 3489 ; teachers employed, 79, two of them 
being in the evening school. The principal of the high school was 
0. M. Adams ; vice-principal, Kirk W. Brier, who afterwards became 
principal. A. H. McDonald was principal of the Sacramento gram- 
mar school and Joseph W. Johnson principal of the Capital gram- 
mar; W. J. Hyde, principal of the night school. 

Up to this time there had been four superintendents — W. H. 
Hill, S. C. Denson, A. C. Hinkson and F. L. Landes. 

Since 1880 the boards have been as follows : 

1881— K. F. Wiemeyer, W. D. Stalker, J. D. Lord, L. K. Ham- 
mer, S. W. Butler, Felix Tracy, Philip Herzog and W. S. Mesick. 
Mesick resigned and C. H. Stevens was elected to succeed him. 

1882— John F. Slater, Philip Herzog, C. H. Stevens, W. D. 
Stalker, S. W. Butler, Felix Tracy, Mathew C. Cooke, L. K. Ham- 
mer ; G. H. Hancock succeeded Hammer, resigned. 

1883— John F. Slater, C. H. Stevens, Mathew C. Cooke, W. D. 
Stalker, 0. P. Goodhue, Felix Tracy, George ^Y. Hancock and S. 
W. Butler. Goodhue died and Flwood Bruner was elected to the 
vacancv. 

1884— John F. Slater, C. H. Stevens, Mathew C. Cooke, J. L. 
Chadderdon, Richmond Davis, D. Johnson, Elwood Bruner, Frank 
Avery. 



176 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1885— W. M. Petrie, John F. Slater, A. Conklin, J. L. Chaclder- 
don, Riehmond Davis, Frank Avery, C. H. Stevens, E. K. Alsip. 

1886— A. Conklin, C. H. Stevens, J. W. Todd, W. M. Petrie, 
Richmond Davis, O. W. Erlewine, John F. Slater, E. K. Alsip. 
Stevens resigned and B. F. Howard was elected to fill the vacancy. 

1887— A. Conklin, W. M. Petrie, J. W. Todd, Richmond Davis, 
John F. Slater, A. S. Hopkins, H. C. Chipman and 0. W. Erlewine. 

1888— Richmond Davis, W. M. Petrie, E. M. Martin, A. Conk- 
lin, J. W. Todd, A. S. Hopkins, H. C. Chipman, John Skelton. 

1889— J. W. Todd, A. J. Senatz, E. I. Martin, Joseph Hopley, 
R. Davis, A. C. Tufts, H. C. Chipman, John Skelton. 

1890— H. C. Chipman, W. H. Sherbnrn, A. C. Tufts, A. J. Senatz, 
Joseph Hopley, J. N. Payne, 0. W. Erlewine, Win J. Davis. 

1891—0. W. Erlewine, M. Gardner, W. H. Sherburn, C. M. Har- 
rison, J. N. Pavne, R. Davis, A. C. Tufts, H. C. Chipman. 

1892— A. C". Tufts, W. H. Sherburn, C. M. Harrison, Eugene A. 
Crouch, H. J. Davis, O. W. Erlewine, H. C. Chipman, M. Gardner. 

1893 — No election. Same board held office. Sherburn, president. 

1894-95— Win J. Davis, W. H. Sherburn, E. A. Crouch, J. H. 
Dolan, A. N. Buchanan, T. W. Huntington, D. D. Whitbeck, M. J. 
Dillman, P. S. Driver. 

1896-97— Win J. Davis, E. A. Crouch, J. H. Dolan, T. W. Hunt- 
ington, D. D. Whitbeck, M. J. Dillman, P. S. Driver, W. PL Sher- 
burn, A. N. Buchanan. 

1898-99— P. S. Driver, W. H. Sherburn, George B. Stack, C. A. 
Elliott, F. L. Atkinson, C. C. Perkins, H. K. Johnson, H. S. Ranson, 

E. S. Panabaker. 

1900-01— P. S. Driver, Ed. J. Kay, George B. Stack, J. A. Green, 

F. L. Atkinson, Herman Mier, H. K. Johnson, H. S. Ranson, E. E. 
Panabaker. 

1902-03— P. S. Driver, Ed. J. Kay, J. A. Green, Herman Mier, 
H. S. Ranson, Edward McEwen, W. M. Petrie, Howard K. Johnson, 
Robert Martyr. 

1904-05 — Howard K. Johnson, B. M. Hodson, Daniel Fhnan, J. 
A. Green, W. M. Petrie, John T. Skelton, L. G. Shepard, Robert 
Martyr, William Lampert. 

1906-07— J. A. Green, B. M. Hodson, Daniel Flynn, W. M. Petrie, 
William Lampert, J. M. Henderson, Jr., John T. Skelton, W. F. 
Jackson, L. G. Shepard. 

1908-09— W. J. Taylor, R. L. Wait, D. Flvnn, J. A. Green, W. 
M. Petrie, T. D. Littlefield, J. M. Henderson, W. F. Jackson, W. 

G. McMillin. 

1910-11— J. A. Green, R. L. Wait, J. R. Garlick, W. M. Petrie, 
T. D. Littlefield, S. A. Smith, W. J. Tavlor, Thomas Coulter, W. 
G. McMillin. 

The superintendents since 1880 have been : Dr. J. R. Lane, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 177 

January, 1882, to January, 1886; M. R. Beard, 1886 to 1890- Albert 
Hart, 1890 to 1894; 0. W. Erlewine, elected under the new charter 
February 3, 1894, was subsequently re-elected and served continuously 
as superintendent under the commission until he resigned early this 
year, being succeeded by C. C. Hughes. 

Under the new charter adopted in 1911, changing the o-overn- 
ment of the city to the commission form, the commissioners con- 
stituted the city board of education, Mrs. Luella B. Johnston beino- 
the commissioner of education for the ensuing year, and being suc''- 
ceeded this year by E. J. Carragher. 

THE HIGH SCHOOL 

The embryo of the high school was created May 22, 1855 when 
It was proposed by Dr. F. W. Hatch that Willson's History, Astron- 
omy bookkeeping, Latin, French and Spanish be added to the course 
ot study An order to add these studies to the course was adopted 
at that time, but was not put in force till the following year when 
the classes m tliese studies were taught in the schoolhouse on M 
street, between Eighth and Ninth, by J. M. Howe. Eighteen girls and 
twenty-one boj;^ were enrolled the first year and the remarkably high 
ayerage attendance of 36.8 out of 39 was attained. May 8 1857 
Howe declined to be examined in Greek and was succeeded by c! 
A. llill Hill resigned in August following and was succeeded by 
A. K Jackson, and early in 1858 the school was removed to Fifth 
and K streets and J. P. Carleton was elected to teach French and 
bpanish. 

1 ^''']. f.'nn^^^^' ^^'^'^'' ^- ^"^'^^ ^^« ^l^^ted principal, with a 
salary of $200 a month, and Professor Lefebre was chosen to teach 
J^rench and Spanish in place of Carleton. As soon as the Franklin 
grammar school was completed, the high school was removed to it 
In June, 1859, Professor Lefebre left the state and was succeeded bv 
Professor Jofre. In November, 1859, the natural sciences were 
added to the course by the board, and A. R. Jackson was elected to 
teach them. The next October Swift showed evidences of insanity 
and a vacancy m the principalship was declared and Jackson was 
appointed to the position, but refused the following April to serve 
longer as principal, declaring the salary insufficient, and J W An- 
derson wa^ api)ointed in his place. Anderson was succeeded Septem- 
ber 18, 1862, by R. K. Marriner and the latter resigned March '^7 
1865, and was succeeded by J. L. Fogg, who served till April 29th fol- 
lowing and was succeeded by Milo L. Templeton as princij^al. 

The school was removed to Seventh and G streets July 25, 1865, 
and in November Alexander Goddard was elected teacher "of French 
and m A]^ril, 1870, Jourdon W. Roper was appointed principal. He 
resigned m April, 1872, and was succeeded by H. H. Howe, and early 
m the year Edward P. Howe was appointed to take his brother's 



178 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

place. His successors to date have been Oliver M. Adams, who re- 
signed in June, 1884; W, W. Anderson from that date until the close 
of the school year in June, 1888, when James H. Pond was elected 
]irincipal. Pond resigned in 1901 to take the principalship in the 
Oakland high school and was succeeded by Frank Tade, who con- 
tinued as principal until the close of the school year in June, 1910. 
when he resigned to take the principalship of the Night High School 
and was succeeded by H. 0. Williams, the present principal. 

The high school building at the corner of Ninth and M streets 
was completed September 2, 1876, at a cost of $10,687, and the school 
was opened in it January 1, 1877. An addition was made to it in 
1904, nearly doubling its size, and in 1909 it was burned. In 1907-08 
a new high school building was erected on the block between K and 
L, Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets, which had been purchased for 
the purpose by the board of education from the directors of the 
Protestant Orphan Asylum. The building is a fine one, the lower 
story being of cement, and the remainder of brick. It is four stories 
in height, with thirty-five class rooms, and cost in round numbers 
a little over $254,500. It is strictly up to date, has ample apparatus 
for the scientific classes, and a gymnasium for the boys in the lower 
story. It was calculated to furnish accommodations for about eight 
hundred pupils, and that it would be ample for all the needs of the 
school for ten years, but the growth of the city since has been so 
rapid that it is already overcrowded, the classes for the first semester 
of 1912 showing that about one thousand pupils must be taken care 
of. The bond issue of $800,000 for the schools sanctioned by the 
people in 1911, has provided for an addition to the high school facili- 
ties, and it is advocated by many that a new high school building be 
erected in the suburban district recently annexed by the city, al- 
though an addition may be built to the present building. 

COLOEED PUPILS 

In 1873 a colored pupil applied for admission to the night school 
and two colored girls applied for admission to the grammar school. 
The question arose as to whether under the statute prohibiting the 
attendance of colored children at the white schools they could be 
admitted without endangering the receipt of the state and county 
moneys for the support of the schools. The board granted the re- 
quests, pending the decision of the supreme court on the constitu- 
tionality of the law. 

Jam^nrv 7, 1874, Superintendent Hinkson served on Principal 
McDonoM of the grammar school the following notice: 

"You are hereby instructed to admit no children of African de- 
scent or T'^dian children into your school, and if any make anpUca- 
tion foi ; '^ ission, direct them to the superintendent, who will issue 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO . COUNTY 179 

permits for their admission into the schools provided for them by 
law." 

The admission of colored children to white schools had been 
made an issue in the election of December, 1873, and Hinkson had 
been elected superintendent, with W. F. Knox and George S. Wait, 
Democrats. J. F. Dreman, Republican, had previously voted against 
admitting colored children. 

The notice called attention to the statute on the subject. The 
principal refused to obey the order and was suspended by the super- 
intendent and a special meeting was called, the principal stating that 
the orders of the superintendent were in conflict with the resolution 
adopted by the board, and asked which he should obey. 

Director Welty offered the following resolution: "That the teach- 
ers are instructed that the paramount source of power rests with 
the board, in reference to the subject matter embraced in the com- 
munication from the principal of the grammar school." 

The resolution was adopted by a vote of five to three and the 
principal reinstated. Director Dreman offered a resolution as fol- 
lows, which was lost by a vote of three to five : 

"That it is the duty of Superintendent Hinkson to redeem his 
pledge to the people of Sacramento City by using all legal means to 
prevent the admission of colored children into the white schools." 
Director Knox offered the following resolution: 

"That the resolution of December 29, 1873, by the board of edu- 
cation, admitting certain colored children into the white grammar 
school, is a palpable violation of the statute of the state." 

Director Welty offered this in addition: 

"But is in strict harmony with the constitution and laws of the 
United States." 

The resolution as amended was adopted. The supreme court 
soon after declared the statute constitutional and a plan was dis- 
cussed for establishing separate schools, but was deemed impractic- 
able and colored pupils were admitted to the grammar and high 
schools. 

OTHER MATTERS 

111 1882 a resolution was adopted by the board that thereafter, 
when high school exercises were held, a premium of $20 would be 
offered to the young lady pupil who would attend in the least ex- 
pensive and most appropriate dress. It seems therefore, that the 
evil of expensive dressing on such occasions was even then prevalent. 

In 1881 the Fremont primary school at Twenty-fourth and N 
streets was erected. 

In 1882 a two-room frame building, the Marshall primary, was 
erected at Twenty-seventh and J streets and afterwards enlarged. 
It stood on one of the citv blocks reserved for plazas by General 



180 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO . COUNTY 

Sutter and when the city resolved to make a park there, the school 
was removed and a new one erected on G street. 

In 1884 it was proposed to purchase the Perry Seminarj'- ])nild- 
ing for a high school and $9000 was offered for it, but Mrs. Perry 
asked $10,000. It was finally purchased for $9620 and used for years 
for the night school, but was converted last year into a manual train- 
ing school. In February, 1890, the board of trustees asked that the 
Perry Seminary property be deeded to the city, but the board of 
education declined, saying it had no power to cede it. In 1891 a 
similar request was made and again denied. 

In 1904 the first Chinese school was opened in the Perry Sem- 
inary building. 

In 1885 the Harkness grammar school at Tenth and P streets 
was erected at a cost of $14,992, and the building at Tenth and L 
streets, erected in 1879, named the Capital grammar school and at first 
used as a grammar school, was named the Capital primary school. 
In 1889 the Sutter grammar school at Twenty-first and L streets 
was erected, at a cost of $15,444. In that year, also, the business men 
of the city presented twelve American flags to the board of educa- 
tion, with the request that they be displayed on all legal holidays, 
on the first day of each term and on other occasions as the board 
might deem proper. Today Old Glory floats over every schoolhouse 
in the city and county while the schools are in session. 

In this connection it may be stated that the first flag raised over 
a schoolhouse in the county outside of the city was in the Capital 
school district, on the old schoolhouse that stood on the Upper Stock- 
ton road at Swiss station, a short distance south of the county hospital, 
W. L. Willis being the teacher, and the school children and trustees 
contributing money for the flag and flagstaff. On the same day, 
l)ut several hours later, a flag was raised on the American river dis- 
trict schoolhouse. Miss Agnes Burns, teacher. Neither district knew 
that the other contemplated such action, and the raising of the first 
two flags in the county was a remarkable coincidence. Both school- 
houses have since been demolished, and more commodious ones built 
on other sites to accommodate the growing needs of the districts. 

Besides the high school, we have now three grammar schools, — 
the Watson, Harkness and Sutter, the Newton Booth school, which 
is mixed, and eight primary schools,- — the McKinley, Lincoln, Capital, 
Washington, Jefferson, Marshall, Fremont and Eugene Field pri- 
maries, — within the old city limits. Since the suburbs were annexed 
they have brought into the city school system the Oak Park grammar 
and primary schools, the Highland Park, Franklin, East Sacramento, 
Riverside and Palmetto Heights schools, the latter being the school 
of the Protestant Orphan Asylum on the Lower Stockton road. 
There is also a niglit high school, and a night school with twelve 
teachers. In addition to this, the old Perry Seminary has been fitted 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 181 

up as a manual training school, with four teachers. The schools also 
have a supervisor of drawing, a supervisor and assistant supervisor of 
music, a teacher and assistant teacher for the deaf and dumb, and 
four teachers of domestic science and home economics. In addition 
to these there are several kindergarten schools. 

In the spring of 1911 the Capital primary school, on L street, 
between Ninth and Tenth, was burned, the work, it is generally be- 
lieved, of an incendiary. The Lincoln primary school, at Fourth 
and Q streets, has l)een twice burned within the past ten years, both 
tires l)eing supposedly incendiary. 

There are at present eighty school districts in Sacramento county, 
as follows: Arcade, Alabama, Alder Creek, Andrus Island, Arno, 
Brighton, Buckeye, Brown, Brannan, Courtland, Capital, Carroll, 
Center-Joint, Carson Creek-Joint, Colony, Davis, Dry Creek-Joint, 
Elk Grove, Elk Grove Union High, East Sacramento, Elder 
Creek, Enterprise, Excelsior, Freeport, Florin, Franklin Union, Fair 
Oaks, Gait, Granite, Grand Island, Georgiana, Good Hope, Goldberg, 
Highland, Highland Park, Howard, Hutson, Isleton, Jackson, Junc- 
tion, Kinney, Lisbon, Lee, Lincoln, Laguna, Michigan Bar, Moke- 
lumne, Ney, Natoma-Joint, Onisbo, Oak Grove, Orangevale, Oulton, 
Prairie, Point Pleasant, Pleasant Grove, Pacific, Palmetto Heights, 
Richland, Roberts, Reese, Rio Vista, Rhoads, Riverside, Sylvan, 
Sutter, Stone House, Sacramento City, San Joaquin, San Juan, 
Sherman Island, Union, Victory, Vorden, Wilson, Washington, Walnut 
Grove and Waker. Two new ones have been made by the board of 
supervisors within the past few months — Twin Cities district taken 
from Gait and Arno districts, and one, not yet named, taken from 
Brighton, Washington, Enterprise and Excelsior districts. The num- 
ber of teachers in the city schools is 267, and in the schools outside 
of the city ninety-one. 

SACEAMENTO BUSINESS COLLEGE 

Wiien Agesilaus, King of Sparta, gave utterance to the precept 
"Teach your boys that which they will practice when they become 
men," he sounded tlie keynote of practical education and stamped the 
pattern for the commercial training of the present generation. This 
terse and epigrammatic injunction is the motto of one of the oldest and 
most firmly established educational institutions on the Pacific Coast. 
Founded February 28th, 1873, by Edmund Clement Atkinson, one of 
the y)ioneer business educators of the state, it has for nearly forty 
years inculcated sound business principles into the minds of the young 
men and young women of California, and maintained first rank amoiig 
the institutions of learning of the community. 

For the first twenty years of its existence, the college occupied 
the upper floor of the present city library building on I street, be- 
tween Seventh and Eighth, after which the third floor of the Hale 



182 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

block at Ninth and K streets, where it was for sixteen years one of 
the prominent features of the city's life. In 1909 it was moved to 
the i^resent commodious and well-ligiited building at the north-east 
corner of Thirteenth and J streets, where it continues to expound the 
sound principles of business, impressing them upon the receptive 
minds of its students along the strongly characteristic lines laid down 
by its eminent founder, and on completion of the course of instruction 
installs its graduates in responsible positions in the commercial world. 
In fidelity to its announcements it "puts thousands into business." 

The college celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1898 by 
incorporating under the laws of California. Since the death of its 
founder, and in fact for a short time previous thereto, it had been 
under the direct control of its president and manager, William E. 
Cogswell, for eighteen years connected with the institution in various 
capacities. 

CHAPTER XXIV 
RAILROADS 

The inception of railroad building in the county of Sacramento, 
as well as in the whole state, has made very interesting history. The 
building of the Sacramento Valley Railroad which ran from Sacra- 
mento to Folsom, a distance of twenty- two miles, in 1855-56, (it being 
the first railroad constructed in the state) was the direct cause of the 
construction of the western half of the great transcontinental railroad 
known as the Central Pacific. 

As far back as 1846 the building of a railroad across the plains 
and over, the mountains had been agitated in Congress and out of it 
by Asa Wliituey, until 1850. He w^as supported in his effort by Sena- 
tors Benton of Missouri and Breese of Illinois. February 7, 1849, 
Senator Benton introduced a bill in Congress for the building of a 
Pacific railroad, this bill being really the first tangible effort made 
in that direction. The formation of a company of citizens of Sacra- 
mento, Nevada and Placer counties was the first effort made in Cali- 
fornia for the building ^f an overland railroad. Articles of incor- 
poration of the Sacramento, Auburn and Nevada Railroad Company 
were filed in the office of the secretary of state, August 17, 1852. 
Tliey contained th.e names of twent3^-six subscribers of twenty-eio-ht 
shares each, at a value of $100 a share, with the names of the follow- 
ing directors: S. W. I^ovell, Placer county; F. O. Dunn, John R. 
Coryell, Charles Marsh, Isaac Williamson and William TI. Lvons of 
Nevada county; John A. Read, J. B. Haggin and Lloyd Tevis of 
Sacramento county. A survey was made of a line from Sacraineuto 
City, through Folsom, Auburn and Green Vallev, to Nevada City. 
The line was sixtv-eioht miles long, and the estimated cost of con- 
struction was $2,000,000. The survey was continued from Nevada 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 183 

City through the Henness Pass. But the enterprise assumed too 
gigantic proportions for the means of the incorporators, and they were 
forced, much against their will, to abandon the undertaking. 

In March, 1853, congress passed an act providing for a survey, 
by the topographical engineers of the army, of three routes of a trans- 
continental railway — the northern, southern and middle routes. The 
surveys were made as ordered, and the report submitted to congress 
and published, with elaborate engravings of the scenery along the 
routes, topographical maps and representations of the animals and 
plants discovered. These reports were doubtless valuable, but they 
did not demonstrate the fact that a railway route was practicable over 
the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. The demonstration 
of that fact was to be made later by Theodore D. Judah, who had 
been the chief-engineer of the Sacramento Valley Railroad — the first 
railroad built in California. Mr. Judah became convinced, while en- 
gaged from 1854 to 1856 in building this road, that it was practicable 
to build a road over the Sierra Nevada mountains, the only range 
that had before been deemed impracticable. He made at his own 
expense trial surveys over several of the supposed passes over the 
Sierra Nevadas. While these were only barometrical surveys, they 
were sufficiently accurate to convince him that there was a practicable 
route, and that a road could be built. 

Armed with the data he had thus obtained, Mr. Judah lost no 
time in presenting his views and ideas at all times in order to awaken 
interest and advance the project of a Pacific railroad. In 1856 he 
succeeded, through a concurrent resolution of the California legisla- 
ture, in having a railroad convention called, to meet in San Francisco, 
September 20, 1859. Many prominent men of California composed 
this convention, among them being Hon. J. A. McDougall, Hon. J'. B. 
Crocket, Major John Bidwell, Hon. J. B. Axtell, Hon, James T. 
Farley, Sherman Day and others, of California, together with dele- 
gates from Oregon and adjoining territories. The convention sent 
Mr. Judah to Washington, D. C, to endeavor to procure legislation 
favoring the building of a railroad, and he proceeded thither, arriving 
in time to be present at the opening of the Thirty-sixth Congress. He 
lost no time after arriving in AVashington, in visiting the various de- 
partu'ents and collecting from each one all the infonuation that was 
likely to be of assistance to him in in-esenting plainly and clearly to 
congress the im]iortance and feasibility of the enterprise which he 
desired tliem to take favorable action upon. While this session was 
unfortunately so fully occupied with political matters that he was 
unal)le to gain an effective hearing, and therefore made Imt little 
iir])ression on congress as a body, a great deal of good was effected bv 
him through i:)ersonal interviews and the presentation of his views and 
aims, backed up by the data gathered, with the different n^emliers 
and many prominent men. He had acquired such a thorough knowl- 



184 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

edge of his subject that he rarely failed to convince his auditors 
of the entire feasibility of the project he had espoused. In conjunction 
with Hon. John C. Burch, then a member of congress from California, 
he drew up a bill which contained nearly all the provisions of the 
bill finally passed in 1862. It was printed at private expense and a 
copy sent to each member of congress and senate. 

In 1860 Mr. Judah returned to California and immediately set 
about making a more thorough survey of the Sierra Nevadas for a 
pass and the approach to it, than he had hitherto attempted. He was 
accompanied on this work by Dr. D. W. Strong of Dutch Flat, who 
contributed much from his private means toward payment of the ex- 
penses incurred in prosecuting the survey, as well as aiding it by his 
intimate knowledge of the mountains. When the Central Pacific 
Railroad Compam^ was incorporated Dr. Strong became one of its 
first directors. 

On completion of these surveys, which were made with a baro- 
meter, Mr. Judah made a trip to San Francisco for the purpose of 
lading his plans before a number of the capitalists of that city and 
trying to induce them to form a company to finance the work and 
carry it to completion. He was chagrined to find his ideas coldly re- 
ceived, and at obtaining no financial support in that city. He returned 
to his hotel one evening, after becoming convinced that it was futile 
to make any further trial to obtain financial aid in San Francisco, 
and remarked to a friend: "The capitalists of San Francisco have 
refused this night to make an investment, for which, in three years, 
they shall have ample cause to blame their want of foresight. I shall 
return to Sacramento tomorrow, to interest merchants and others of 
that place in this great work, and this shall be my only other etfort 
on this side of the continent." 

Mr. Judah had previously placed his plans and estimates before 
James Bailey, a Sacramento friend, who was struck by the force of 
his arguments and calculations. By Mr. Bailey he was introduced to 
Governor Stanford, Mark Hopkins, E. B. Crocker and Charles Crock- 
er. He was already acquainted with C. P. Huntington. A meeting 
of the business men of Sacramento was called. Mr. Judah laid his 
plans and statistics before them and steps preliminary to the organ- 
ization of a compan}^ were innnediately taken. The organization was 
perfected and the articles of incorporation filed with the secretary of 
state June 28, 1861. The name chosen for the company was the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, and the officers elected 
were as follows : Leland Stanford, president ; C. P. Huntington, vice- 
])resident ; Mark Hopkins, treasurer ; Theodore D, Judah, chief engi- 
neer; Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles 
Crocker, James Bailey, L. A. Booth, D. W. Strong, of Dutch Flat, and 
Charles Marsh, of Nevada Citj^, directors. The capital stock was 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 185 

$8,500,000 and $148,000 was subscribed, just enough to bring them 
witliin tlie limit as set by the laws of California. 

That all but the last two named were citizens of Sacramento' 
demonstrates conclusively that to Sacramento and her citizens belongs 
the honor of inaugurating and carrying to successful completion the 
Pacific railroads ; for had not Judah spent his time and talents in col- 
lecting data, making surveys and proving that such an undertaking 
was possible, it is an open question if the Pacific railroads would be 
in existence today. The country from the Mississippi river to the 
Rocky mountains was generally known in those days and appeared on 
the maps as ''The Great American Desert." The lofty and inhospit- 
able Rocky Mountain range was on its western border, difficult to 
surmount. Beyond them was the valley and table land of Utah and 
Nevada, bleak and uninviting, and still beyond that, the lofty and 
rugged Sierra Nevadas to be surmounted. The prospect was not in- 
viting to the eastern investor. The barren and unpromising country 
to be traversed gave but little prospect of being settled for many a 
year and the prospect of financial profit from the construction of a 
railroad across a scope of such country nearly two thousand miles 
in extent was not a brilliant one, or one calculated to draw the dollars 
from the pockets of capitalists. Had the railroad not been begun at 
this end of the line, it is doubtful if the line would have been built, 
even to this day. To the men then, who threw themselves into the 
breach and periled their fortunes and those of their friends, accrues 
the honor of being foremost in the work of developing — not only the 
Pacific coast, but two-thirds of the width of the continent. Mr. 
Judah 's engineering work in constructing the most difficult parts of 
the road was regarded as the wonder of the age, for he was forced 
to employ methods not before used in his profession. 

His coadjutors in the work, who have all, or nearly all, passed 
away, deserve full credit for their faith in the enterprise, their in- 
domitable energy and their masterly manner of managing and over- 
coming the financial difficulties that they encountered during the years 
that elapsed between the organization of the company and the com- 
pletion of the road, which was often sneeringly alluded to by the San 
Franciscans as ''Stanford's Dutch Flat Road." We cannot forget, 
however, that Mr. Judah had spent all his time and money and energ>" 
for three or four years previous to the organization of the company, 
in collecting data, without which no prudent man would have felt 
justified in investing a dollar in the undertaking that was so generally 
regarded as chimerical and impracticable. 

After the company was organized Mr. Judah was instructed to 
make a thorough instrumental survey of the route across the Sierras, 
which he did. The previous surveys or reconnoissances made had 
covered three routes, one through Eldorado county via Georgetown, 
another via Illinoistown and Dutch Flat, and a third via Nevada 



186 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and Heimess Pass. The observations bad demonstrated the existence 
of a route a':^ross the Sierras by which the summit could be reached 
by maximum grades of one Imndred and five feet to the mile. The 
instrumental survey, however, developed a route with lighter grades, 
less distance and fewer obstacles than the previous observations had 
shown. The first report of the chief engineer to the officers of the" 
company gave the following as topographical features of the Sierras, 
which rendered railroad building and operating over them so for- 
midable : 

1. "The great elevation to be overcome in crossing its summit, 
and the want of uniformity in its western slope. ' ' The average length 
of the western slope of the Sierras is about seventy miles, and on 
this distance the altitude increases seven thousand feet, making it 
necessary to maintain an even grade on the ascent to avoid creating 
some sections with excessive grades. 

2. "From the impracticability of the river crossings." These 
rivers run through gorges in many places over one thousand feet 
deep, with the banks of varying slopes from perpendicular to forty- 
five degrees. A railroad line, therefore, must avoid crossing these 
canyons. The line, as established by the surveys of 1861, pursued 
its course along an unbroken ridge from the base to the summit of the 
Sierras, the only river crossing in the* mountains being that of Tittle 
Bear, about three miles above Dutch Flat. Another prominent feature 
of the location is the fact that it entirely avoids the second summit 
of the Sierras. The estimated cost per mile of the road from Sacra- 
mento to the state line was $88,000 per mile. 

October 1, 1861, the board of directors of the Central Pacific Rail- 
road Company adopted a resolution as follows: 

"Resolved, that Mr. T. D. Juda,h the chief engineer of this com- 
pany, proceed to Washington on the steamer of the 11th of October 
instant, as the accredited agent of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany of California for the purpose of procuring appropriations of land 
and United States bonds from the government, to aid in the construc- 
tion of this road." Mr. Judah proceeded to the east on his mission 
and that he accomplished his purpose this time is shown by the bill 
that was passed by congress in July, 1862. This bill granted a free 
right of way to the roads of four hundred feet wide over all govern- 
ment lands on their line. The government also agreed to extinguish 
the Indian title to all the land donated to the company either for 
right of way or to the granted land. 

The lands on either side of the road were to be withdrawn from 
settlement, by pre-emption or otherwise, for a distance of fifteen 
miles, until the final location of the road should be made, and the 
United States surveys had determined the location of the section lines. 
This map of the route was made by Mr. Judah, hied in the office 
of the secretary of the interior, and the lands withdrawn in accordance 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 187 

witli the terms of the bilL When the bill had passed, Mr. Judah 
telegraphed to his associates in Sacramento: "We have drawn the 
elephant. See if we can harness him up." 

This bill also provided for the issue to the company of United 
States thirtj^-year six per cent, bonds, to be issued to the company as 
each forty mile section of the road was completed, at the rate of 
$16,000 per mile for the line west of the western base of the Sierra 
Nevadas, and at the rate ox $48,000 per mile from the western base 
east to the eastern base of the Sierras, the latter subsidy to be paid 
on the completion of each twenty mile section. 

To secure the government from loss, and insure the payment of 
these bonds, they were made a first lien on the road. The state of 
California also donated $10,000 per mile to the road, by an act ap- 
proved April 25, 1863. The engineering difficulties were great, and 
had been considered unsurmountable, but the financial difficulties also 
were great, and undoubtedly required more labor and thought than 
the engineering, though of a different kind. That all these difficulties 
were surmounted, and the originators of the effort still retained the 
ownership and control of the road, arid in addition to the original 
line have built thousands of miles of road in California and Arizona 
and elsewhere, proves the ability of the leaders in this movement. 

These men were merchants in a city that could not be classed 
among the large ones of the land, and were consequently not largely 
known to the financial world ; they had never been engaged in the 
railroad business, and were supposedly ignorant of the magnitude of 
the undertaking in which they engaged. Aside from the natural dif- 
ficulty of the situation, they encountered the opposition of the moneyed 
men of San Francisco and other places, who gave their enterprise the 
name of the "Dutch Flat Swindle." C. P. Huntington, vice-president 
of the company, was next sent to the east, with full power-of- attorney 
to do any acts he might think for the interest of the company. One 
of the main objects of this trip was to see that the bill which was then 
before congress should not oblige the company to pay interest on 
the bonds received of the government for at least ten years from their 
date of issue. After the passage of the bill, the books were opened 
for stock subscriptions, to the amount of eight and one-half million 
dollars. Of this amount, six hundred thousand dollars were sub- 
scribed at the first rush, but after that, for a long time, the sul)- 
seriptions came in very slowly. 

When Huntington attempted to dispose of the bonds of the com- 
pany in New York, he was informed that they had no marketable value 
until some part of the road was built. Before he could dispose of 
them, therefore, he was obliged to give the personal guarantee of 
himself and his four partners, Hopkins, Stanford and the Crockers, 
for the money, until sucli time as they could be exchanged for United 
States bonds. 



188 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

After spending the summer of 1861 in making additional surveys 
of the three routes under consideration, Judah had finally decided 
on the Dutch Flat route, ascertaining that the maximum grade on 
that line would be one hundred feet to the mile. He thought the 
line could be kept free from snow by the use of snow plows and that 
eighteen tunnels, aggregating 17,100 feet in length, would be suffi- 
cient. "Lightning expresses" and "limited" trains did not enter 
into his calculations. He outlined a schedule for trains going east 
as follows: 

Sacramento to Barrimore's, thirty-one miles, one hour. Stop at 
Barrimore's, half hour. 

Barrimore's to Summit, eighty-one miles, four hours. Four 
stops en route, fifteen minutes each, one hour. Stop at Summit, 
quarter-hour. 

Summit to Truckee river, eleven miles, three-quarters of an 
hour. 

Total for one hundred and twenty-three miles, seven and one- 
half hours, including stops aggregating an hour and three-quarters. 

He estimated the cost of construction from Sacramento to the 
state line, one hundred and forty miles, at $12,380,000, an average of 
$88,248 a mile. 

The bill as passed gave the company two years to complete the 
first fifty miles, none of their land grant or government bonds being 
available until they had finished the first forty. This latter provision 
nearly doomed them to failure, as it turned out. The first fifty milos, 
as reported by the engineers were described as a line from "Sacra- 
mento to Grider's (Roseville) eighteen miles; thence California Cen- 
tral Railroad to the Auburn Railroad, opposite Folsom, nine miles; 
thence Auburn Railroad to Auburn, fifteen miles; thence eight miles 
to Clipper Gap." Evidently it was the intention to use the two 
roads named, but that intenion was abandoned later. 

For the purpose of providing means for commencing the work, 
the seven principal stockholders formed a partnership, each one con- 
tributing $34,000 in gold; the amount thus received, $238,000, was 
thought to be sufficient to build at least to Newcastle. Everything 
being ready to begin they decided to have a celebration and it was 
held at Front and K streets in this city January 8, 1863. The ground 
was very muddy, and hay was scattered over it to make better foot- 
ing. At 12 M. Charles Crocker introduced Governor Stanford, who 
spoke briefly as to his gratification at being chosen to cast the first 
dirt on what was to be to the west what the Erie canal was to tlie 
eastern and central states, "the tie that bound." He assured those 
assembled that tlie woi'k would go on without cessation or interrup- 
tion. Rev. J. A. Benton, at the close of Stanfoi-d's remarks, offered 
a i)etition that the Divine blessing might rest on the enterprise, and 
that the road here inaugurated in His name, might go forward to 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 189 

speedy completion and prove a highway for the people that would 
make the wildnerness and the solitary places blossom like a rose. 
Then two wagons decorated with red, white and blue, and filled with 
dirt were driven in front of the speakers' stand and Governor 
Stanford shoveled their contents on the ground, while the "Sacra- 
mento Union Brass band" played the national airs, and closed with 
"Wait for the Wagon," Presiding officers of the legislature and 
others made remarks, Mr. Crocker winding up with the statement 
that even while he was speaking the contractor was hauling piles to 
the American river, for the bridge across it; that the road was going 
through, and that all he had was devoted to the section he had under- 
taken to build. 

The Central Pacific issued a statement that they had ordered eight 
first-class locomotives from Norris & Co., of Philadelphia, two of 
them being of the heaviest class used by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road on its mountain grades, capable of hauling thirty loaded cars 
or three hundred and sixty tons over the heaviest grades that would 
be on the Central Pacific. Eight passenger coaches were also ordered, 
four combined mail and baggage cars, thirty box cars, thirty platform 
cars, and six hand cars, and that they were on their way round the 
Horn. The freight on these- cost it was stated $4,000 each, making 
their cost set up in Sacramento, $32,000 each. 

The shipment of these engines was delayed by an army officer 
who api^eared at the locomotive works when they were about ready 
and took possession of them and of all others that were on hand, 
for use of the army, in the name of the government. Protest was 
made by the company and the authorities at Washington, when they 
learned that the engines seized were for the use of the Central Pacific, 
ordered them released, on the ground that no military necessity was 
more important than the completion t)f the Pacific Railroad. They 
were partially paid for by a fund of $1,250,000 raised by the directors, 
five of them becoming responsible for the loan by endorsing the com- 
pany's notes. 

None of the government's subsidy aid had as yet been received. 
Subscriptions by individuals for stock amounted to $600,000. Bonds 
had been received from Sacramento county for $.300,000 and from 
Placer county for $250,000, railroad bonds being given in exchange 
for them. The city of San Francisco had by a large majority voted 
a $600,000 subsidy, but it was being held up temporarily by officials 
hostile to the road. Engineer Judah reported that the company 
would have to abandon the original plan of using the California 
Central and Sacramento, Placer and Nevada roads, as they were 
not laid with American iron, as specified in the bill, nor could any 
existing roads count in aiding the Central Pacific, under the bill. 
He reported also that the road was being laid on redwood ties, 
68,000 of them being contracted for, and that 6,000 tons of iron had 



190 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

been purchased, lie estimated the cost of tlie first fifty miles at 
$3,221,496. . 

In 1862 the company was p^ranted the right of way into the city 
of Sacramento and was also granted the Slough or Sutter lake. The 
contract for building the road from Sacramento to Grider's on the 
California Central Railroad was let December 22, 1862, to C. Crocker 
& Co., who sublet the contract to different parties. Twenty miles of 
road each year were completed in 1863, 1864 and 1865, thirty miles 
in 1866, forty-six miles in 1867, three hundred and sixty-four miles in 
1868, one hundred and ninety and one-half miles in 1869 ; making six 
hundred and ninety and one-half miles from Sacramento to Promon- 
tory, where the roads met. May 10, 1869. 

The diFficnlties were many and great. All of the materials except 
the cross ties, including a large proportion of the men employed, were 
brought from the east via Cape Horn. Toward the latter part of the 
great enterprise several thousand Chinamen were put at work. Be- 
sides this, it was war times, and marine insurance was very high ; iron 
and railroad materials were held at tremendous figures and the price 
of the subsidy bonds was very low. All of these conditions combined 
to make the building of the road very costly. 

The state of California agreed to pay the interest on $1,500,000 
of tlie bonds for thirty years, and in return the company gave to the 
state a very valuable stone quarry. A number of the counties along 
the road bonded themselves in exchange for stock. Sacramento county 
gave her bonds to the amount of $300,000. These bonds were exchanged 
for money and the work was pushed forward. Then there was delay 
in obtaining the subsidy, and the money ran short. When Mr. Hunt- 
ington returned from New York he found the treasury almost destitute 
of coin, and it became evident that there was a necessity for raising 
more funds or stopping the work. "Huntington and Hopkins can, out 
of their own means, pay five hundred men for a year ; how many can 
each of you keep on the line," was the characteristic declaration with 
which he met the emergency. Before the meeting adjourned these five 
men had resolved that they would maintain eight hundred men on the 
road during the year out of their own private resources. 

Mr. Judah had sold out his interest in the company about this 
time (1863) and gone east. On the way he was stricken with Panama 
fever, dying from it shortly after his arrival in N-ew York, in 1863, at 
the age of only thirty-seven years. Dr. Strong of Dutch Flat, although 
a sincere and earnest believer in the enterprise, was not able to furnish 
what was considered his share of the expenses necessary to be ad- 
vanced, and retired from the board of directors. Messrs. Bailey, Booth 
and Marsh were comi)e11ed, like Judah, to sell out after the enterprise 
was well under way, though it is known that they were all earnest 
workers for its success at the commencement. 

Mr. Judah was succeeded by S. S. Montague as chief engineer of 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 191 

the road. The location surveys were made under his directions. The 
road to Colfax, or Lower lUinoistown Gap, was located on the line run 
by Mr. Judali in 1861; from Colfax to Long Ravine the line was 
changed materially; from Long Ravine to Alta the line ran on Mr. 
Judah's survey and from Alta to the Summit on an entirely new line, 
located by L. M. Clement, engineer in charge of the second division 
from Colfax to the Summit. This final location gave better grade 
line, and one more free from snow in the winter, two very desirable 
objects. The value of these changes is plainly shown by the report 
of George E. Gray, formerly chief engineer of the New York Central 
Railroad. Mr. Gray was requested by Leland Stanford, in a letter 
dated July 10, 1865, to inspect the line of road and surveys then made, 
and report to the board of directors of the company his opinion as 
to the quality of the work and the economical location of that portion 
not then built. Mr. Gray, in his report, gave as his opinion that the 
road already constructed would compare favorably with any road in 
the United States. Of that portion of the road not constructed, he 
reported that Mr. Judah's line had been altered materially, saving in 
distance nearly five thousand feet and also reducing the aggregate 
length of the tunnels nearly five thousand feet, a saving in cost of 
construction of at least $400,000. Some very skillful engineering was 
done on this Colfax division. The road bed ran around the promontory 
at Cape Horn, over twelve hundred feet above the bottom of a nearly 
perpendicular canyon, the banks of which were so steep that the 
Chinamen during the work had to be let down in baskets over the 
face of the cliff in order to construct the grade. 

President Lincoln made a decision of great moment to the com- 
pany during the summer of 1863, in regard to the mountain section. 
By the terms of the bill, the company was to receive bonds to the 
amount of $16,000 per mile for its line west of the Sierras, and $48,000 
per mile for the section through the mountains. H^he trouble was to 
decide where the two sections joined each other. 

The Interior department showed a disposition to place the divid- 
ing line at the end of the first section of fifty miles. The matter being 
brought to the president's attention, he decided that it should be seven 
and eighteen-hundredths miles east of Sacramento, saying that ''this 
was a case where Abraham's faith had moved mountains." This 
meant a difference of over a million dollars to the company. The 
tracks reached Grider's, or Roseville, on April 26, 1864, and the 
company commenced "the operation of that much of the road. 

Another factor was about to come to the aid of the financiers, 
whose funds were exhausted, but whose courage was not daunted. The 
Union Pacific Company had been unable to raise funds to prosecute 
its construction, operating, as it did, under the same law as the 
Central. It therefore made another appeal to congress, and an act 
granting more liberal terms was passed in April, 1864. By its terms 



192 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the land grant was doubled, the government bonds were made a second 
mortgage instead o\' tlie first, and the companies were authorized to 
issue their own first mortgage bonds to the same amount as the gov- 
ernment bonds. Two-thirds of these were made available when evi- 
dence was presented to the secretary of the treasury that the neces- 
sary grading for the road bed had been done. The sections on which 
bonds were to be issued were also reduced from forty to twenty miles. 
These provisions applied equally to the Central Pacific road. The 
right of the road was also confirmed to lay track one Imndred and fifty 
miles east of the state boundary. 

These things effected a great change in the financial status of the 
company. Heretofore they liad borrowed money in currency in the 
east, and paid it out in gold in the west, at a heavy discount. Their 
first mortgage bonds now sold almost at par and the government 
bonds were available innnediately on completing the grading. Their 
credit was further aided by the operation of the road to Roseville, 
which brought in $103,557 from April 26 to December 31, 1864— from 
passengers $63,403; freight $38,667 and from express $1487. It gave 
them a standing at home that they had heretofore lacked. 

The road progressed slowly at first, but along toward the last, it 
progressed more rapidly, until, on the 10th day of May, 1869, the last 
spike was down, completing the railroad connection between the At- 
lantic and Pacific oceans. A large party gathered at Promontory Point 
to witness the ceremony. Telegraph wires had been connected with 
the large cities of the Union, so that the exact moment of driving the 
last spike could be made known to all at the same time. At the hour 
designated, Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific, and 
other officers, came forward. T. C. Durant, president of the Union 
Pacific, accompanied by General Dodge and others of the same 
company, met them at the end of the rail, where they paused, while 
Rev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, made a short prayer. The last tie, 
made of California laurel, with silver plates bearing suitable inscrip- 
tions, was put in place, and the last connecting rails were laid by 
persons from each company. The last spikes were made, one of gold 
from California, one of silver from Nevada, and one of gold and 
silver, from Arizona. President Stanford then took the hammer of 
solid silver, to the handle of which was attached the telegraph wires, 
by which, at the first tap on the head of the gold spike, at 12 M., the 
news of the event was flashed all over the American continent. 

Then a locomotive of the Central Pacific Railroad Company and 
another of the Union Pacific Railroad Company approached from 
each way, and rubbed their pilots together, while bottles of cham- 
pagne were passed from one to the other. 

During the building of tliis I'oad the track hiyiug force of the 
Central Pacific laid ten miles and two hundred feet in one day, com- 
pleting their work at seven ]). m. The date when this herculean task 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 193 

was performed was the 20th of April, 1869, when only fourteen miles 
o± track remained to be laid to connect with the Union Pacific. 

By mutual agreement between the roads, Ogden was made the 
terminus for each; by this agreement the Union Pacific sold fifty-three 
miles of its road to the Central Pacific, making the length of road 
owned by the Central Pacific proper seven hundred and forty-three 
miles and a half, from Sacramento to Ogden. August 22, 1870 the 
Western Pacific, San Joaquin Valley, California and Oregon, and' San 
Francisco, Oakland and Alameda Railroads, which had been built in 
the meantime, were all consolidated under the name of the Central 
Pacific Railroad. 

The death of Mrs. Clara W. Prentice, September 14, 1912, at the 
age of eighty-eight years, recalled the interesting fact that the first 
inception of the Central Pacific road took place at the home of Edwin 
D.^ Prentice, her husband, on K street, between Ninth and Tenth At 
this meeting there were present, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, T 
p. Judah, W. H. Stoddard and Mr. Prentice. Mr. Prentice took part 
in the early history of the road, but died in 1862. 

WESTEEN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY 

On December 13, 1862, the Western Pacific Railroad Company 
was incorporated for the purpose of constructing a railroad from San 
Jose, through the counties of Alameda and San Joaquin, to the city 
of Sacramento. Its capital stock was $5,400,000. The road was one 
hundred and thirty-seven and one-half miles in length, and made the 
whole length of the Central Pacific eight hundred and eighty-one 
miles. This road was not completed until 1870. The franchise is said 
to have passed into the hands of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany a year before the date of consolidation. The road did not enter 
Sacramento City, as it connected with the Sacramento Vallev Railroad 
at Brighton Junction. 

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is now the property of the 
Southern Pacific and forms a ]iart of the second overland system. 

The California and Oregon Railroad leaves the original Central 
Pacific Railroad at Roseville and runs thence through Redding. It 
was incorporated June 30, 1865, and consolidated with the Central 
Pacific August 22, 1870. 

The Calif ornia Pacific Railroad Company was for some time a 
very active competitor for the carrying trade of the state, and at 
one time it was thought that its owners intended to construct a second 
line of railroad to connect with the Union Pacific. It bought boats 
and franchises of the California Steam Navigation Company, and for 
some time really controlled the rates of freight between Sacramento 
and San Francisco. The company was incorporated Januarv 10, 1865, 
with a capital stock of $3,500,000, and work was begun in 'ValleJQ in 
1867. The road was finished to Washington, Yolo County, November 
11, 1868, and to Marysville in November, 1869. In June, 1869, the 



194 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

company purchased the Napa Valley Railroad, and the two roads were 
consolidated in December, 1869, with a capital of $12,000,000. 

In 1869 and 1870 the Central Pacific and California Pacific Rail- 
roads were at war with each other. The California Pacific wished to 
come into Sacramento, but the Central Pacific having its track on the 
levee, it was impossible for the California Pacific to cross the river 
and secure depot and switching facilities without crossing the Central 
Pacific track. Various attempts wore made by the California Pacific 
to lay the track and form the crossing of the two lines, but they were 
resisted and it looked for a time as if bloodshed would be the result. 
Finally, however, the crossing was accomplished and passengers were 
landed in Sacramento by the California Pacific, January 29, 1870. 
A regular ovation awaited the train. Guns were fired, the fire depart- 
ment turned out, and there was intense enthusiasm on all sides. 

Commissioners were appointed to assess the damage to the Cen- 
tral Pacific and reported in June, 1870, that the damages were as 
follows : for about six acres of land, $40,680 ; damages for crossing 
track, $70,000; for consequential damages, $250,000, making a total of 
$360,680. The report was thrown out, however, by the court, on sev- 
eral grounds, the principal one being that it was excessive. The war 
between the companies continued until August, 1871, during wliich 
time freight and passenger rates were very low, greatly curtailing the 
profits of both companies. The roads were consolidated in August 
of that year, since which time, with the exception of competition by 
river, the Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Company, its suc- 
cessor, liave had the monopoly of the carrying trade of Sacramento 
until the coming of the new overland road, the Western Pacific, in 
1910. , 

The California Pacific gave the Vallejo route to San Francisco. 
The trip was made to Vallejo by rail and thence to San Francisco by 
boat, making a shorter and popular route which for many years 
monopolized the majority of travel between Sacramento and San Fran- 
cisco, until the building of the route to Benicia and the construction 
of an immense ferry boat to carry the trains across Carquinez Straits 
to Port Costa, whence thev continued their journey to San Francisco 
along the shore of San Pablo and San Francisco Bays to Oakland 
Mole. The new road was opened December 28, 1879, and the Vallejo 
line as a route to San Francisco was abandoned, although passengers 
going that way are still transported across the bay to meet trains 
on the Benicia route. 

SACRAMENTO VALLEY EAILEOAD 

This was the first railroad constructed in California, boing organ- 
ized Auarust 4, 1852, when ten per cent of the stock was paid in, 
amounting to $5,000. The company reora-anized Nover^ber 9, 1854. 
and made immediate preparation for building the road. The first 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 195 

shovelful of dirt was thrown in February, 1855, the first tie came in 
May, and the first vessel load of material and rolling stock arrived 
from Boston in June. The first work done on a railroad car in Cali- 
fornia was done on this road, July 4, 1855. The first rail was laid 
August 9, 1855, and the first train was placed on the track August 14. 
The road had some little trouble with its finances, but its progress 
v^^as not materially delayed. 

On November 10, 1855, an excursion train was run to Patterson's, 
ten miles from Sacramento, the fare being one dollar for the round 
trip. By January 1, 1856, the road was completed to Alder creek, and 
on February 22 was finished to Folsom, the length of the road being 
twenty-two and a half miles. Its cost was $1,568,500. The capital 
stock was $800,000, of which $792,000 was issued. The road was a 
very profitable one from the time of its completion, its effect being 
to move the terminus of the freight and stage lines running to the 
northern mines from Sacramento to I^olsom and building up quite a 
town there. At one time twenty-one stage lines ran from Folsom to 
other places; all leaving shortly after the arrival of the train from 
Sacramento. 

The Central Pacific Company purchased the Sacramento Valley 
road in August, 1865, the purchase being made by George F. Bragg 
(on behalf of himself and others) of the entire stock held by L. L. 
Robinson and Pioche and Bayerque. The price paid for this stock was 
$800,000. Soon after coming into possession Bragg transferred the 
stock to the owners of the Central Pacific. The latter company had 
been forced to do this . in order to secure the whole of the Washoe 
trade, which at this time was very great, amounting to several million 
dollars per annum. The short line of the Sacramento Valley road 
alone, declared an annual profit of nearly half a million dollars the 
year previous to its purchase, most of which came from the freight 
going to Washoe and other mining districts. 

In the spring of 1857 a company was formed in Marysville to build 
a railroad from that city to the terminus of the Sacramento Valley 
Railroad at Folsom. Col. C. L. Wilson, who was one of the con- 
tractors for the Sacramento Valley road, was sent east to procure 
funds for building the road. He effected this and the construction 
co-mmenced immediately. The road, however, was never finished to 
Marysville by the original company. By 1861 the track had been laid 
as far as Lincoln. The original name, the California Central Railroad, 
was subsequently changed to the California and Oregon Division of 
the Southern Pacific. Shortly after tlie completion of the Central 
Pacific Railroad to Roseville, that company ])urchased the California 
Central Railroad; that portion of the road between Roseville and 
Folsom was abandoned and the bridge across the American river at 
Folsom was condemned and sold in 1868. 

During 1862 the Sacramento, Placer and Nevada Railroad was 



196 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

built from Folsom to a point near Newcastle. The road had been 
organized in 1859 to build an extension of the Sacramento Valley 
Railroad from Folsom via Auburn to Grass Valley and Nevada City. 
The public-spirited citizens of Auburn furnished funds which enabled 
it to be constructed from Folsom to Wildwood Station, a distance of 
about eleven miles, and it sto])ped there. The Robinson Brothers, who 
had built the Sacramento Valley Railroad, and were largely interested 
in it, were the promoters of this road, which cost for the eleven miles 
$278,000. It proved a losing venture, and was sold under foreclosure 
in the spring of 1864 ; Robinson Brothers purchased some of the stock, 
intending to use it as part of their road. When the purchasers under 
foreclosure attempted to take up the rails and ties, they were bitterly 
fought by the Central Pacific and the Auburn people who had con- 
tributed to build it. The courts were appealed to and resort was also 
made to force. On account of the violence engendered, the militia was 
called out, but the Robinsons were successful, and the material was 
removed and relaid on the road from Folsom to Latrobe. About a 
hundred workmen who removed the rails, including Robinson, were 
arrested for contempt of court, which was a poor satisfaction for the 
Auburn people who subscribed toward building the road. 

The Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad, commencing at 
Folsom, was constructed as far as Latrobe in 1864 and 1865, and hung 
fire there for several years, finally being carried on to Shingle Springs. 
In 1887-88 the work was taken up again and the road completed to 
Placerville, under the name of the Shingle Springs and Placerville 
Railroad. The road as far as Latrobe was laid with the ties and rails 
taken up from the Auburn road. It was through a rich country, where 
the principal industry in former days was mining and stock-raising, 
but at the present day the capability of the foothills for producing fine 
fruit and grapes has been proved, and El Dorado county is fast be- 
coming the home of the orchardist and vineyardist. 

The Amador branch, running from Gait in this county, to lone in 
Amador county, a distance of twenty-seven miles, was built by the 
Central Pacific Company in 1876, in order to gain access to some 
mines of lignite coal near lone. 

The Freeport road originated in a plan to divert the northern and 
eastern trade from Sacramento by building wharves, etc., at Freeport 
and a railroad from there to some point on the Sacramento A^alley 
road. The road bed was graded for a distance of nine miles from 
Freeport, and the track laid. It was intended as part of the Sacra- 
mento Valley road, and was purchased with it by the Central Pacific 
and the track taken up. 

In the ensuing quarter of a century a number of roads were in- 
corporated, some part of whose lines would touch the county of Sacra- 
mento, but none of them proceeded to construction. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 197 

111 1909 and 1910 the Southern Pacific Company constructed the 
Sacramento Southern Railroad, running down the Sacramento river 
with the intention of tapping the rich fruit orchards and other lands 
between the city of Sacramento and Isleton and the country lying back 
of them, and developing a country rich in freight possibilities and 
also opening a short route to San Francisco. The work of' con- 
struction is still going on, trains being run daily as far as Wal- 
nut Grove. The road will also develop the river section of Yolo 
county. It was incorporated July 7, 1903, and will run down the river 
to Antioch, to connect with the San Pablo railroad, which was con- 
sohdated with the Northern and afterwards taken over bv the 
Southern Pacific. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad Companv of California was incor- 
porated m San Francisco, December 2, 1865, with a capital of 
$50,000,000. The Southern Pacific Branch Company was incorporated 
m Sacramento December 23, 1870, with a capital of $20,000 000 and 
was consolidated with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company of Cali- 
fornia August 19, 1873. 

The Northern Railway Company was incorporated in Sacramento 
July 19, 1871. On May 15, 1888, it acquired by consolidation the Win- 
ters and Ukiah, the Woodland, Capay and Clear Lake, the West Side 
and Mendocino, the Vaca Valley and Clear Lake, the San Joaquin and 
Sierra Nevada, the Sacramento and Placerville, the Shingle Springs 
and Placerville, the Amador Branch and the Berkelev Branch rail- 
roads. The stock was increased to $26,175,000. April 12, 1898 it 
was consolidated with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company' of 
California. 

The San Pablo and Tulare Railroad Companv was incorporated 
m Sacramento July 19, 1871, and was consolidated with the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company of California May 4, 1888. 

The Southern Pacific Company of Kentuckv was incorporated in 
that state March 7, 1884. It immediatelv took over on a lease for 
nmety-nme years all the roads mentioned, as an operating companv as 
well as systems in other parts of the state. 

On January 1, 1903, the Southern Pacific Companv instituted a 
system of ]->ensions for its superannuated emploves who had been in 
its service continuously for twenty-five years or more. The emploves 
had previously had a system of insurance among themselves, to which 
many belonged, and the various brotherhoods of emploves also have a 
life insurance feature in their orders. Under the pension svstem of 
the company it has paid to the emploves retired on account of ao-e up 
to June 30, 1912, the sum of $1,049,250, and on that date there were 
four hundred and ninety-one pensioners on the list. 

SOUTHERN PACIFIC SHOPS 

Many old residents who look on the railroad shops of the Southern 



13 



198 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Pacific Conipauy today can recall the memory of a far different aspect 
which the site presented in 1860 and the earlier years of the city's 
histo]-y. As far l)ack as the early '70s, the Central Pacific Railroad 
Company had made oxertures to the city to the effect that if the city 
wonld deed the site of Sutter's lake to it, the company wonld fill it in 
as a site for a depot, shops, and for other uses. With prophetic vision 
the founders of the first great overland railroad saw that its growth 
wonld be rapid and snre, and that before long it would need a large 
space for its shops, de]iot and yards. Sacramento was the birthplace 
of the road. Its principal offices were here. What more logical place 
could be found for the center of its activities on this coast 1 San 
Francisco had spurned its opportunity and had fought in every way 
in its power the sturdy group of men who had given their energies and 
their fortunes to build the way across the continent. Why should they 
place their shops and spend their monej^ in a hostile city? And be- 
sides, with the shops a hundred miles inland, the distance to haul dis- 
abled cars and engines for repairs would be just that much less. There 
were other good reasons besides, so the shops arose in this city. 

But in the early days, Sutter slough, or China slough, as it be- 
came later known, when Chinatown was located on its banks, covered 
a much greater area than it did at the close of the last century. 
Practically, it extended from the levee of the American river to I 
street, and from Sixth street to the American river, at its old mouth. 
It was not an ornamental place, and when the project of issuing fifty 
year bonds for the purpose of filling it up was broached, the citizens 
who looked at its area and figured on filling in a depression that was 
forty feet deep in places felt the cold shivers travel along their spines. 
Then the railroad company stepped to the front with the proposition 
to fill it, if the site was deeded to it. The offer was accepted tenta- 
tively, and the company began its work, but it was not fully completed 
until 1908, a contract having been definitely made between the city and 
the Southern Pacific in 1904, by Avhich the city reserved a certain site 
on the north side of I street for a park. 

The first beginning was in 1863, when a building, 16x24 feet, was 
erected by the Central Pacific Railroad Company at the foot of T 
street for the storage of tools and of sections of locomotives and cars 
which had been sent around the Horn for the use of the infant rail- 
road. The locomotives were set up just outside of this shop. In the 
same year a rough building, 20x150 feet, was constructed at Sixth and 
H streets and was used as a shop for overhauling cars that needed 
repairs. Another shop was erected soon after, on the curve leadina; to 
T street, and was used for overhauling the locomotives. It was 20x60 
feet, and at one end of it was a single forge that constituted the entire 
blacksmithing department of the company. In 1864, the car shop prov- 
ing too narrow for convenience, another one, 34x130 feet, was erected 
at Sixth and E streets, and just west of it a larger shop was erected 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 199 

which would hold three locomotives for repairs, and the blacksmithiim- 
facilities were also increased. Soon the first boiler shop of the coni^ 
pany, 40x50 feet, was erected, but this in turn became too small, and 
was turned over to the foreman of the lumberyard as a dry-house for 
seasoning timber. 

Heretofore, all the rolling stock had been brought from the east, 
but as the road grew the company concluded to build its own cars, and 
in 1866 the first car construction shop was erected, 68x250 feet, and 
business increased so rapidly that for many months it turned out a 
dozen cars a day. Still the work expanded, immense amounts of lum- 
ber being used, and the fine woodwork for the cars demanded atten- 
tion. So in 1868, the planing mill, cabinet shop, the engine room and 
the blacksmith shop were erected, also the roundhouse, with a capacity 
of twenty-nine engines, was constructed. In the same year the larger 
machine shop, 160x200 feet, was begun, and subsequently 315 feet were 
added. In an L, the offices of the motive-power and machinery depart- 
ment were located. In the same year the car shop was extended 230 
feet, and a new blacksmith shop was constructed. As scrap iron ac- 
cumulated, the experiment of setting up a set of rolls in the black- 
smith shop was tried, and later, in 1881, the present rolling mill was 
erected. The paint shop, having five L's, was built in 1872, but soon 
proved too small, so in 1888 an addition to hold eight coaches was 
built. The transfer table was also constructed in 1872, and in 1873 the 
present car shop No. 5 was erected. In 1889 the present boiler shop 
was constructed. Other buildings followed, of substantial brick and 
iron, under the supervision of the master car builder, Benjamin Welch, 
and the veterans of the shops call the plant ''the city built by Uncle 
Ben." From a small beginning the plant has increased until it is 
the finest equipped railroad shop plant west of Chicago. Up to 1896 
there had been expended for labor alone in the shops over $31,000,000. 
this estimate being a very conservative one, while in the same time 
over $50,000,000 was expended for material, and in the same time 7131 
cars had been built in the shops, besides seventy-three engines. 

As stated, the plant covers more than twenty acres, and is being 
enlarged every year. It gives employment to from 2500 to 3000 men, 
in busy seasons often exceeding the latter numbei'. At present the 
principal shops are: the machine shop, car repair shop, blacksmith 
shop, boiler shop, spring shop, brass foundry, carpenter sho]-), round- 
house, copper shop, locomotive shop, hammer shop, bolt sliop, rolling 
mill, upholstery shop and car machine shop, pianino- mill, cabinet shop, 
car shop No. 5, paint shop, wheel foundry, general foundry, pipe shop, 
shear shop, pattern shop, and a number of smaller shops. These are 
all equipped with the finest machinery, much of it of the latest pattern. 
One who is interested in machinery could spend several davs profitably 
in inspecting the wonders to be seen there. In each of the shops the 



200 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

method of carrying on the work of construction is interesting to those 
not familiar with it. 

ELECTRIC ROADS 

Sacramento is connected with other cities of the valley at present 
by three electric roads — the Northern Electric, the Central California 
Traction and the Sacramento and Woodland electric roads, and the 
Vallejo and Northern, and Sacramento and Sierra are in course of 
construction, with one, the Sacramento and Eastern, to run to Folsom 
by way of Fair Oaks, and another, the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern, 
to run to San Francisco, incorporated and will probably be under way 
in a year or two. The West Side railroad is also incorporated, as 
well as one to run to Folsom on the south side of the American River. 

Of these the Northern Electric Railway is the oldest, having been 
conceived by the late Henry A. Butters, who was impressed with the 
need of transportation facilities between Chico and Oroville. He 
associated with himself Messrs. Louis Sloss, N. D, Rideout, J. Downey 
Harvey and E. R. Lilienthal, and the Northern Electric Company 
was formed, with a capitalization of $3,000,000 which was later in- 
creased to $6,000,000. The initial action was the acquisition of the 
street railroads of Chico, and the road from Chico to Oroville was 
completed and the first train run over it April 25, 1906. The advisa- 
bility of extending the road to Marysville being apparent, W. P. Ham- 
mond and E. J. de Sabla joined in the undertaking, Mr. Rideout 
retiring. On January 31, 1907, the road to Marysville was completed, 
and the line was completed and the first train to Sacramento was 
run on August 1st of that year. On December 2, 1907, the Northern 
Electric Railway Company was organized, with an authorized bond 
issue of $25,000,000, taking over the original company. 

The Sacramento Terminal Company was formed in 1908, for the 
purpose of building a belt line in this city from Eighteenth and C 
streets to the water front, and was immediately leased by the North- 
ern Electric. Later the Northern Electric entered into an arrange- 
ment with the Vallejo Northern for full exchange of traffic, and the 
joint construction of a bridge over tlie Sacramento river at M street, 
the counties of Yolo and Sacramento bearing a proportion of the 
cost. Later the Sacramento and Woodland Railroad Company joined 
with them, and that road being finished, the first train was run over 
it July 4, 1912. The Vallejo Northern is rapidly pushing its construc- 
tion along and expects to have the road in operation by the beginning 
of 1913. 

The Central California Traction is operating from Sacramento to 
Stockton, and is also working under a traffic agreement with the Santa 
Fe railroad, which will proliably absorb it in the course of time, thus 
adding another transcontinental line to those running through this 
city and as it is announced that the Great Northern has a traffic agree- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 20] 

ment with the Northern Electric, there is a strong probability that in 
a few years Sacramento will have fonr transcontinental lines carrying 
produce to the east. 

CHAPTER XXV 
NAVIGATION 

At the door of Sacramento flows a magnificent river of the same 
name, and which, in fact, gave its name to the city in its early his- 
tory. Its influence on both city and connty has been a most important 
factor in their development. For the city it was, prior to the con- 
struction of the railroad lines, the sole medium of transportation that 
provided the interior with supplies for the settler and miner, and as 
an outlet for conveying the products of the interior to the bay city 
and the east and foreign countries. Even when the railroads came, 
they served as an outlet for only a small portion of the territory 
drained by and contiguous to the river, and millions of bushels of 
grain, hay and other products continued to be transported by the 
river route, and even today an immense amount of traffic and pro- 
ducts are carried on the steamers and barges, as well as by sailing 
vessels. The amount of fruit carried to this city and the bay city 
has for many years been enormous. 

Any section of a country which has a waterway connecting it with 
tidewater is fortunate indeed, and no section could be more fortunate 
in that respect than the Sacramento valley. The Sacramento river 
flows through the whole extent of the valley, from Shasta county on 
the north, to Solano county on the south, a distance of about three 
hundred miles. The twelve counties embraced in this area have a 
combined acreage of 11,456,528 acres, and an aggregate population of 
about a quarter of a million, the area of the valley being seventeen 
thousand, eight hundred and fifteen square miles. The distance to 
Red Bluff, the head of navigation, is two hundred and one miles from 
Sacramento, and to the mouth of the river, near Collinsville, is about 
sixty-five miles. The debris from hydraulic mining has filled the 
river — which in the early days afforded plenty of water for ocean 
going steamers and vessels to come to this city — so that navigation 
became difficult for vessels drawing over about four feet of water, 
during the late summer and fall, but the government, by the use of 
a snagboat and the erection of wing dams, has deepened the channel 
so that even the large steamers put on by the Southern Pacific Com- 
pany during the past year or two very rarely have trouble, and 
there is a prospect that in the near future, the channel will be deep- 
ened by the government and state to nine feet, as far as this city. 

Undoubtedly the Russians were the first to navigate the river, as 
they had posts at Fort Ross and Bodega, and were engaged in trade 
in tallow, hides, furs, etc., and were in this region prior to 1840, trading 



202 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

iu the interior up to the time they sold out to Captain Sutter. At 
that time, also, there was in this section an agenc)^ of the Hudson 
Bay Company. In 1841 the Russians sold out to Sutter, including 
a small schooner of forty tons burden. The first record we have of 
its appearance up the river was in August of that year, although 
it ]iad probably made voyages on the river prior to that. After the 
purchase, by the terms of which Sutter was to furnish a certain 
amount of grain each year to the Russian settlements, this schooner, 
manned by Sutter's Indians, made regular trips. She was taken down 
to San Francisco in 1848, to carry thither the news of the discovery 
of gold, and continued to be the largest schooner on the river until 
the trade to the mines began. At that time the voyage from New 
Helvetia, as this city was then called, to San Francisco and back 
took from two to four weeks. 

In the spring of 1848 the rush for gold set in, and the San Fran- 
cisco Star of May 20th sarcastically alluded to it as follows: "Fleet 
of launches left this place on Sunday and Monday last, bound 'up the 
Sacramento river,' closely stowed with human beings led by the love 
of filthy lucre to the perennial-yielding gold mines of the north, where 
'a man can find upward of two ounces a day' and 'two thousand men 
can find their hands full'— of hard work." May 27th, the Star said: 
"Launches have plied without cessation between this place and New 
Helvetia, during this time (from the discovery of gold). The Sacra- 
mento, a first-class craft, left here Thursday last, thronged with pas- 
sengers for the gold mines — a motley assemblage, composed of law- 
yers, merchants, grocers, carpenters, cartmen and cooks, all possessed 
with the desire of becoming suddenly rich." At the same time it 
stated that over three hundred men were engaged in washing out 
gold, and ])arties from all over the country were constantly arriving. 
On account of the departure of her principal citizens for the gold 
mines, San Francisco soon assumed a desolate appearance. A quar- 
ter of a million in gold was taken to that city in the first eight weeks, 
and during the second eight weeks, $600,000 worth. By September 
six thousand persons were at the diggings, and the editor of the Star 
exclaimed: "An export at last, and it is gold." 

In April, 1849, the schooner Providence, one hundred tons, Hinck- 
ley, master, came up the river, and the Eliodora, purchased by Sam 
Brannan and loaded with goods, started up the river. The Joven 
Guipuzcoana, a Peruvian vessel, and other large sailing vessels of 
first class dimensions followed. At that time there were about a 
dozen stores and tenements here. On the success of the Joven Guip- 
uzcoana were founded the plans of the first steam navigation com- 
panies, and the McKim and the Senator soon followed. In May the 
crowning success with sailing vessels came with the trip of the bark 
Whiton, Gelston, master, in seventy-two hours from San Francisco. 
She was of two hundred forty-one tons burden, and came with her 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 203 

royal yards crossed, without any detention, although she drew nine 
and one-half feet of water. 

The first steamboat that plowed the waters of either the bay or 
river was one that arrived in San Francisco, October 14, 1847, owned 
by Captain Leidesdorff and packed on a Eussian bark from Sitka. 
Leidesdorff had for seven years carried on trade with the Eussians, 
and hearing that they had a small steamboat, he sent up and pur- 
chased it for his hide and tallow commerce on the small streams run- 
ning into the bay. It did not exceed forty tons burden, was put 
together under the lee of Yerba Buena island, and was named the 
Little Sitka. She was cranky, and the weight of a person on her 
guards would throw one wheel out of order. Her second trip for 
business was to Sacramento, where she remained for a month, her 
proprietor insisting in answer to the jibes launched at him, that he 
would soon make the smoke fly on the bay, and hand the name of his 
first steamboat "down to dexterity" as he pronounced it. She was 
swamped by a norther in San Francisco bay in February, 1848, was 
raised and the engine taken out, and was transformed into a sailing 
vessel. A steamer brought around the Horn and put together at 
Benicia, made a trip to this city August 17, 1849, and another one 
from Philadelphia l)egan on August 25th, to ply on the river, accom- 
modating about thirty passengers and steaming "about seven knots 
an hour." 

About the first boat advertising for regular runs on the river 
appears to have been the Sacramento, in September, 1849, commanded 
by Captain Van Pelt, and carr>-ing one hundred passengers, besides 
freight. She was built opposite the city, where Washington now 
stands, and Van Pelt made regular trips down to "New York of the 
Pacific," where passengers and freight had to be transferred. About 
the same time a little steam dredge, brought out by the Yerba com- 
pany, was set up on a scow, and started on a trip up the Feather 
river, carrying a number of bricks, at one dollar apiece, for freight, 
and lumber at $150 per thousand. Two months after her arrival she 
was sold for $40,000 at auction. The next boat was the Mint, also 
a .small one, and really the first boat to make successful regular trips 
with passengers and freight to and from San Francisco, beginning 
in October, 1849. 

A little steamer named the "Washington was the first to ascend 
the river as far as Vernon, at the mouth of the Feather river, and 
she afterwards made regular trips to that point. In 1850 the Aetna, 
another small steamer, ascended the American as far as Norristown. 
the first time a steamer had ever reached that point. Mav 8, 1850, 
the Jack Hays reached Eedding, at the headwaters of the Sacra- 
mento river, within forty-five miles of the Trinity Diggings. The 
little steamboat Linde was among the first to take a place between 
here and Yuba City, in the fall of 1849. 



204 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The steamer New World was built in New York in the fall of 1849 
and spring of 1850, purposely for a trip to California. She was 320 
feet long, and of 530 tons burden. AVilliam H. Brown was the pro- 
prietor, and as he became financially embarrassed, he was forced to 
take the sheriff into silent partnership. The latter placed deputies 
on board to remain during the launching, and to make things sure, 
went on board himself, being unknown to Ed Wakeman, the captain. 
The vessel was held in the port of New York, the launching being 
ostensibly for the purpose of getting the boat into the water only, 
but steam was raised previous to the launching. When the sheriff 
asked what it meant, he was informed that it was "to wear the rust 
off the bearings and see that the engine worked well." But after 
steaming around the harbor for awhile, the captain put to sea, against 
the protests of the sheriff". As the captain and crew were more 
numerous than the sheriff and his deputies, they put the latter on 
shore in rowboats, and came to California around Cape Horn, making 
a fine voyage, and arriving in San Francisco July 11, 1850. The 
New World and the Senator made alternate trips to Sacramento for 
a long time. Afterwards, the New World was employed in the coast- 
ing and ocean trade and later was overhauled and put into service 
at San Francisco as a magnificent ferryboat, and used as such for 
many years. The Senator was an ocean steamer and arrived in Sac- 
ramento November 6, 1849, with a load of passengers and freight. 
She was 755 tons measurement, and drew nine and a half feet of 
water. The steamer Miner brought passengers and freight in De- 
cember, and afterwards continued her trips to Mecklenberg, now 
Marysville, on the Feather river. 

In 1850 there were twenty-eight steamers in operation on the 
Sacramento and Feather rivers, and in the same year twenty-three 
barks, nineteen brigs and twenty-one brigantines arrived in Sacra- 
mento. 

The California Steam Navigation Company was organized in 
March, 1854, with a capital stock of $2,500,000, and began operations 
on the Sacramento and San .Joaquin rivers, with a large number of 
steamboats. In 1850 the company launched the Chrysopolis, 1625 tons 
measurement, and the largest steamer ever run on the river until the 
Seminole and Navajo were placed on the route in 1911. 

In 1867 the steamers operating on the river and its tributaries 
were as follows: eleven steamers to San Francisco; three steamers 
to Knight's Landing; two steamers to Red Bluff; one steamer to 
Chico ; one steamer to Colusa ; one steamer to Princeton ; one steamer 
to Caclic Creek, and three steamers to Marysville. In 1867 one hun- 
dred and three steamers arrived in Sacramento. 

In 1869, when the Central Pacific railroad was completed, that 
company bought out the California Steam Navigation Company, and 
for years tlie Southern Pacific Company has been operating the line 



HISTOKY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 205 

of steamers. Tlie mail boats leaving for San Francisco in the morn- 
ing are tlie Apaclie and Modoc. During the year 1911 two magnifi- 
cent floating palaces, the Navajo and the Seminole, were put on 
leaving this city in the evening, ' 

The Sacramento Wood Company was organized May 1, 1869, with 
the late Captain Thomas Dwyer as president, and the late Captain 
J. H. Roberts as secretary. The company put on the steamer San 
Joaquin No. 1, and several barges, and engaged in general freight 
business between San Francisco and Butte City, one hundred and 
eighteen miles above Sacramento. During the 70s the company added 
three steamers to its fleet— the Varuna, San Joaquin No. 2, and San 
Joaquin No. 3, and extended its route to Mcintosh's Landing, one 
hundred and sixty miles above this city. It also operated seven 
barges and had several traction engines of the Eoberts-Doane pat- 
tern, running from the foothills on both sides of the river, carrying 
gram from these distant points to the river landings for shipment on 
the company's barges to tidewater. Each engine drew a train of from 
fifteen to twenty wagons over the county roads, the capacity of each 
wagon being about six tons. 

The Sacramento Transportation Company was organized in 1882, 
succeeding the Sacramento Wood Company, and under the same man- 
agement. It is now operating seven steamers and twenty-three barges 
m the grain-carrying trade between points on the Upper Sacramento 
river and Port Costa and San Francisco, and also in freighting at the 
various landings along the river as far as Eed Bluff. In the low 
water season the company's steamers and barges are onlv able to 
ascend as far as Chico Landing, one hundred and fortv-eight miles 
above Sacramento. 

In 1874 the firm of Miller and Eaton placed two steamers and 
several barges on the Upper Sacramento in the grain-carrying busi- 
ness.^ In the same year Messrs. D. E. Knight, N. D. Eideout and 
W. T. Ellis, prominent Marysville citizens, established a weekh' 
freighting service between Marysville and San Francisco. Thev had 
two steamers and several barges in service, and continued in the 
business till 1889. 

In 1875 the California Transportation Companv was organized, 
with Capt. A. Nelson as president and Capt. N. Anderson as secre- 
tary. The two captains, as far back as 1856, had schooners on the 
river, and in 1866 began to operate the steamer Eeform. On its 
organization the California Transportation Company put several 
steamers in service between Clarksburg and San Francisco and also 
on the lower tributaries, engaging heavily in the transportation of 
fruits, vegetables and perishable products generally, which the river 
lands below the city produce so bountifully. They also, in October, 
1907, established a freight and passenger service between Sacramento 
and San Francisco. The Chin-Du-Wan and S. M. Whipple were also 



206 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

steamers in the river service in the '70s, and the calliope of the former 
woke the echoes along the river for a number of years. 

In 1901 the Farmers' Transportation Company was organized and 
one steamer was put on the run between Colusa and San Francisco. 
The Lauritzen brothers' Weitchpec; the Oriole and Sea Gull, L. M. 
Brainard & Son, owners; the Sentinel, H. W. Crosby, owner; the 
Gretta A. and Albatross, Liuggi Bros., owners; the San Jose, Stand- 
ard Oil Company, owner; the Neponset, No. 2, a trading boat, Ryan 
& Cleary, owners, and a number of schooners, are operating on the 
river, in addition to the boats of the organizations mentioned. 

xVn immense amount of produce of all kinds is transported on 
the river. Indeed, the statement has been made that the Sacramento 
river carries as great an annual tonnage as tlie Mississippi. It is 
an inspiring sight to see a steamer towing barges loaded with eight 
hundred tons of wheat each, when the stage of the river will permit 
loading to that amount, and gives the beholder a practical illustration 
of the bounteous production of the valley uplands. 

But the tale of the river is not all one of prosperity. Steamboat 
explosions and other accidents were frecjuent in the earl.y days, and 
some of them were very disastrous. The machinery was often defect- 
ive in those days. During the first few years subsequent to the dis- 
covery of gold and the introduction of steam vessels into the state, 
it was estimated that on San Francisco bay and its tributaries alone, 
there were two or three explosions a week. Indeed, they became so 
common that the newspapers ceased to give details unless they were 
peculiarly disastrous. 

The first explosion of which there is any account was that of the 
steamer Fawn, which occurred August 18, 1850, and the Sagamore 
suffered similarly in the following October, the Major Tompkins fol- 
lowing, January 23, 1851. During the early part of 1853, the Jack 
Hays was overhauled and repaired expressly for the traffic between 
Sacramento and Marysville, in opposition to the Governor Dana, 
and was renamed R. K. Page. On her first trip up the river, March 
23rd, she came alongside of her opponent and the crew and passengers 
began cheering, each one hurrahing for his boat. They began racing, 
and the engineer of the Page tossed in a barrel of oil. As they were 
passing Nicolaus her boiler exploded, being driven forward. Daniel 
Moore, the former captain of the boat, Thomas Kir bey and Lieut. 
Harry Moore were standing on the hurricane deck, and were never 
seen afterward. 

The Jennie Lind, while on a trip to Alviso, on San Francisco bay. 
suffered a terrible explosion April 11, 1853. Between forty and fifty 
of her passengers, most of whom were at dinner at the time, were 
killed or badly scalded. 

On October 18, 1853, the boiler of the American Eagle exploded, 
on the San Joaquin river, at a point known as the Three Slou,2:hs, 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 207 

twenty-five miles below Stockton, rending the vessel to pieces killing 
one of the crew and three passengers. There were fifty-three pas 
sengers on board, and Hardiston was the captain. On the afternoon 
of the same day the steamer Stockton, while passing New York land- 
ing, burst its boiler, killing one person and scalding-height more One 
of the latter, Capt. J. B. Sharp, died the next day. 

The Sanger's boiler exploded on January 8, 1854, on San Fran- 
cisco bay, killing three and scalding severely five more, and wreckino- 
the vessel. On the 10th of the same month a boiler of the Helen 
Hensley exploded at San Francisco, just as she was going to leave 
for Benicia, and killed two men. One passenger was thrown upon a 
bed, and, with it, clear over upon the wharf. He picked himself up 
and coolly remarked that he guessed he would not go to Benicia that 
day. The Secretary, Capt. E. W. Travis, exploded April 15, 1854 
when between the islands in San Francisco bay known as the '' Broth- 
ers and Sisters." She was racing with the Nevada, and the engineer 
was seen to lay an oar across the lever of the safety valve, and that 
was bending up just before the explosion took place. Of sixtv per- 
sons on board, sixteen were killed and thirtv-one wounded." The 
Nevada picked up the survivors. 

The Pearl, of the Combination Line, burst a boiler January 27, 
1855, just below the mouth of the American river, on her way from' 
Marysville, and while racing the Enterprise of the Citizens' Line 
There were ninety-three persons on board, and fiftv-six were killed 
including the captain, E. T. Davis. Most of the passengers were on 
the front part of the boat, as she approached the landing. James 
Eobmson would have been drowned had not a large bloodhound 
jumped into the water and saved him. Of four ladies on board, none 
were_ injured, but the vessel was a total wreck. The legislature, which 
was in session, adjourned in consequence of the terrible event' 

On February 5, 1856, the Belle, running between San Francisco 
and Marysville, exploded her boiler, when about nine miles above this 
city. The captain, Charles H. Houston, was killed, as well as between 
twenty and thirty others. The steamer General Eedington, which 
was coming down the river, picked up the survivors, and the vessel 
sunk almost immediately. 

On August 25, 1861, the boiler of the J. A. McClelland, Capt. C 
Mills commanding, exploded when about six miles bv water and two 
by land from Knight's Landing. There were about thirtv persons on 
board, and fifteen were killed outright, several fatally " injured and 
all the rest but one were more or less injured. The whole forward 
portion of the deck was torn away, and a large piece of the boiler 
was rolled up like a piece of paper and thrown across the river, a 
distance of two hundred or three hundred yards. Sheldon S. Bald- 
win, the pilot, was blown into the air with the pilothouse and several 
companions. He averred that he must have gone up at least two 



208 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

liimdred feet, and came strai.s^ht down into the place where the boiler 
had l)een, "not much hnrt." The Imll, which sank immediately after- 
wards, was raised, the vessel rebnilt, christened the Eainbow, ran for 
a time as a strong? opposition boat, and was finally bought off by the 
Steam Navigation Company. 

The Washoe exploded a boiler September 5, 1864, thirty-five 
miles beloAV this city, and ten miles above Eio Vista, with about one 
hnndred seventy-five |)eo]ile on ])oard, killing about half of them and 
severely injuring more than half of the remainder. Capt. Albert 
Foster, with the steamer Antelope, ]ncked np the survivors and 
hastened toward Sacramento, but ran aground on a bar opposite E 
street and was delayed there for some hours. Captain Foster tolled 
the bell to notify the citizens of the disaster, and the levee was crowded 
with anxious people, the fire bells having been tolled in response to 
his notice. 

The Yosemite, Capt. Poole, suffered an explosion of a boiler 
on the first revolution of her wheels, as she left the wharf at Eio 
Vista October 12, 1865, with about one hundred fifty ]:>eople on board. 
The cause of the explosion was defective iron, all the best iron having 
been kept in the east during the war for military purposes. About 
one hundred lives were lost, thirty- two of them being Chinamen. 
The bulkheads were too strong to permit the steam to expand into 
the hull, so it pushed upward, making a great vacancy, into which 
the people fell. Captain Fourat, who recently retired from the river, 
pensioned by the Southern Pacific Company, was the pilot on that 
occasion, and the steamer Chrysopolis, upward bound, brought the 
dead and wounded to this city. 

The Julia exploded in San Francisco bay, nearly opposite Al- 
catraz, in September, 1866, while rounding it on her return trip to 
Stockton.^ Thirteen were killed, among them the engineer, Mr. Long. 
Captain Fourat, lieing near with a boat, picked up some of the dead. 
There have been a number of minor accidents, but conditions have 
so improved in these days that serious ones seldom happen. 

A river tragedy which occurred more than fifty years ago, bring- 
ing death to thirty, the evidence of which the waters of the Sacra- 
mento river have covered for years, was brought to mind again when 
the buckets of the dredger Vulcan, working at the Monument ranch 
eight miles up the -river brought u]^ the boxing of the shaft of the 
steamboat Belle which was blown to pieces at that spot in the late 
'50s l)y an explosion of the boilers. 

Coated with quartz, rusted in places but still in fair shape con- 
sidering its long immersion, the boxing is one of the few relics which 
have ever been discovered from the remains of the Belle. 

The steamer Belle, Capt. Charles H. Houston in command, left 
this city February 5, 1856, for Eed Blutf with sixty souls aboard. 
When op]iosite the present Monument ranch the boilers exploded with- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 209 

out auy warning. The Belle was shattered from stem to stern and all 
but forty feet of the rear end of the boat sank immediately. The pas- 
sengers, men, women and children, were blown into the water, many 
frightfully mangled. Thirty-two were saved out of the total sail- 
ing list. 

There was some lively opposition in the river traffic in the early 
days, it proving so profitable to the owners of vessels and steamers. 
The steam propeller McKim, of 326 tons, came to Sacramento in Sep- 
tember, 1849. On her arrival the citizens turned out as for a holiday, 
and joined in an ovation to the first ''big" steamer that had arrived 
here. One of her trips, under Captain Macy, brought the owners 
$16,000. The Senator, of 755 tons, arrived in this city on November 
6 of the same year. The fare at that time was only $30; berths $5, 
and meals for cabin passengers, $1.50. When trade opened in the 
winter, lively opposition began, one set of agents on the wharf ex- 
tolling the merits of the McKim above all the other boats, and 
another saying that the McKim was a ''scow" and a "junk," and 
that the Senator and New World were the only boats for speed and 
safety. The competition benefited travelers by reducing the fare, and 
many other steamers coming on the river, in 1851 the fare had been 
reduced to one dollar. 

On September 18, 1851, the steamer Comanche was launched 
on the Yolo side of the river. In 1855 the Defender came up and found 
no place for her to land; she finally moored to the hulk Dimon. A 
few minutes afterwards the steamer Pike, also tied to the Damon, 
swung out into the river, and the Defender took her place. It was 
found that the gangway had been boarded up, but the deckhands soon 
opened a way with their axes, and the passengers and freight were 
discharged. When the time for the departure of the Defender ap- 
proached, a band began to discourse music, to entice passengers on 
board. A few minutes afterward a small steamer in the stream 
began to sound her shrill whistle, drowning the music of the band, 
stopping when it stopped and beginning again when it began to play. 
The people on shore cursed the steamer, but soon a man and two boys 
armed with Chinese gongs essayed to rival the band and the steamer. 
The noise became so strenuous that Judge Morrison was obliged to 
adjourn his court. Such scenes were not uncommon in the early days 
of competition. 

YOLO BRIDGES 

Although a bridge over the Sacramento river is spoken of prior 
to 1857, there is no record extant that we have found indicating when 
or by whom it was built, or whether or not there was more than one. 

By an act approved by the California legislature, however, April 
3, 1857, the Sacramento and Yolo Bridge Company was incorporated, 
consisting of Johnson Price, V. E. Geiger and George Years, to erect 



210 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

a toll bridge across the Sacramento river from Broad street, in Sac- 
ramento county, to Ann street, in Washington, Yolo county. The 
drawbridge was not to be less than sixty feet wide for the passage 
of vessels, and the bridge must be completed within two years. At 
12 M., September 18, 1857, the first pile for the bridge was driven. 
The bridge was eight hundred feet long, was built on five piers, sup- 
ported by six hundred piles, at least twelve inches in diameter and 
driven thirty feet to the solid river l)ed. It was of Leonard's patent, 
four spans of one hundred thirty-five feet each, the draw when opened 
having two spaces of seventy-five feet each. It was completed and 
opened for traffic June 27, 1858, and cost $60,000. 

The California Pacific Company began the construction of a new 
bridge on the Howe truss pattern, October 2, 1869, in order to allow 
its cars to cross the river and enter Sacramento. While the bridge 
was being built the steamer Belle ran as a ferry boat. The draw to 
this bridge was two hundred feet long, leaving an opening on each 
side seventy feet clear. The bridge was completed January 15, 1870, 
and on that day William Rowan, chief engineer, ran across on the 
engine Sacramento. This bridge was rebuilt by the Central Pacific 
railway in 1878, the draw being swung into place on December 5th 
of that year, and the bridge opened for traffic the next day. These 
bridges were of one story, the trains and wagon tracks occupying the 
same level, and flagmen guarding each end in order to promote the 
safety of those traveling in wagons. The railroad company had pur- 
chased the bridge of the Sacramento and Yolo Bridge Company in 
June, 1878. 

In 1893 the Southern Pacific Company and the counties of Yolo 
and Sacramento built a bridge jointly at the foot of H street. This 
bridge differed from the others in having two stories, the lower one 
on the street level, for the railroad trains, and the upper one for 
foot passengers and wagon traffic, elevated above the railroad tracks 
and with an inclined plane as an approach on the Sacramento side, 
running from Second street to the top of the bridge, and a sinnlar 
approach on the Yolo side. A third approach ran from the top of 
the ])ridge, joining the Sacramento approach at that point and run- 
ning down to the Pioneer mill, thus enabling teams to get to the mill 
without crossing the network of tracks in the railroad company's 
yard. When the Pioneer mill went out of business this approach was 
taken down. This bridge stood until 1912, but as it had outlived its 
usefulness, a new bridge of steel was constructed by the Southern 
Pacific Company. The bridge until lately in use was to have been 
of steel, and the counties contributed to its cost with that understand- 
ing. The fact of its being constructed of wood was the cause of a 
long controversy and litigation between the counties and the companv. 
One-half of the $30,000 which the county had agreed to pay was paid 
at first, but the second half was refused, on the ground stated. The 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 211 

supreme court, however, held that as the county had used the bridge, 
it must pay for it, and the case was finally settled by payment in full. 

This bridge was completed in December, 1895, the total cost being 
$261,000, to which Sacramento county contributed, as stated, $30,000, 
and Yolo county $10,000. 

The new steel bridge constructed near the site of the one built 
in 1869 is said to be one of the finest pieces of construction of its kind. 
Its cost is $786,000, which includes $161,671 for overhead construction 
of a highway for communication between Sacramento and Yolo coun- 
ties, and the structure and approach thereto. The width of the draw, 
when opened, is one hundred seventy feet, and the total weight of 
the bridge is 3389 tons. 

During the year 1910 the Northern Electric and Vallejo Northern 
electric roads combined to build a bridge across the river. There was 
much discussion in relation to the site, as the river transportation 
companies claimed that if it were placed too close to the existing 
bridge there would be great danger of wreck to the boats plying on 
the river when it was at flood height. The board of supervisors de- 
bated the question at considerable length, but the war department, 
which controls the river, finally granted permission to the companies 
to build the bridge at the foot of M street, instead of P street, as 
desired by the transportation companies. The estimated cost of the 
bridge, which is of steel construction, is $380,000, but will probably 
amount to $400,000. The draw is one hundred seventy feet in width. 
Of the cost, it was agreed that Sacramento county should pay $118,- 
668, and Yolo county $33,333.33. Under a later agreement the Sac- 
ramento and Woodland road pays a proportion and the Antioch road 
will also probably do so, lessening the expense to the county. 

CHAPTER XXVI 
LOCAL JLTDICIARY AND ATTORNEYS 
By Judge W. A. Anderson 

?T0\V OUR TRIBUNALS HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED, WHO HAVE ADMINISTERED 
JUSTICE IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY, AND ADVOCATES AT THE BAR 

There could be nothing more instructive and interesting than the 
origin and development of the judicial system and the aids thereto 
.by the bar of Sacramento City. In fact the history of the bench and 
bar of this great state had its inception in Sacramento, where the 
i>reat legal minds were located in tlie early history of the state. 

The southern part of the state was governed chiefly by the old 
system of Mexico; but in Sacramento the common law was at once 
established, and common sense was at all times interwoven into the 
decrees and judgTnents, in the start somewhat crude in their con- 
struction, but very soon developed into a splendid system with the 



212 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

aid of the briglit genius of the early members of the bar. In this 
sketch it will be onr endeavor to give a brief reference to many of 
those brilliant men who have long since crossed the Dark River, and 
who in their time lal)ored in the local field for the betterment of the 
law and the administration of justice. 

Under Mexican rule the government of California was conducted 
under the laws of March 20th and May 23rd, 1837, and those laws 
were observed on the acquisition of the country by the United States, 
until the organization of the sta'te government. They provided for 
the selection of alcaldes, whose duties were to care for good order 
and public tranquility, to see that police regulations, laws and decrees 
were enforced, to provide for the apprehension of criminals, and in 
some cases to impose fines and imprisonment upon malefactors. There 
were also justices of the peace, who served as mimicipal and judicial 
officers. There was in the territory a superior tribunal, consisting 
of four judges and an attorney-general, which had the general review 
of cases tried before inferior courts. There were also courts of 
''First Instance," in which cases both criminal and civil were orig- 
inally brought. 

The first legislature, by an act passed March 16, 1850, divided 
the state into nine judicial districts and constituted the counties of 
Sacramento and Eldorado the sixth judicial district. Afterwards the 
counties of Sacramento and l^olo composed that district, and it so 
existed until the taking effect of the constitution of 1879, which abol- 
ished that court. 

The same legislature, by an act passed April 13, 1850, created 
a county court in each county, and by an act approved on the 11th day 
of that month, the court of sessions was created, to be composed of 
the county judge and two justices of the peace, who were to serve as 
associate justices. The latter were chosen by the justices of the 
i^eace of the county. That court had jurisdiction in cases of misde- 
meanor, and also exercised functions now performed by the board of 
super\'isors, such as the supervision of claims against the county, 
and management of roads, etc. Subsequently the court of sessions 
was abolished and its jurisdiction vested in the county court. Its 
legislative and supervisorial powers were transferred to the board of 
supervisors. The present state constitution abolished all of these 
courts and provided for the organization of a superior court in the 
county, with two departments and two judges, with civil and criminal 
jurisdiction. 

In the latter part of August, 1849, General B. Riley, acting mili- 
tary governor of California, appointed James S. Thomas judge of 
the court of first instance, with criminal jurisdiction. On the 2nd of 
September, 1849, Thomas entered upon the duties of his office. A. 
suit was instituted for the recovery of money. A summons was made 
returnable the same day at four o'clock, at which time judgment was 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 213 

entered and execution ordered. This gives some idea of the rapidity 
with which business, even of a judicial character, was transacted at 
that early period of Sacramento's history. On the 3rd of September 
Judge Thomas appointed J. P. Rogers clerk of his court. The latter 
gentleman served in that capacity until the 19th of November follow- 
ing, and resigned, whereupon James R. Lawrence was appointed. He 
continued until the 27th of December, at which time Presley Dunlap 
was appointed to the position. 

Judge Shannon opened his court for criminal business in Sep- 
tember, 1849. R. A. Wilson was appointed clerk, and S. C. Hastings, 
afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of the state and subse- 
quently attorney-general, also the founder of Hastings Law College, 
acted as prosecuting attorney. D. B. Hanner, who had been elect'ed 
sheriff by the people in their primary capacitv, attended both civil 
and criminal courts. The first case before Judge Shannon was a 
prosecution against a party for stealing a cow from Samuel Norris. 
During the trial defendant's counsel objected to the proceedings 
because they were not in conformity with the constitutional pro\dsion 
guaranteeing to every party accused of high crime, that before he 
could be put upon trial he must have been indicted by a grand jury. 
The court held that inasmuch as the defendant had" not raised the 
question in the beginning of the case, he was deemed as waiving his 
right, and that the trial must proceed. The defendant was found 
guilty and fined two hundred dollars and costs, which amounted to 
five hundred fifteen dollars; rather costly beef! 

About December 1, 1849, R. A. Wilson succeeded to the bench, 
vice Shannon, deceased. On January 11, 1850, he appointed A. J.' 
McCall clerk of his court for Sacramento, and on Januarv 26th he 
appointed Stephen J. Field clerk of his court, to reside at Marysville. 
Mr. Field was afterwards supreme justice of the state of California, 
and associate justice of the supreme court of the United States! 
During the time Sacramento was flooded that winter, Wilson held his 
court at Marysville. The two courts alluded to did the judicial busi- 
ness of the district, both civil and criminal, until the organization of 
the judiciary under the state constitution, May 30, 1850." 
, The first district judges were elected by the legislature March 
30, 1850, and James S. Thomas was elected judge of the sixth judicial 
district. He resigned November 9th following. Tod Robinson was 
appointed by the governor to succeed Judge Thomas Januarv 2, 1851, 
and assumed office upon the eighth day of the same month. Ferris 
Forman succeeded Robinson by appointment on August 13, 1851 ; and 
in September of the same year, Lewis Aldrich assumed the office. 
He resigned November 19, 1852, and A. C. Monson was appointed 
by Governor Bigler on November 26, 1852. Judge Monson took office 
on the first of December of that year. Monson had been elected at 
the general election on November 2, 1852. He resigned August 17, 



214 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1857, aud Governor Jolmsou, ou the 8r(l of Sei)tember, 1857, appointed 
Charles T. Botts to succeed him. At the general election held Sep- 
tember 1, 1858, John H. McKiine was elected, and was re-elected 
October 21, 1863. On October 20, 1869, Lewis Ramage was elected, 
and on October 20, 1875, Samuel C. Denson was elected. Judge Den- 
son served until the new constitution, abolishing the office, took effect. 

Judge Thomas, after his resignation, returned to the east, and 
died at St. Louis, in 1857 or '58. Robinson, who was a prominent 
member of the bar and belonged to a family of distinguished lawyers, 
died in San Mateo county, October 27, 1870. Forman was afterwards 
secretary of state. Judge Aldrich died at San Francisco, May 18, 
1885. Judge Monson moved east, and died there. Judge Botts was 
a brother of John Minor Botts. Ke had been a member of the first 
constitutional convention of the state and was afterwards state printer. 
He died in San Francisco, October 4, 1884. Judge Ramage removed 
to Kansas City, and died there, February 14, 1879. Judge Denson 
was afterwards elected superior judge of Sacramento county, resigned 
that office, and is now engaged in the active practice of the law in 
San Francisco. 

As has been stated, the court of sessions was composed of the 
county judge and two associates. The latter were elected by a con- 
vention of the justices of the peace, held on the first Monday of 
October of each year, except the first convention, which was held 
May 20, 1850. C. C. Sackett and Charles H. Swift were then elected 
associates. The associates held office for two years. On November 
27, 1850, the county treasurer resigned, and Swift was appointed to 
fill the vacancy. James Brown was elected associate in his stead, and 
assumed the duties of his office February 7, 1851. On August 14th 
following, D. D. Bullock succeeded Brown. The last meeting of the 
court of sessions was held July 6, 1862. The following is a list of 
the subsequent judges of the court from October, 1851, to October, 
1862 : 

1851_E. J. Willis, judge; George Wilson and James R. Gates, 
associates. 

1852-53 — E. J. Willis, judge; he resigned November 18th, and 
John Heard was a])pointed. James R. Gates and J. T. Day were 
associates. 

1853.54_John Heard, judge; IT. Lockwood and R. D. Fry, asso- 
ciates. 

1855-56— John Heard, judge; S. N. Baker and C. C. Jeuks, asso- 
ciates. 

1856-57— Same. 

1858-59 — Robert Robinson, judge: James Coggins and W. B. 
AVhitesides, associates. 

1859-60— Robert Robinson, judge; James Coggins and Hodgkins, 
associates. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 215 

1860-61— Robert C. Clark, judge. 

1861-62— Robert C. Clark, judge; James Coggins and Georo-e 
Cone, associates. ^ 

After the abolishment of the court of sessions Judge Clark 
continued county judge, was successively elected to that office and 
occupied it until the abolishment of the county court by the operation 
of the new constitution. The county court also exercised the func- 
tions of a probate court. 

Judge Willis left Sacramento and returned to the east in early 
days. Wilson died in one of the northern counties of this state a 
number of years ago. Judges Day and Heard are dead. Judge Jenks 
removed to Oakland and held public office there. Judge Coggins died 
a number of years ago. Judge Cone was afterwards a member of the 
state legislature from this county, and is now dead. Judge Clark has 
been a senator and an assemblyman, and after the abolishment of the 
county court was elected, with Judge Denson, a judge of the superior 
court and held office until the time of his death. 

At the first election held under the new constitution, September 
3, 1879, Samuel C. Denson and Robert W. Clark were elected judges 
of the superior court of the county of Sacramento. Judge Denson 
resigned December 16, 1882, and on the 18th day of the same month. 
Governor Perkins appointed Thomas B. McFarland to fill the vacancy! 
The latter was elected by the people to succeed himself at the general 
election held November 4, 1884; and at the general election held 
November 2, 1886, Judge McFarland was elected one of the justices 
of the state supreme court. He resigned the office of superior judge, 
and Governor Stoneman, on December 31, 1886, appointed John W 
Armstrong to the office. At the general election held November 6, 
1888, Armstrong was elected to succeed himself, and has been dead 
for some years. 

Judge Clark died January 27, 1883, and Governor Stoneman ap- 
pointed John W. Armstrong to succeed him. At the general election 
held November 4, 1884, W. C. Van Fleet was elected for the full term 
In 1890 A. P. Catlin and W. C. Van Fleet became judges of the 
superior court. Then came Catlin and Matt F. Johnson, Judge Van 
Fleet having become a member of the supreme court. In 1895 a third 
court was created by the legislature, and Governor James H. Eudd 
appointed Add C. Hinkson as the judge thereof. Judge Hinkson died 
in this city in July, 1911. At the next election, J. W. Hughes and 
E. C. Hart, with Judge Matt F. Johnson, were elected. Judge John- 
son died during his term, and Governor Budd appointed Peter J. 
Shields in his ]ilaee. Tlie bench then consisted of Hughes, Hart and 
Shields. Judge Hart l)ecame a member of the a})pellate court, third 
district, and Governor Pardee appointed C. N. Post to the vacancy 
thus created. At the succeeding election Judges Post, Shields and 
Hughes were elected, and are now on the bench. 



216 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Courts in the early days were very crude affairs in their manner 
of adjudicating- the rights of litigants. Justice's courts are proverbial 
at times for their quaint way of administering justice. It is before 
one of these august tribunals that we recall a case that occurred at 
Mormon Island in this county in 1851, in which A. P. Catlin perpe- 
trated a great trick upon S. W. Sanderson, a young attorney of 
Coloma, Eldorado county. It seemed that Sanderson's clients were 
working an old river bed, and constructing a dam for that purpose. 
Catlin desired to stop this work, and conceived the idea of hoodwink- 
ing the old justice of the peace to grant an injunction to stop the work. 
Acting upon the thought, he gravely proceeded to secure an injunction 
and had it served and enforced. Sanderson was sent for, and came 
before the justice armed with books and authorities and tried to con- 
vince him that he had no jurisdiction of such cases, and appealed to 
Catlin not to impose on the court. Catlin looked wise and approvingly 
of the court's procedure, which made the old justice obdurate, and he 
stuck to his injunction. Sanderson left for the county seat in a tow- 
ering rage to secure proper relief, but before he could secure the same 
the object Catlin had in view had been accomplished by the justice's 
injunction. 

It may not be generally known, that in the early history of Cali- 
fornia other crimes than murder were, by statute, made punishable 
by death, but such is the fact. On the 14th day of April, 1852, George 
Tanner was tried in the court of sessions of Yuba county for the 
crime of grand larceny, in having stolen flour, potatoes, etc., of the 
value of $400. The verdict of the jury was ''guilty of grand larceny, 
punishable with death," The defendant appealed to the supreme 
court, which affirmed the judgment, and the prisoner was executed 
July 13, 1852. Chief Justice Murray delivered the opinion of the 
court and evidently did not concur with the principles of law, for 
after setting forth the statute, he used the following language: "It 
is not our purpose to discuss the policy of this law, although we regret 
that our legislature has considered it necessary to thus retrograde, 
and in the face of the wisdom and experience of the present day, 
resort to a punishment for a less crime than murder, which is alike 
disgusting and abhorrent to the common sense of every enlightened 
people." 

In connection with the reference to Paschal IT. Coggins, the fol- 
lowing novel case is quoted : A remarkable case of mistaken identity 
was recently related by attorney Paschal H. Coggins before the 
Medical Jurisprudence Society in Philadelphia, as having come under 
his personal observation. Two men — John A. Mason, of Boston, and 
elohn A. Mason, of Illinois — left their respective homes and went to 
California in search of health and wealth. They were both wagon- 
makers. One left a wife and two sons in Boston, and the other a wife 
and two daughters in Illinois. The Boston wife heard nothing of her 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 217 

husband after three years' absence, and twenty years later heard of 
the death of John A. Mason, a wagon-maker. She brought suit for 
his property, his photograph was identified by twenty witnesses, but 
at the last moment the Illinois wife turned up and proved that the 
man was lier husband, and the later developments showed that the 
Boston pioneer died alone and friendless.— A^. Y. Graphic. 

Upon this the Themis comments as follows: "The Coggins re- 
ferred to was a resident of this city, and at one time a law partner 
of Creed Haymond. He was also a justice of the peace here, married 
a daughter of one of our pioneer citizens, and afterward removed to 
Philadelphia, where he has since resided. He is a son of Paschal 
Coggins, at one time one of the editors of the Sacramento Union, 
and who represented this county two terms in the assembly. Coggins 
Sr., ran for congress against H. F. Page in 1872, on the Independent 
ticket. The case referred to was that of Supervisor John A. Mason, 
of this city. It was certainly one of the most remarkable cases that 
ever came up in court, but the statement in the Graphic is not 
strictly correct. The case was tried before the late Judge Clark. In 
the contest Haymond and Coggins appeared for the lady contestant, 
and the late George Cadwalader and W. A. Anderson for the will. It 
was developed that there were two John A. Masons; that they fol- 
lowed the same trade— carriage making ; and that they came to Cali- 
fornia about the same time; one, however, by steamer, and the other 
overland. By a strange coincidence the Mr. Coggins referred to was 
a passenger on the same steamer with the Mason who came by sea, 
and he was referred to in the printed passenger list as an "infant." 
It further developed that the two Masons worked at their trades in 
the same block in Sacramento city— Third street between I and J. 
After the death of Supervisor Mason, his sons, grown men, applied 
for letters on his estate; their issuance was contested by a lady and two 
grown daughters, who claimed to be the wife and offspring of Mason. 
There is no doubt that the contest was in good faith and that the lady 
believed that the deceased was her husband. The testimony, however, 
developed that there must have been two John A. Masons, and that 
the husband of the lady contestant had, like many other of the Cali- 
fornia argonauts, disappeared long years ago. it was strange that 
the photographs of Supervisor Mason were identified by his mother 
and other relatives in Massachusetts, and that the same pictures 
were identified by prominent citizens of Illinois as being the other 
Mason. Judge Clark held against the contestants, but said that there 
was no doubt of the good faith of their contest. ' ' 

ATTORNEYS WHO HAVE CROSSED THE DARK RIVER 

Gen. H. W. Halleck; A. C. Peachy; Billings; Hum- 
phrey Griffith; E. B. Crocker; William S. Long; John Hereford; 
Al. Hereford; E. J. C. Kewen; John H. Hardy; Hal Clayton; B. F. 



218 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Ankeny; James H. Ralston; F. S. Mumford; Col. E. D. Baker; Henry 
Meredith; Jndge Silas W. Sanderson; Col. J. C. Zabriskie; P. W. S. 
Rayle; John R. McConnell ; Daniel J. Thomas; Jndge A. C. Monson; 
Grregory Yale; John C. Bnrch; Judge Charles T. Botts; D. R. 
Sample; Theron Reed; Jndge Lewis Aldrich; George H. Cartter; 
Tod Robinson; Robert Robinson; J. B. Harmon; R. H. Stanley; 
William H. Weeks; Thomas Sunderland; Milton S. Latham; Frank 
McConnell; Edward Sanders ; Judge ^Y. C. Wallace; Jndge W. T. Wal- 
lace; Morris M. Estee; Judge Robert F. Morrison; Murray Morrison; 
Col. L. Sanders; George AY. Bowie; William I. Ferguson (killed in a 
duel by George Pen Johnston) ; J. Neely Johnson (once Governor) ; 
William Neely Johnson; John G. Hyer; Ferris Forman; Horace 
Smith; Philip C. Edwards (a pioneer of 1836); Thomas C. Edwards; 
Henry Hare Hartley; George R. Moore; D. W. Welty; Harris C. 
Harrison; James E. Smith; Judge Lewis Ramage; Joseph S. Wallis; 
F. H. Moore; Henry K. Snow; Henry C. MeCreery; Judge Robert 
C. Clark; Judge John Heard; M. C. Tilden; Henry Edgerton^ W. B. C. 
Brown ; James C. Goods ; Presley Dunlap ; James W. Coffroth ; George 
Cadwalader; J. G. Severance; George A. Blanchard; J. C. Tubbs; 
Ed. F. Taylor ; Joseph W. Winans ; Samuel Cross ; Judge H. 0. 
Beatty; G. W. Spaulding; S. L. Rogers; N. Greene Curtis; W. T. 
Hinkson; W. P. Harlow; W. B. G. Keller; Judge Matt F. Johnson; 
Judge A. P. Catlin; Judge John H. McKune; James L. English; 
Charles A. Waring; Peter J. Hopper; Judge C. G. W. French; 
Thomas Conger; Thomas W. Gilmer; Peter Ilannon: 1. S. Brown; 
W. R. Cantwell; Thomas J. Clunie; Henry Starr; Judge Add C. 
Hinkson; George G. Davis; A. C. Freeman; Ilenry C. Ross; Jay R. 
Brown; Judge Thomas B. McFarland; Albert M. Johnson; Edward 
Dwyer; Alvin J. Bruner; Creed Haymond; A. L. Hart; L. S, Taylor; 
F. D. Ryan; Jud C. Brusie; J. P. Counts; James B. Devine; Isaac 
Joseph; W. S. Mesick; Ed. M. Martin; Henry L. Buckley. 

ATTORNEYS NOW PRACTICING IN SACRAMENTO 

W. A. Anderson (ex-police judge) ; Eugene Aram; J. W". Adams; 
Frank F. Atkinson; C. W. Baker; Charles M. Beckwith; J. J. Bauer; 
C. H. S. Bidwell; Charles 0. Busick; Charles A. Bliss; Hugh B. 
Bradford; J. W. S. Butler (Butler & Swisler) ; J. Frank Brown; John 
0. Brown; W. J. Carragher; Thomas B. Christianson ; J. D. Cornell; 
R. M. darken; Charles' LI. Crocker; H. C. Cline; S. W. Cross; J. S. 
Daly; A. A. DeLigne (DeLigne & Jones) ; H. S. Derby; W. H. Devlin; 
R. T. Devlin; Alfred Dalton, Jr.; S. W. Downev (Downev & Pullen) ; 
P. S. Driver; B. F. Driver; C. II. Dunn; C. A. Elliott; W. F. George, 
L. J. Hinsdale (George & Hinsdale); W. A. Gett; Green & Smith; 
Charles B. Harris, John C. March (Harris & March) ; A. L. Hart, Jr.; 
S. H. Hart; Joseph E. Pii^her, J. V. Hart (Hart & Pipher) ; L. T. Hat- 
field; Victor L. Hatfield; C. C. Holl, S. S. Holl (Holl & Holl) ; 0. G: 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 219 

Hopkins; S. Luke Howe; W. S. Howe; W. B. Howard; Hume & Art; 
J. R. Hughes, Hugh B. Bradford (Hughes & Bradford) ; J. M. Inman;' 
John B. Irish; H. E. Johnstone; J. Charles Jones; P. H. Johnson 
(Johnson & Lemmon) ; John W. Johnston; Grove L. Johnson; C. T. 
Jones ; S. H. Jones ; R. T. McKisick, W. E. Kleinsorge (Kleinsorge & 
McKisick); W. A. Latta; T. B. Leeper; A. H. McCurdv; Meredith & 
Landis; C. F. Metteer; W. T. Phipps; W. B. Pittman; R. Platnauer; 
J. F. Pullen; J. 0. Prewett; W. F. Renfro; A. B. Reynolds; A. M. 
Seymour; Shelly, Hoag & Leeper; A. L. Shinn; C. ^G. Shinn; C. 
Simon; E. A. Sloss; Albert D. Smith; E. G. Soule; H. G. Soule; H. H. 
Sydenham; C. E. Swezy; A. R. Tabor; C. W. Thomas, Jr.; j; C. 
Thomas; M. S. Wahrhaftig; B. G. White; Clinton L. White, Arthur E. 
Miller, C. E. McLaughlin (AVhite, Miller & McLaughlin) ; Archibald 
Yell (Seymour & Yell); Martin I. Welch; Z. F. Wharton. 

CHAPTER XXVII 

MEMBERS OF THE SACRAMENTO BAR 

By Judge W. A. Andersoji 

If we should eliminate from our history the lawyer and what he 
has done, we would rol) it of tlie greater part of its glorv. Remove 
from our society today the lawyer, with the work that he does, and 
you will leave that society as dry and shiftless as the sands that 
sweep over Sahara. The lawyer is needed in the legislature, in con- 
gress ; every business man needs him ; in fact he is a necessarv adjunct 
to every department of human life. Sacramento City had "its great 
men in the past; great law>^ers, great public men, great i)oliticians. 
It makes very little difference whether a man's fame runs around the 
earth, or only goes to the limits of his residence. The world soon 
forgets even the most conspicuous fame. How many ''immortals" 
have been totally lost to the memory of man. Think of the great men 
of the past of ancient Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt, Judea, Greece, 
Carthage, Rome, who were great in their day, and whose names have 
not been written or spoken for two thousand years. It is the rare 
and lucky man who arises from the flood of oblivion. The man who 
seeks immortality strives against awful odds, but that is an instinct 
m human nature which prompts one to rebel against oblivion. In 
the few references made in this review, it has been my endeavor to 
rescue from oblivion some of the great geniuses who founded this 
state. 

W^hile Newton Booth never engaged in the active practice of the 
law, he was a member of the bar. He became governor of the state, 
and United States senator. Milton S. Latham was governor and 
United States senator. J. Neely Johnson was governor; T. B. Mc- 
Farland was judge of the supreme court. Robert F. Morrison was 



220 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

chief justice of the supreme court; H. 0. Beatty was judge of the 
supreme court of Nevada. E. B. Crocker was supreme court justice, 
and the founder of tlie Crocker Art Gallery, which was donated by 
his widow to the city and is now one of the chief public attractions. 
C. G. W. French was chief justice of the supreme court of Arizona. 
Hiram W. Johnson removed his practice to San Francisco, and is now 
governor of this state. Creed Haymond was code commissioner and 
framed our present codes ; also was state senator and afterward chief 
counsel for the Southern Pacific Company, and died in San Francisco 
many years ago. He was one of the brilliant minds of the state. 
W. H. Beatty is now chief justice of the supreme court of California. 
W. C. Van Fleet is United States district judge at San Francisco. 
Robert T. Devlin until recently was United States district attorney 
and was at one time state senator from Sacramento. Cornelius Cole 
was congressman and United States senator. Col. E. D. Baker was 
United States senator from Oregon and was killed at Ball's Bluff 
as brigadier-general during the Rebellion. 

H. W. Halleck was during the Civil war the commander-in-cliief 
of the Union armies under President Lincoln. 

Col. George W. Bowie, the law partner of A. P. Catlin, was, 
during the Civil war, a brigadier-general of volunteers and served on 
the border of Texas, Mexico and Arizona. 

E. J. C. Kewen was one of the pioneer attorneys and an orator 
of distinction. He was a southern man by birth, and had all the fire 
and vim of that clime. Colonel Kewen was an intimate friend of 
William Walker, who attempted to form a republic at Nicaragua and 
was W^alker's financial agent. He finally located at Los Angeles, 
and died there, November 25, 1879. 

J. C. Zabriskie was the first city attorney of this city. He arrived 
in Sacramento in 1849 and later on was alcalde. In 1861 he removed 
to San Francisco, where he died, July 10, 1883. 

John T. Carey was district attorney of Sacramento county, and 
was appointed United States district attorney by President Cleveland. 
He is now practicing law in San Francisco. 

E. H. Heacock is now a resident of San Francisco, and has been 
for many j^ears master in chancery of the United States courts. 

S. W. Sanderson was judge of the supreme court and resigned 
to accejit the ])osition of chief counsel for the Central Pacific Railway 
Company. 

Thomas J. Clunie was state senator and member of congress. He 
removed to San Francisco and continued the practice of law until 
the time of his death, 

John K. Alexander was district attorney, and removed to Mon- 
terey and was for many years superior judge of that county. 

James C. Goods was district attorney for two terms, and was 
considered one of the best criminal lawvers in the state. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 221 

Judge Henry Hare Hartley was one of the leading lawyers of 
the state, and a man of the most polished manners. 

George A. Blanchard, district attorney, afterwards superior judge 
of Colusa county, died on the threshold of a useful life; he was one 
of the bright minds of the profession, and a scholar and a courteous 
gentleman. 

Frank D. Ryan, a native son and twice district attorney, also 
one of the board of commissioners of public works, also assemblyman, 
was one of Sacramento's finest products. No man held a higher place 
in the estimation of the public. It seemed like the cruelty of Fate 
to take him from earth at such an early time in his life, as he had 
but reached his prime when he died, in 1908. 

S. Solon Holl, who died in July, 1913, was considered the dean 
of the Sacramento bar. His life was full of great incidents. 

Grove L. Johnson, assemblyman, senator and member of congress, 
is among the active practitioners at the bar of the state, and has lost 
nothing of his vigor and persistence, and is as ready for a forensic 
encounter as he was wont to be in his younger days. No man has a 
higher standing at the bar than Hon. Grove L. Johnson. Mr. Johnson 
can be considered the Nestor of the bar. 

Clinton L. White can also be recorded as one of the old leaders 
at the bar. Once our mayor, and a good one at that, he prides him- 
self upon his devotion to the practice of the honorable profession. 
His firm, White, Miller & McLaughlin, stands foremost among the 
practitioners in this state. 

Gen. A. L. Hart, at one time attorney- general of the state, was 
considered one of the best nisi prius lawyers on the coast. His un- 
timely death was a shock to the profession. No man held a higher 
place in the hearts of the members of the bar and the public. 

Judge Add C. Hinkson, who for many years was city superin- 
tendent of schools, and superior judge, in 1912 answered the final roll 
call and crossed over the Dark River. 

Tod Robinson, H. 0. Beatty and J. B. Haggin were law partners 
in 1853, in this city. This partnership lasted about three years. 
Judge Beatty went to Nevada and was elected chief justice of the 
state. J. B. Haggin, one of the owners of the Haggin grant, resided 
in New York. Tod Robinson located at San Francisco. 

George Cadwalader. a pioneer and in early days a merchant, 
in 1855 entered the law office of Col. Philip L. Edwards as a student of 
law. Mr. Cadwalader had a splendid practice and never sought any 
political office, although he took active part in party politics on some 
occasions. He also wrote some elegant verses. He removed to San 
Francisco in 1884, and lived but about one year thereafter. The 
supreme court reports contain the name of George Cadwalader in a 
multitude of actions. Robert T. Devlin and Clinton L. White were 
students under Mr. Cadwalader. During his student career, Clinton 



222 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

L. White wrote one of the ablest briefs in the matter of the estate 
of Thurston, involving some of the most intricate questions of law. 
The line of argument in the brief was adopted by the supreme court. 
The writer, W. A. Anderson, was an associate of George Cadwalader 
in the practice of the law for over thirteen years. 

A. C. Freeman long enjoyed a national reputation as an author 
of law books. Plis advent into the practice of law was as deputy 
district attorney under James C. Goods. His first book was "A 
Treatise on Judgments;" later, a work on "Executions." He was 
the editor of the Bancroft-AVhitney publications and editor of "Amer- 
ican Decisions." The career of A. C Freeman was a great success. 
He located in San Francisco, and a few years ago crossed the "Great 
Divide," full of honors. 

J. N. Young practiced law in this city for many years and then 
located in San Francisco, where he is now engaged in active practice. 

Paschal H. Coggins commenced his career as an attorney at law 
in this city, served one term as township justice, and then located in 
Philadelphia, where lie is now engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion. 

D. A. Hamburger practiced in Sacramento for a few years after 
Jus admission to the bar and then located in Los Angeles, where he 
has abandoned the practice of the law and engaged in mercantile 
business. 

Frank Powers was admitted to the bar from the city of Sacra- 
mento, but established his law practice later at San Francisco. He 
was a member of the assembly from that city. 

Charles T. Jones is still an active practitioner in this city. Twice 
district attorney and once assemblyman, he has held an honored 
position in this community. He has been on one side or the other 
in most of the important criminal cases for many years and is looked 
upon as one of the ablest criminal lawyers in the state, 

Dan E. Alexander removed to San Francisco, where he is now 
engaged in the practice of his profession. Charles H. Oatman is also 
a practitioner in San Francisco. Elwood Bruner, ex-assemblyman and 
ex-district attorney, is now located at Nome, Alaska, as is also his 
brother, J. Allison Bruner. 

W. B. Harlow practiced only a short time after his admission to 
the bar, then went to Arizona and later to New York, where he died 
a few years ago. 

Judson C. Brusie was assemblyman and secretary to the Califor- 
nia railroad commission. He died a few years ago at Los Angeles. 
He devoted his time chiefly to politics and dramatic writing. 

Peter H. Burnett was a lawyer, but never practiced in this city; 
only acted as land agent for John A. Sutter. He was the first gov- 
ernor of California. In 1857 he was a])pointed by Governor J. Neely 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 223 

Jolmson a judge of the supreme court. He died in San Francisco, 
May 17, 1895, at the age of eighty-seven years. 

Judge S. C. Denson is now a resident of San Francisco. For 
many years, in addition to his judicial career, he enjoyed a splendid 
practice in this city. At various times a member of the tirm of Beatty 
& Denson, then Beatty, Denson & Beatty, and Beatty, Denson & Oat- 
man, he always enjoyed a very lucrative business. It was during his 
term as judge that the famous cases of Troy Dye and Edward Ander- 
son for the murder of Aaron Tullis were tried and the two men con- 
victed and hanged. Hon. Creed Ha>^nond defended these men. When 
Judge Denson removed to San Francisco, he formed a co-partnership 
with Judge J. J. De Haven, which continued until Judge De Haven 
was appointed United States district judge. 

Albert M. Johnson. ^ — Nature is not lavish with her choice gifts 
of genius and talent, and rarely do we find these great attributes 
combined. In Albert M. Johnson both genius and talent were united 
in one body, in one mind. His was an irrepressible genius, brighter 
than the sword of the conqueror. His thoughts and ideas bore the 
rays of immortality, which cast a living, lasting halo around his very 
being. With him, genius was not a shadow — it was a substance, it 
was light; it was matter that never dies. In all his legal existence 
he seemed like a Theseus led by the golden thread of Ariadne. His 
logic was like the touch of Ithuriel's spear, his reason like the swell 
of the ocean. A master of language, which flowed from his lips like 
a splendid stream, again in torrents as moved by inspiration, at the 
har and on the rostrum his flow of language was the most fluent and 
logical. Its effect was magical, and carried inspiration with every 
word and thought expressed. There is no armor against Fate. Albert 
M. Jolmson was never obsequious to wealth or power. The later years 
of his life were devoted, in addition to his profession, to the solution 
of social problems and to the betterment of the condition of the masses. 
A truly great attorney, in his comparatively brief career he tasted 
fortune more than did any other law^^er. He died in Oakland, in 1907, 
at tiie age of forty-six years. 

Judge A. P. Catlin was a pioneer lawyer, and had many parts 
in the formation of the government for this state. In 1850 he and 
John Currey (afterwards superior judge), formed a co-partnership in 
the practice of the law. At that time the leaders of the bar were 
Murray Johnson, E. J. C. Kewen, Col. J. C. Zabriskie, Joseph W. 
Winans, L. Neely Johnson, John B. Weller, M. S. Latham, John H. 
McKune, and Col. Philip L. Edwards. This partnership lasted only 
a short time, and Mr. Catlin then returned to his former home at 
Mormon island in this county, and engaged in mining. It was he who 
was the author of the name ^'Natoma" for Natoma townshi]) in this 
county. In 1853-54 he was a member of the senate which met at 
Benicia, and it was due to his efforts that Sacramento secured the 



224 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

location of the State Capitol and was made the permanent seat of 
state government. Judge Catlin was an eye witness to the great 
tragedy of the Squatter riots on Au.gust 14, 1850, at which City 
Assessor Woodland was killed, Mayor Biglow fatalh^ wounded and 
many others killed. Judge Catlin took part in every great political 
battle of this state. In 1857 he was a member of the assembly and 
a ]:>articipant in the great Broderick-Gwin senatorial contest. In 
March, 1872, he was appointed one of the state board of equalization. 
During all the years he was engaged in active practice. In 1890 he 
was elected judge of the superior court of the county of Sacramento, 
and served a full six-year term. He was a man of sound judgment 
and untiring industry, one of the safest counsellors and faithful to 
his clients; very slow to anger, but a lion when aroused. While he 
seemed morose in his disposition, there was at times a vein of gen- 
uine humor in his composition. No man had a greater knowledge of 
the incidents of history of this state, and his "scrap books," if they 
are still in existence, would be a revelation to the future historian. 

John C. Catlin and Harry Catlin, the sons of Judge Catlin, were 
admitted to the bar and are now residents of San Francisco, engaged 
in the practice of the law. 

J. W. Winans (firm Winans & Hyer) was for many years a 
prominent attorney in this city. He was a member of the consti- 
tutional convention. Mr. Winans devoted much time to literature, and 
was an elegant writer. For many years he was a regent of the state 
university. In 186] he took up his practice in San Francisco and 
continued until his death, March 3, 1887. 

W. B. C. Brown, after having served as county clerk and state 
controller, became a member of the bar and continued in the practice 
of the law until his death, April 12, 1882. 

W. S. Church was city attorney for one term, then went to San 
Francisco. He is the author of "Church on Habeas Corpus," and 
some other law works. 

James B. Devine, a bright young lawyer, was called to his final 
rest, just at the time the people began to recognize his abilities. 

Judge J. W. Armstrong came to Sacramento from Amador 
county in 1868. He was formerly the law partner of the late United 
States Senator James T. Farley, of Amador county. He established 
the law firm of Armstrong & Hinkson. Judge Armstrong was ap- 
pointed judge of the superior cou]-t of Sacramento county by Governor 
Stoneman. At the succeeding election he was chosen for a full term 
on the bench. Judge Armstrong was a man of great force of char- 
acter, and somewhat aggressive in his disposition, yet broad-minded, 
tender-hearted and generous. He died March 21, 1896. 

Judge Lewis Ramage was district judge of the old sixth judicial 
district. It was during his term that the faiuous Tip McLaughlin case 
was tried, McLaughlin being charged with the murder of Charles 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 225 

Liindholm. At the first trial the jury disagreed, and ''Tip" was 
tried a second time, at which trial he was convicted of murder. By 
some unaccountable oversight no order was made by the court to take 
the defendant into custody, he being at liberty under bonds, ''Tip" 
walked out of the court and never was captured. Judge Ramage 
was a very kind-hearted man, and had a great reverence for the 
decisions of the court of his native state, Missouri. It was often 
remarked by attorneys, that if counsel could produce a decision from 
Missouri, or something from "Smith's Leading Cases," his case would 
be safe. Judge Ramage, after his term as district judge was com- 
pleted, returned to St. Louis, where he died a number of years ago. 

John B. Weller, a pioneer lawyer, was governor and United States 
senator. Governor Weller was a very eloquent orator and a man of 
pleasing and polished manner. 

Judge Robert C, Clark was state senator and afterwards county 
and superior judge for twenty-four years, up to the time of his death, 
January 27, 1883. Judge Clark was a model judge, and everybody 
was his friend. No man held a higher place in the hearts of the 
people than Judge Clark. The pleasing incidents and anecdotes dur- 
ing his career on the bench would fill a large volume. 

D. Lee Donelly was corporation counsel under Mayor Hassett, 
and at one time law partner of A. M. Seymour. He died about 1911 
after a lingering sickness. 

John Currey was one of the earliest pioneer law^^ers of this city. 
At one time the law partner of A. P. Catlin, Judge Currey performed 
a prominent part in the history of this state. He was for many years 
judge of the supreme court, and chief justice of that court. Judge 
Currey was born in 1814, and died in 1912, at ninety-eight years of 
age. He always was a man of great intellectual powers, and even in 
his last years retained his remarkable memory and wrote some able 
articles for the law journals upon great legal topics. 

Judge E. W. McKinstry was in the law practice in this city in 
1850. He was one of the first representatives in the legislature from 
Sacramento county. In 1858 he went to Napa and was elected district 
judge for Napa and adjoining counties. He then removed to San 
Francisco and was elected county judge. Later he was chosen district 
judge for the twelfth judicial district of San Francisco. Afterwards 
he was elected justice of the supreme court of California. He resigned 
from the supreme bench to become professor of municipal law in 
the Hastings Law College. Judge McKinstry died at San Jose, 
November 1, 1901. 

Cornelius Cole was district attorney for Sacramento county, after- 
wards congressman, and in 1865-66 was elected by the legislature 
to the United States senate. At the close of his senatorial term he 
located at Los Angeles, where he now resides, hale and hearty, though 
advanced in vears. 



226 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Morris M. Estee was a member of the legislature from Sacra- 
mento in the session of 1863-64, and in 1864 was elected district attor- 
ney of Sacramento county. At the exjnration of his term of office 
he located in San Francisco in the pursuit of his profession and was 
retained in many very important cases. Mr. Estee was a leading- 
member of the last constitutional convention which framed the present 
state constitution, Mr. Estee was at all times a dignified and sincere 
man. Under the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, creating a 
United States district judge for tluit jurisdiction, in 1900 he was 
appointed to the office, which he held until his death, October 27, 1903. 

Judge T. B. McFarland, prior to locating at Sacramento, was dis- 
trict judge of the fourteenth judicial district, comprising Nevada and 
Placer counties. At the expiration of his term as judge he came to 
Sacramento and formed a copartnership with Judge A. P. Catlin, 
under the firm name of Catlin and McFarland. He was registrar of 
the United States land office, and in 1882 was appointed by Governor 
Perkins superior judge of this county. Prior to that he was also a 
member of the last constitutional convention. In 1884 Judge Mc- 
Farland was elected superior judge for Sacramento county; in 1886 
was elected justice of the supreme court, re-elected in 1898, and re- 
mained on the supreme bench until the time of his death, a few years 
ago. Judge McFarland was a man of fine literary attainments and 
of most fascinating social qualities. To know him was ever after to 
be his friend. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF HENRY EDGERTON 

Look in upon the state burial plot in the City Cemetery and 
amid the lofty marble and granite shafts that mark the last resting 
places of distinguished men, there will be found a poor little slab with 
the inscription: 

Henry Edgerton 

Died 
Novemher 4, 1887 

The name of that l)rilliant orator, profound lawyer, classic scholar, 
is now only a memory for the few. During life he thrilled audiences, 
electrified senators, judges and conventions by the splendor of his 
rhetoric, philosophy and the vividness of his imagery. As an eade, 
then he swooped,— then he soared, — the sculptor and painter in words, 
— the ideal of logical realism. 

Like 

''The two-edged tongue of mighty Zeno, who. 
Say what we would, could argue it untrue," 
he had the prose of Xenophon and the poetry and philosophy of Plato. 
His font of oratorical genius never ran low. He fused reason, music, 
passion, imagination, into electric and magnetic power which held his 
auditors as if chained bv enchantment. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 227 

When Edgerton became aroused in debate and the occasion called 
for it, he was a perfect master of invective, sarcasm and irony. 
"Fierce as the midnight, moonlit 
Nubian desert with all its lions up." 

Yet he was possessed of the gentle impulses of a woman, court- 
eous, chivalrous and with wit as sparkling as ice and as brilliant as 
the sunshine. Henry Edgerton had the egotism of most men of 
genius, and believed it was a great folly to be wise all alone. His 
utter contempt for wealth was proverbial. Yet with all his great 
genius and ability, with all his generous impulses and good will for 
his fellow men, he learned, with Prentice, "that men are deserters 
in adversity, when all is dark and even our very shadows refuse to 
follow us." While his eloquence charmed the soul, he felt that Ambi- 
tion was a gilded cheat, — that Fate was capricious. 
"Ah, pensive Scholar, what is fame! 
A fitful tongue of leaping flame, 

A giddy whirlwind's fickle gust 
That lifts a pinch of mortal dust." 

With all his great genius and wonderful powers of oratory, Edger- 
ton, like that other almost forgotten orator and statesman, James W. 
Coffroth, could never attain the goal of his ambition, — a seat in the 
halls of congress. 

The great Napoleon's star of destiny began to decline from the 
day he divorced the Empress Josephine, and finally set with the sun 
at Waterloo. Thus with Henry Edgerton, when the marital relations 
ceased between himself and the brilliant Frances Edgerton, his star 
of destiny waned and finally cast its pale light upon his almost for- 
gotten grave. 

Withal the i)ublic career of Henry Edgerton forms a potent part 
of the history of this state. He came to California from Vermont in 
1853, a young man, and located at Napa, where he was for a number 
of years, up to 1860, the district attorney of that county. The famous 
case of Ned McGowan, implicated in the murder of James King of 
William, editor of the San Francisco Bulletin, during the time of the 
vigilance committee, was transferred to Naj^a county, and prosecuted 
by Henry Edgerton. In 1860 he was elected state senator for Napa, 
Solano and Yolo counties, and during the sessions occurred the mem- 
ora])]e debate with Harry I. Thornton, which placed Edgerton as the 
leader in oratory in this state. It was by such prompt, eloquent and 
patriotic actions of Edgerton and several other prominent men that 
a terrible chapter in California's history was averted, and this state 
retained in the array of Union states during tlie Rebellion. 

From this time Henry Edgerton held his place as the greatest 
orator on this coast. He was a man of splendid jihysique, with a 
bright, classic countenance, and one who at all times inspired admira- 
tion. In the earlier davs of his career he was noted for tlie old 



228 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

school style of his costume. For many years he wore a blue broad- 
cloth dress coat, with double row of brass buttons, and a buff vest, 
making a marked contrast with other men's dress. But he prided 
himself on these and would wear none other until the later years of 
his life. In 1861 Edgerton and McKibben ran for congress on the 
Union Democratic ticket, but were defeated by Timothy Guy Phelps 
and A. A. Sargent. For a number of years Edgerton was one of the 
trustees of the state library. In 1878-79 he was elected a member 
at large of the constitutional convention, and the debates disclose 
many gems of his power of oratory. One of Edgerton 's most beauti- 
ful oratorical efforts occurred in 1879, upon the grand reception given 
to Gen. U. S. Grant, who ^dsited this city upon his journey around the 
world. In 1880 he was the only Republican presidential elector elected, 
and he was selected as messenger to proceed to Washington to cast 
the vote for president. At the presidential election in 1884 he was 
again elected a presidential elector. 

In 1882 Henry Edgerton and W. W. Morrow were Republican 
candidates for congressman-at-large, but they were defeated by Charles 
Sumner and J. R. Glasscock. During the congressional convention 
of the second district at Benicia in 1884, Edgerton was evidently 
deeply wounded at not receiving the nomination for congress. His 
speech on that occasion was one of the most powerful efforts of his 
life, and his picture of the ingratitude of his party was realized by 
all the delegates present. It was at this convention that Hon. Joseph 
McKenna received, on the thirtieth ballot, the nomination which gave 
him his start upon the car of political fortune. Edgerton never recov- 
ered from this defeat, and he felt that the party was ungrateful in 
not recognizing him. 

The oration delivered by Edgerton July 4, 1882, is a masterpiece 
of patriotic oratory and is a model for young Americans. Such 
oratory is not like that which is called oratory today, and which is 
a mere empty flow of words. It is like the violet wreath compared 
with the bunch of straw. 

On the occasion of the nomination of Newton Booth for governor 
in 1871, Henry Edgerton made one of his brilliant, characteristic ad- 
dresses in i)lacing Newton Booth in nomination. In 1873, during an 
exciting anti-raihoad contest, he was elected state senator for Sacra- 
mento county. During the camijaign he made some of the most elo- 
quent as well as invective speeches. On one occasion, while referring 
to one of his detractors, he used this unique and most forcible lan- 
guage: ''He lies by day, he lies by night; he lies for the very lust 
of lying." 

In nearly every Republican campaign from 1868 until date of his 
death Edgerton took part, and his eloquence was heard in every 
important city on the coast. In no place in public or private did he 
know how to be dull. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 229 

It is known that Henry Edgerton was methodical in his nature, 
and kept a eoni])lete set of scrap books and records, but after his death 
no one was able to discover where they were placed. It would be a 
great addition to the oratorical history of the world if these records 
could be found, and placed in the hands of some competent compiler 
for preservation to the literature of the world. Throughout life he 
kept up his classical studies, and was a devotee of the drama and of 
all kinds of art. As a conversationalist he was without a superior. 
A volume might be written of anecdotes of Edgerton, On one oc- 
casion, during the session of 1861, while he was the lion of the day, 
the legislature was compelled to move to San Francisco on account 
of the flood. At that time the sensational drama, "The Octoroon," 
was being played and drew large houses. Edgerton, with a number 
of the other senators, attended the play and showed his warm, im- 
pulsive and chivalrous character, during the famous scene where Zoe, 
the Octoroon, is put upon the slave block for sale. Dora Sunnysides 
had such a warm affection that she desired to purchase Zoe to set 
her free. The bidding l)egan, when McCloskey, the villain of the play, 
and Dora were bidding against each other. She reached her limit 
when she bid $20,000. McCloskey, in his sneering manner, bid $25,000, 
and looked upon Dora with a victorious smile. At this point the au- 
dience was in a state of terrible excitement, when all at once some 
one in the audience arose, threw his hat high in the air, and said: 
"Damn the law! I bid $80,000." That was Henry Edgerton, and it 
is needless to say that the entire audience was in uproarious ap- 
plause for the last bidder. 

When we think of the eventful life of Henry Edgerton, we are 
constrained to the truth that it is best that Heaven from all creatures 
hides the Book of Fate. 

Edgerton was a devotee of poetry and art as well as a student 
of the classics. In fact his very utterances were poetry. The follow- 
ing lines, quaint in their character and an echo of his sentimental 
moods, are attributed to him : 

"The old days. Do you ever think of them 
When sitting silent as the shadows meet? * 

When lying broad awake at dead of night. 
To hear the rain that drops into the eaves; 
Do you remember how sweet was your sleep. 
In the old days? 

"The old days, when you wanted to grow big. 
Before you knew the sorrows it would bring; 
When looking at the blue hills far away 
And thinking of the world that lay beyond? 

15 



230 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Do you leniember how you yearned for it, 
In the days of oldf 

"The old days, they are furrowed o'er with graves, 
The sweet-faced mother, lirst and dearest friend. 
The old home faces you used to know. 
Your playmates and your sweethearts, where are they? 

_ Do you remember how you loved and lost. 
In the days of old? 

"The old days! How they brim the eyes with tears 
And fill the heart with longing and regret! 
Oh. there are tragedies in every life; 
And there are songs as sweet as ever sung; 
And there are memories that never die. 
In the old days." 

N. GREENE CURTIS 

Tribute by Major W. J. Anderson, at the time of his death, July 12, 

1897. 

When Cato, the younger, sat with his drawn sword meditating 
upon Plato's "Immortality of the Soul," he exclaimed: "Plato, thou 
reasonest well. Why this longing for immortality?" 

Each day, every hour, each minute, we are admonished of the un- 
certainty of all earthly things. 

"Eternity — thou pleasing, dreadful thought — 
Through what vagaries of untried being, through what new scene? and 
changes must we pass?" 

"The glories of birth and state are shadows, not substantial 
things. There is no armor against fate." 

Death lays his icy hand on the high and low alike. The highest 
and lowest, richest and poorest, must yield to the inexorable laws of 
Nature and of Fate. We are today but reminded of the end of all 
that is mortal of man, and in paying this -tribute to the memory of 
oui' departed brother, bring ourselves within the reflections of Cato 
upon the immortality of the soul, and the proofs of nature and na- 
ture's laws that the soul of N. Greene Curtis has its enduring im- 
mortality amid the Elysian fields, where he has gone to meet former 
eolJoagnes and adversaries of manv forensic battles: George R. 
Moore, H. H. Hartley, Phil Edwards, James W. Coffroth, J. C. 
Goods, Creed TIaymond, Henr^' Edgerton, George Cadwalador, R. 
C. Clark, H. 0. Beatty, J. W. Winans, John G. Hyer, Milton S. 
Latham, Col. L. Sanders, Tod Robinson, E. B. Crocker, Humphrey 
GriHiths, J. W. i\rmstrong, W. T. Ferguson, Presley Dunlap, George 
A. Blanchard, and others. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 231 

N. Greene Curtis was born in Raleigh, N. C, February 5, 1826. 
In May, 1850, be came with the tide of gold-seekers to California from 
Tennessee, to which state he moved in his early youth. By birth 
and education he was fitted even in those youthful days to take his 
place among the moving spirits of the country. Soon after his ar- 
rival in Sacramento he was appointed deputy postmaster under Jona- 
than Tittle, the presidential appointee. A short time after he as- 
sumed his office his principal went east, leaving Curtis in full charge. 
While Tittle was absent, Richard Eads came out with a notification 
from Washington that he had been appointed to the office. Curtis 
declined to recognize Eads until he presented a commission and filed 
a bond. He thus retained possession of the office for some months, it 
taking about that time to procure the necessary credentials. 

As a recognition of Curtis' ability, Eads retained him as the chief 
officer until he was elected recorder in 1853. This office Judge Curtis 
administered for three years with marked ability, establishing a record 
which has become a precedent. In 1861, when the spirit of secession 
was rife and at a time when California was in the balance, being 
largely populated by southern men. Judge Curtis, though of southern 
blood, was firmest in counseling for the Union. At a great mass 
meeting held in the old pavilion at Sixth and M streets, he made 
one of the grandest, most patriotic speeches against secession and 
for the Union, one and indivisible. He became a member of the Union 
Party and that year, with Charles Crocker, Amos Adams and Dr. 
Joseph Powell, was elected as a member of the assembly. Charles 
Crocker, one of the great Central Pacific railroad quartet, crossed 
the Dark River several years ago. Amos Adams recently died in 
San Jose. Dr. Powell survived the term only a few years. During 
the same session Judge R. C. Clark and E. H. Heacock served as 
senators from this county. In 1861 Judge Curtis became a member 
of the state senate with E. H. Heacock as his colleague. In 1869 
Curtis and A. Comte served as our senators. In 1877 Judge Curtis 
was again returned to the senate, having defeated Felix Tracy. His 
colleague was Creed Haymond. He was a leader in his party and 
counselled upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of the De^no- 
cratic party of this state as well as the nation. He was at all times 
modest, unassuming, unostentatious, yet possessing the rarest quali- 
ties of conversational powers. As an orator he was magnetic, and 
by his earnestness and force of character never failed to impress his 
hearers with his own ideas and convictions. Herein laid his great 
power and influence over jurors. The devoted friendship of Curtis 
was j)roverbial. T have often heard mv father say that it was a com 
mon, every-day sight to see Judge McKune and Greene Curtis frying 
their bacon and boiling their coffee in front of their cabin, which was 
situated at what is now the corner of Fifth and K streets. The cabin 
was Iniilt among scrub oaks and bushes, and served as the law office 



2H2 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of Judge McKune, Curtis not being a practitioner at that time. 
Curtis was endowed with the qualities of true friendship, 
"Wliich is a Gordian knot that angel hands had tied. 
By heavenly skill its texture wrought, who shall its folds divide? 
Death's all- triumphant sword may strive its links to sever, 
But the union of its twisted cord in Heaven shall last forever." 
Curtis belonged to the "old school" of chivalrous attorneys. 
While there has been advancement in all matters of science and art, 
there remains a charm around the courteous chivalry of the lawyer 
of two generations ago. It seems that a grasping selfishness has 
im))hinted itself among modern members of the bar. That old-time 
honor of the profession, when the greed for gold formed no part in 
the lawyer's strife for honor and fame, has in a measure departed. 
The lawyers of twenty-five years ago held honor above gold or price. 
Today gold seems to be the moving power and glory, and honor but 
an incident. Those were the days that the lawyer's part was to work 
hard, live well and die poor. But honor was always the objective 
point. 

Judge Curtis was counsel in the famous Laura D. Fair case for 
the murder of A. P. Crittenden, and finally acquitted her. He was 
counsel for many defendants in murder cases in this state. Many 
years ago the writer was present at Santa Cruz during an important 
murder trial, where the defendant was represented by N. Greene 
Curtis. We think that the management of this case was the mas- 
terpiece of his life, and far surpasses his efforts in the famous Laura 
D. Fair trial. The defendant was a young man with a beautiful wife 
and child. The evidence against the defendant was of the most dam- 
aging character, and it seemed that a conviction was inevitable. The 
sentiment of the community was set against the defendant. But 
Curtis had a way of snatching victory from defeat, and the result of 
the trial disclosed the fact that he did so in this case. For weeks 
before the trial he made research into the pedigree of each juror 
summoned, until he had each man's history at his memory's com 
mand. Then came the day of the trial and the defense marked out 
was an alibi. The courtroom was each day crowded with ladies and 
gentlemen. C'urtis seemed to be inspired. He opened the case with 
a degree of magnetism seldom witnessed. He paid a grand tribute 
to the people, to the beautiful sea crest and beach, and to every- 
thing pertaining to the community. He painted the crime as black 
as Erebus, and was unsparing of anyone who would perpetrate such 
an outrage and cowardly assassination. Then came his inspired ar- 
o-nment to the jury. He touched the weak place in the composition 
of every juror, and around and around he went, addressing each 
juror separately. But he found that every time he came to a cer- 
tain old puritanical fellow there was a break in his magnetic chain. 
He tried again and again to cast the electric charm over the old 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 233 

hard-shell, for he felt certain of the other jurors. Just at this 
juncture a little tot got down from his mother's lap, and, being at- 
tracted by Curtis' actions in speaking to the jury, ran up to him, 
clasped one little arm about his knee, and with the other held up a 
piece of candy some person had given him, for him to take. Curtis 
stopped short, looked for an instant at the child, then at the audi- 
ence, then at the jury, but never spoke a word. The effect was elec- 
tric. There was not a dry eye in the courtroom ; the women gave out 
uncontrollable sobs. That silent eloquence was grand — indescribablv 
grand. Then he drew his own picture, and asked the jurors if they 
were fathers, and could find it in their hearts to make that child an 
orphan. With all this the old hard-shell remained obdurate, and 
as unmoved as the hills. At length Curtis roused himself for one 
more effort and with tears and emotion actually knelt down and 
prayed long and fervently at the feet of the obdurate juror, when all 
at once tears came trickling down his cheeks, and he, too, was en- 
tangled in the electric chain. After the case was over, and the 
young man accpiitted, Curtis said to the writer : ' ' Do you know that 
it was a hard struggle to capture that puritanical old ass? Why, 
I was actually comj^elled to pray, and ordinarily it would have been 
ridiculous." And, said the Judge: "When I got him I thought of 
an event in the life of the elder Booth, who had no equal in his per- 
sonation of Richard III. Well, Mr. Booth was to play his favorite 
character at Manchester, England, which was a great place for manu- 
facturing buttons. On ' the opening night the house was crowded, 
and Booth just let himself loose, but not a sign of applause fol- 
lowed his efforts. The audience was as silent as a tomb. He tried 
again and again, still no emotion or recognition. Driven to despair, 
he made a most superhuman effort, and at this time caught the 
entire audience at once. The applause was loud and continued. After 
the tumult. Booth, in his eccentric way, stepped to the footlights 
and said: 'What do you think of that, you damned button-makers?' 
Then he left the stage and would not finish the play. Now," contin- 
ued Curtis, "I felt like Booth in that act, and wanted to say, out 
loud, after my fervent prayer: 'What do you think of that, you d — d 
old hard-shell.' " 

JAMES W, COFFROTH 

Only a few now remain who can recall the memories of that 
eminent man whose magnetic powers stirred the hearts of the people, 
whose magic eloquence so often resounded at the bar, in the forum, 
and from the public platform. While the lips of James W. Coffroth 
have been silenced and his body in the silent chambers of the dead for 
thirty-six years, there are many "oldtimers" whose memories re- 
vert to the past, and recall that he was one of the leading spirits of 
this state and one who aided in making its early history. No lawyer 



234 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ever exercised greater influence over a jury. His splendid stature, 
clear and musical voice, and magnetic expression never failed to 
enter the heart of those whom he addressed. His was a most lov- 
able nature, generous and courteous to all, yet a lion when aroused. 
Plis style of eloquence was different from that of the contemporane- 
ous lawyers, and he easily stood the peer of any, although there 
were- orators and statesmen: Col. E. D. Baker, Henry Edgerton, 
W. H. L. Barnes, N. Greene Curtis, Jo Hamilton, Creed Haymond, 
W. W. Pendergast, James Goods, and a number of other eloquent 
orators and attorneys with whom he was confronted in litigation. 
(And, by the way, how rarely do we hear any of those illustrious 
names mentioned in this generation.) 

"Jim" Coffroth, as he was called, was extremely popular when 
lie came to Sacramento, as the senator from "Old Tuolumne," then 
one of the leading counties in the state. He was paraded around 
the city in a carriage drawn by six white horses, and with ban- 
ners, "Hail Tuolumne's Favorite Son." The American party was 
then in power in California. He could have been the candidate for 
governor, which was equivalent to an election that year, but gener- 
ously gave way to J. Neely Johnson, who was elected. For many 
years thereafter "Jim" Coffroth was known as "Tuolumne's Favor- 
ite Son." 

Every young attorney, including myself, reverenced "Jim" 
Coffroth for his generous treatment and assistance. Coffroth was 
very fond of humorous episodes, and was a natural wit, as well as 
a i^ractical joker, usually shying his wit and satire against other 
members of the profession. On one occasion he perpetrated a cruel 
joke on Hon. James T. Farley, who had been chosen speaker of the 
assembly. At the close of the session it was the custom for the 
speaker to deliver a farewell address. Farley asked Coffroth to 
give him some pointers for the address. Coffroth assented, and the 
next day handed a copy of an address delivered by a former speaker. 
Farley took it in good faith, never dreaming of any deception, and 
delivered it verhatim. Next day the Sacramento Union contained a 
very sarcastic reference to the similarity of the closing address with 
that of the former speaker of the house. For a long time, Farley, 
who was later elected United States senator, had an ax in store for 
Coffroth for the imposition. 

As I have already said, Mr. Coffroth was a very kind friend 
of mine, and he had occasion to disclose that friendship in the trial 
of the first important criminal case that I was retained to defend. 
Just about this time a syndicate of cattle dealers resolved to make 
vigoi'ous prosecutions in all cases of cattle stealing. It seems that 
the dealers had lost quite a number of cattle from their droves, 
which were slaughtered and sold by small butchers in the several 
counties adjoining Sacramento, and including Sacramento county. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 235 

For this purpose Hon. N. Greene Curtis was retained as special 
counsel for the prosecutions. The first person to be apprehended 
and charged with this offense was Henry Lapley, a well-to-do butcher 
of Folsom, Lapley was well known and bore a good reputation, 
and the accusation was a surprise to his friends. Anyway the offi- 
cers discovered the hide of a bovine in his slaughter-house which 
bore the brand of an old Irish woman by the name of Mary Denin, 
whom I had known from my early infancy, she being our nearest 
neighbor when I was a very small boy. The circumstances were 
very strong against the defendant. Upon his arrest Lapley sent 
for me to defend him. I told him it was a dangerous case and that 
I was only a young practitioner, and older and more experienced 
counsel should be retained. Having been his counsel in other mat- 
ters, Lapley insisted that he could trust and depend upon me. Well, 
the case was called for trial, and when Hon. Robert Clark, then 
judge, saw that I was alone in the case, and he being personally 
friendly to Henry Lapley, called me to the bench and whispered to 
me that it was somewhat risky for me to undertake such a case. 
Just then, "Jim" Coffroth came into the courtroom, and, noting 
the situation, called me aside and told me to go right along and he 
would find means to prompt me in the details. This he also com- 
municated to Judge Clark. Coffroth had a double motive in this 
support, one to aid me, as a young attorney, the other to get the best 
of N. Greene Curtis, who was a rival in the criminal practice. 
''Now," says Coffroth to me, "you make all manner of objections 
to Curtis' questions to witnesses, no matter whether there is any 
merit or not, and at each objection arise and argue some points of 
your defense — do this until you get all your salient points before 
the jury." I followed instructions, and although Judge Curtis in- 
sisted upon his objections, Judge Clark permitted my line of action. 
Then Mr. Coffroth again prompted me to manage by some in- 
direct question to arouse the ire of the prosecuting witness, whom 
I have said was a quaint old Irish woman. This, in order to get her 
to say something to divert the attention of the jury from the main 
facts and create some humor. In this I succeeded admirably and 
she answered the very first question I asked her, "It's the loikes 
of a spalpeen like yez, to ask me name, when I nursed ye as a baby, 
gwan wid ye." Her cross-examination was a repetition of sharp 
retorts, which edified the jury and served our purpose to the letter. 
The trial was finally closed, and still Mr. Coffroth sat beside me. 
The district attorney made the opening argument, leaving Judge 
Curtis to flay me alive in the closing argument. After the district 
attorney concluded, Mr. Coffroth whispered to me, "Now submit 
your case; remember, you made your argument on objections during 
the trial." At this I announced that I had no ariiument to make 
and submitted the case. 



236 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNT Y 

Judge Curtis arose to address the jur>', but was stopped by 
Judge Clark, wlio remarked, "There is nothing to reply to, Judge 
Curtis; Mr. Anderson has submitted the ease without formal argu 
ment. " Judge Curtis was furious, and turned to Coft'roth, saying, 
''Jim Coffroth, this is one of your sharp tricks." The jury, in 
about live minutes, returned a \'erdi('t of not guilty, and I, through 
the kindly offices of James W. Coffroth, secured my first great vic- 
tory in the criminal practice. 

The life of James W. CoU'roth was full of such noble and gen- 
erous acts towards young attorneys. He was a most accomplished 
and skilled criminal lawyer, and defended more murder cases on 
the coast to a successful termination, than any other attorney in 
the state. He was also of a poetic nature and often in his leisure 
hours would let his ])oetic fancy take shape. 

About a year prior to the death of James W. Coffroth, he was 
retained by the wealthy relatives of a man accused of stage rob- 
bery at LTkiah, Mendocino county. The retainer was $1000, and an 
additional five Jmndred on acquittal. After a ])rotracted trial he 
succeeded in ol^taining a verdict of not guilty. Upon the discharge 
of the defendant, C'Olfroth was i^aid the remainder of his fee and that 
same evening started for home in a buggy, accompanied by a driver. 
When they had proceeded a few miles, and at a lonely point, they 
were halted by a highwayman, who demanded their money. "Jim" 
did not like the idea of giving up his fee, and said to the robber, 
"Why, my man, all the money I have is what I received from clear- 
ing one of your kind." With that the robber took down his mask 
and said, "Hello, Jim, is that you? It is dark and I did not know 
you. II — 1, I don't want your money, I was waiting for another 
party." It was the same man he had just acquitted, and he told 
"Jim" to drive on quick as he expected the other party soon. 

The life of James W. Coffroth was one of eventful incidents, 
which, recounted, would make a volume. He had an ambition to sit 
in the halls of congress; but, like another great man and orator, 
Henry Edgerton, Fate was against him, and with all his ability and 
popularity he could never reach the goal. 

JOHN H. MC KUNE 

"Kings have their, dynasties, but not the mind; 
Ca'sars leave other Caesars to succeed; 
But wisdom dying, leaves no heir behind." 
Men, nations, empires, ])ass like shadows of night that vanish 
with the dawn, scai-ce missed as through all ages the world goes rollin" 
on. It was, indeed a wise man who admonished us to work as if 
we were to live forever, and to live as if we were to die tomorrow. 
Seneca said: "The shortness of life is the com])laint of both fools 
and |)hilosophers." 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



L'.J/ 



Judge John H. McKune was one of the potent factors in con- 
structino- the laws and ethics of the Golden State— a part of the 
history of this state, and without whom the chronicles of California 
would be incomplete. Yes, we can pay respect in memory to him to 
whom we can show no other gratitude. Judge McKune was a phil- 
osopher, and a firm believer in the immortality of the soul. He 
believed that no man was ever truly great unless he had rendered 
some service to his fellowman— something more than individual 
selfishness. While life m^iy be little less than an inconstant dream, 
it devolves on the true man to do some good on earth. His life 
was one of constant labor and activity— ever doing something for 
his fellowmen. The world soon forgets the honor and fame of her 
truly great men. There are no Plutarchs, Homers or Virgils in 
these days, to record their deeds and sing their praise. Thus the 
memory of myriads of great men has been lost. A lawyer may 
have a brilliant career, may be heralded for his eloquence and his 
learning; may have acquired great wealth (although the attributes 
of a great lawyer is one who works hard, lives well, and dies poor), 
but when he passes to the dark unknown, there is an end of him— 
he has done nothing to make his fame remembered beyond a few days. 

"What is Fame? A fancied life in others' breath, 
A thing beyond us, e'en before our death." 

Judge McKune belonged to the old school of chivalrous attor- 
neys; a race rapidly becoming extinct. The days of chivalrous law- 
yers, those who placed honor above all price, who bent their ener- 
gies for the honor and glory of the i)rofession, instead of the o'er- 
leaping struggle for the demon gold, are but a memory. 

'Twas Anacreon who said: 

''The light of gold can ne'er illume 
The gloomy midnight of the tomb." 

(A little digression from my thesis will not be out of place to 
rM]) the modern lawyers.) 

The honored profession of the law is so rapidly ■ merging into 
a plain, selfish commercialism, a matter of business, and the great 
niajority of the profession seek only the glittering sheen of gold. 
Thus the dignity and independence of the learned and honorable 
lawyer is sunk in the business and commercialism of the wealthy 
litigants, and it is only on rare occasions that the truly great lawyer 
leai)s o'er the golden chasm and stands for the nobility of the pro- 
fession. The wealthy seek only such law>^ers as will serve them— 
the (|uestion of honor or honesty is not considered. "My attorney 
must serve me— it is a matter of business; no sentiment of right 
enters this contract," says the i)owerful corporation. The honor- 
able code of legal ethics is abjured, and the able lawyers are drawn 



238 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

into the vortex of the vast cominerical and corporation interests of 
the nation, whether right or wrong- — there is no sentiment allowed. 

May the time he again at hand when the old-time chivalry of 
the bar shall be restored, and the examples of such men as John H. 
McKune emulated. Tlien we would have more independent lawyers 
— more independent and learned judges. Let all attorneys bear in 
mind that the rich can only decay on the shrine of gold. Judge 
McKune was not an orator, ])ut was endowed with a clear, logical 
mind, and could impress his auditors by his force and earnestness. 
No detail of the facts or the law was too minute for his study and 
analysis. In addition to his mental superiority, he was possessed 
of a great physical courage — always cool, deliberate, and calculating 
amid the greatest danger. Personal fear was not an ingredient of 
Judge McKune 's com]:>osition. Though of slight stature, he feared 
no man. 

In 1852, on account of his positive and independent nature, he 
incurred the enmity and hatred of certain elements of this com- 
munity, and one man, Greorge Wilson by name, stabbed Judge Mc- 
Kune through the lungs with the blade of a sword cane. At the time 
the wound was deemed fatal and while the judge could have slain 
his assailant he spared him on account of his wife and family. Many 
instances of his personal courage could be recounted, and of events 
of the early and troublous times in the early '50s, and even later. 

When Judge McKune first came to Sacramento in 1850 he 
erected a little cabin on the southwest corner of Fifth and K streets, 
which constituted his office and residence, and where he boiled his 
coffee and fried his bacon in a primitive manner outside, there being- 
no room in the interior for his culinary offices. For a number of 
months he and N. Greene Curtis, another noted man, occupied this 
one-room castle jointly for an office and residence. 

At the permanent organization of the city of Sacramento in 
1850, Judge McKune was elected the first city and county attorney. 
It was during some of his vigorous prosecutions that he incurred 
the bitter enmities and animosities that often engendered personal 
encounters, the great majorities, however, were always with him. He 
was always the friend of the early settler and opposed the whole- 
sale encroachments of fraudulent Mexican land grants, which cursed 
the country. His firm attitude in this matter prompted the presi- 
dent of the United States, Franklin Pierce, in 1854, to appoint him 
United States land commissioner, to investigate all the Mexican 
land claims. During his incumbency as land commissioner he made 
some valuable suggestions to the Washington authorities which were 
never heeded and which resulted in some fraudulent land grants 
being imposed upon the early settlers and pre-em])tion claimants. 

About 1855 Judge McKune formed a copartnership in the prac- 
tice of law with F. B. Crockei-, later of Central Pacific railroad fame, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 239 

in connection with Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Mark Hop- 
kins and C. P. Huntington. In 1857 Judge McKune was a member 
of the state legislature, with Hon. A. P. Catlin and Hon. R. C. 
Clark in the senate. 

He was, in 1858, elected district judge for the sixth judicial 
district, comprising Sacramento and Yolo counties, which office he held 
until December, 1869. During the latter part of his judicial term he 
incurred the enmity of the management of the Central Pacific Rail- 
road Company, who defeated him for renomination. Grovernor New- 
ton Booth in 1871 appointed Judge McKune one of the code com- 
missioners, to revise and codify the laws of this state. The other 
members of the commission were Hon. Creed Haymond and Hon. 
John C. Burch. The work of the commissioners bears the mark of 
Judge McKune 's legal ability and genius, and will remain a monu- 
ment to his superior legal attainments. 

Judge McKune was not only learned in what lawyers call ''black- 
letter law," but his literary tastes were of the highest order. He 
admired Rabelais for his splendid philosophy, and Rousseau for 
the reason that the critics were always against him and the masses 
with him. Macaulay's grand style and masterly force and eloquence 
held a high place in his mind. Goethe, the great German poet, was 
one of his favorites, as was also Dante, the famous Florentine poet. 
He was an extensive reader and student, even up to his last days on 
earth. ■ Several years before his death he commenced a history of 
Sacramento from the earliest days. After writing about twenty chap- 
ters they were ]:>ublished in "Themis," a literary journal edited by 
the late Win J. Davis and myself. The suspension of "Themis," in 
1895, ended the continuation of the history of Sacramento. In fact, 
the impress of his mind and genius can be found in all the early his- 
tory of the county and state — judicially, as a lawyer, and as a citizen. 

Judge McKune belonged to that class of men who believed that 
a kind heart, charitable brain, honesty, simplicity and truth are the 
essentials of genuine culture. Among his intimate friends he did not 
hesitate to discuss the approach of Nature's final call, and was firm 
in his belief that the present life is not the end^ — that all nature, 
all the traditions and history of the human race disclosed that there 
is something beyond this life which only the dissolution of the earthly 
frame would solve. 

Only a few men of the type of John H. McKune now remain. 

NEWTON BOOTH 

It is an attribute of refined nature to talk about those persons 
and events that have given us pleasure, and the personal recollections 
of Newton Booth are a source of such pleasure. There is an instinct 
which prom]its human nature to rebel against oblivion. Unless mem- 
ory is invoked through the press the world soon forgets the most 



240 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

spacious and eoiispifuous fame. In the person of Newton Bootli 
were combined most remarkable qualities. There was dignity in ev- 
erything he said and wrote. He was a scholar, writer, orator, phil- 
osopher, statesman and withal a most successful merchant. His 
orations, lectures and addresses will at all times have a place with 
the best and most polished of the nation, lie was ])ossessed of the 
attribute that endeared him to his fellow men. When such men pass 
away we are i)rone to hear and learn all we can about them. 

In addition to Newton l^ooth's brilliant public career, I now 
recall many incidents of his social life and the distinguished per- 
sons entertained by him at his connnodious rooms over the store of 
''Booth & Co.," on Front street, in this city. That classic pre- 
cinct has been the scene of many great social events wherein states- 
men, orators, actors, artists and authors have been his guests. 

For more than a third of a century no great statesman, orator 
or actor visited this city wlio did not become the welcome guest and 
was entertained by that knightly and courteous gentleman. The most 
brilliant epoch was, liowever, during his administration as governor 
of this state. l>rilliant receptions were the order, and all who en- 
tered his s])lendid home, ])Oor and rich alike, stood upon a level, 
brains and nuinly worth being the only tickets of admission. 

Long before the completion of the Central Pacific railroad, when 
that greatest of journalists, Horace Greely, made his stagecoach trip 
across the continent and was landed by Hank Monk at the depot of 
the Sacramento Valley railroad at Folsom, u]ion his arrival at this 
city he became the guest of Newton Booth. 

That great orator and divine, Thomas Starr King, famous for 
his clarion notes at tlie outset of the Civil War, in behalf of the 
Union, was often tlie guest of Newton Booth. 

Newton Booth was a native of Indiana, and when the great war 
governor of that state, Oliver P. Morton, visited California, he made 
his home his residence, where he met some of the inost distinguished 
men of the state. 

Gen. W. T. Sherman, ujion his tour over the country was the guest 
of Newton Booth, and was accom]ianied by him to witness a noted 
play at the Metropolitan theater, where upon their entrance a grand 
ovation was given them l)y the large audience. 

General Grant, u])on his tour around the world, when he arrived 
at Sacramento, si)ent a few hours with our distinguished fellow- 
citizen. 

President Hayes and President Harrison, upon their visits, re- 
spectively partook of his hospitality. When Lord Russell, chief jus- 
tice of the Queen's Bench of Phigland, came to this state, he did not 
depart without paying his respects to this prince of entertainers. 

Newton Booth was an enthusiastic devotee of the drama. Every 
distinguished actor or actress received his cordial hosintality. Edwin 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 241 

Booth, before he became famous, as well as afterward, was a personal 
friend of Newton Booth, xlbout the last time Edwin Booth appeared 
in this city, a private dinner was tendered him by Newton Booth, 
and at the board there were seated the host. Creed Haymond, Henry 
Edgerton, Sanniel Seabough, Paul Morrill, Edwin Booth, the guest 
of honor, and myself. Some one of the party suggested that Edwin 
Booth read the Lord's Prayer. I shall remember the emotion as long 
as life lasts. Never did I hear the Lord's Prayer read before, and 
never after, as it was then read. It was almost a divine inspiration. 

John McCullough was his frequent guest. During the engage- 
ment of John McCHiUough and Alice Kingsbury at the old Metro- 
politan theater, they were entertained at his home. 

When Katherine Rogers, a noted actress, held the boards in this 
city, she received a royal welcome at the governor's home. 

Old Joe Proctor, Walter Leman and Mrs. Judah were also the 
recipients of his hospitality. 

Governor Booth's administration was noted for its many elab- 
orate and brilliant receptions. The Old Bohemian (^lub, which also 
included the Sacramento Dramatic Association, of which the governor 
was a member, was specially favored with a number of splendid re- 
ceptions and entertainments. At these fetes the members of the 
clul), which was composed of many brilliant and scholarly men and 
women, would reciprocate, giving original ]iroductions of the l)rain 
in literature, art, music and the drama. On one occasion the club 
resolved to procure the famous Russian drama, "The Serf," and 
Governor Booth was assigned the title role. Albert Hart, the noble- 
hearted, generous, witty Albert Hart, was the manager. A rehearsal 
was called, and while the "star" had his lines dead letter perfect, 
he did not have the slightest conception of the art of acting, and 
after a few attempts led Albert Hart to exclaim: "Ye gods, could 
anything be worse!" "Well," said Hart, "you are a great orator, 
but I'm d — d if ever I saw such poor acting." This was his first 
and last attem])t at the histrionic art. While Newton Booth was 
sedate and dignified in his manner, he was a superb conversationalist, 
and most social and democratic to his fellowmen. There was a vein 
of unctuous humor in him, also sparkling and incisive wit — a wit 
that did not leave any scars. 

As an illustration of his dry humor, while he was LTnited States 
Senator he visited his native state, Indiana, and was entertained by 
the distinguished men of that state. During one of these events some 
of his hosts, in a humorous way, alluded to the great productions 
of California., particularly the large strawberries, and remarked that 
as Senator Booth was a truthful man, any information coming 
from him could be relied upon, "Now," said one of his hosts, "Sen- 
ator, how al)out your big strawberries?" "Well," said the Senator, 
"since you have paid me such a jiretty compliment for veracity, I 



242 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

will say that we do raise some very large strawberries, and they 
.come at about ten cents a pound, but they are somewhat less if you 
buy a whole one." 

It was my good fortune to be a close and intimate friend of Gov- 
ernor Booth and often was his guest for a social as well as literary 
converse. His library was his home within which was an atmosphere 
of the classics, a treasure-house of literature. Many evenings I spent 
listening to him converse on deep sul)jects, as well as spurts of wit and 
humor — interspersed with an occasional mint julep, compounded as a 
'^nectar fit for the gods." It was a custom of the firm of "Booth & 
Co." each Christmas to load up wagons with groceries and distribute 
the same to poor families. His partner, "Cy" Wheeler — grand, large- 
souled old "Cy" — attended to the proper distribution, and never al- 
lowed any publicity regarding who were the donors. 

Newton Booth was always the foe of tyranny of great corpora- 
tions and the unjust interference of aggregated wealth in public af- 
fairs. On one occasion his former friend, also a brilliant orator, John 
A. Felton, charged him with being an "alarmist." This accusation 
brought forth a caustic reply filled with powerful invective and irony, 
which remains a masterpiece in its line. To show that Booth was 
more of a prophet than an alarmist, I quote from one of his speeches : 

"Would you behold the saddest spectacle of the age? See it in 
the strong man seeking in vain for a place to earn his daily bread 
by daily toil. 

"Would you discover the danger that threatens social order? Find 
it in the boys of our cities growing up in voluntary or enforced idle- 
ness, to graduate into prisoners or outlaws. 

"Whoever will look open-eyed into the future will see that the 
'labor question'; the question of directing the rising generation into 
the channels of useful employment ; the question of the equitable dis- 
tribution of the burdens and reward of labor, so that the drones shall 
not live upon the workers, and honest industry may be certain of its 
reward; the question of making labor able — not only honorable but 
honored, is the social problem more important than political questions 
to which our age shall address itself. It must be intelligently solved. 
or, like the blind Samson, it will bring the temple down upon our 
heads." 

Newton Booth was at all times patriotic, and took an active part 
in politics. He was one of the first to raise his voice and devote his 
abilities for the Union against rebellion. In later years he often took 
an active part in the local primaries. I remember on one occasion 
many years ago, he headed a primary ticket in the first ward, com- 
posed of such men as T. B. McFarland, John H. McKune, E. B. Moll, 
George W. Chesley, W. A. Anderson, Jacob Bauer, C. K. Dougherty. 

The first ward was then the leading ward in the city, and Frank 
Rhoads had only developed into a ward leader. Frank did not like 



HISTOKY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 243 

• the personnel of the above ticket, and made up one of his own com 
posed mostly of Confidence Engine Company No. 1 firemen During 
the progress of the election it became evident that the "boys' " ticket 
was defeated, and Rhoads, just before the closing of the polls ordered 
a sham fight for the purpose of getting me out of the way, I having 
been detailed to guard the ballot-box. Anyway, the fight began, and 
before i could realize the purport, I was seized and thrown bodilv out 
of the window, sash and all. While this was going on, of course the 
work of adding a few handfuls of tickets to the boys changed the 
result. When I got back into the room, full of fight and vengeance no 
one seemed to be m any fighting mood and merely laughed at me sav- 
ing that there was no fight, and that I only fell out of the window 
Of course there was nothing further to do but grin and bear it. Booth 
and Rhoads used often to laugh over the episode and the result Per- 
haps the saddest part is the fact that I am the only one left of that 
liistoric crowd to tell the story. 

WILLIAM ALEXANDER ANDERSON 

By the late Winfield J. Davis 
There are few men whose lives are crowned with the honor and 
respect which is universally accorded to William Alexander Anderson 
but through more than half a century's connection with central Cali- 
fornia's history his has been an unblemished character. With him 
success m life has been reached by sterling qualities of mind and a 
heart true to every manly principle. He has never deviated from what 
his judgment indicated to be right and honorable between his fellow- 
men and himself. He has never swerved from the path of dutv and 
he has every reason to enjoy the consciousness of having gained for 
himself by his honorable, straightforward career the confidence and 
respect of the entire community in which he lives. He has attained 
a foremost position at the bar, and as a writer and dramatic critic is 
also well known. The public career of but few other men of Sacra- 
mento has extended over a longer period, and none have been more 
faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation. 

Judge Anderson is a native of AVisconsin, his birth havino- oc- 
curred at Mineral Point, in that state, Februarv -25, 1846. He was a 
son of Hartford and Susan Anderson, who became pioneer residents 
of California, settling in this state at tlie period of its earlv mining 
develo])ment. His paternal grandfather was a resident of Edinburgh! 
Scotland, in early life, and his wife was born in the north of Ireland. 
Having emigrated to America, he established his home in Penusvl- 
vania, where occurred the birth of his son Hartford. The mother 'of 
our subject, Mrs. Susan (Atkins) Anderson, was a native of Kentucky. 
For some time the parents of the Judge resided in Wisconsin, where 
the father worked at the trade of carriage and wagon making. The 
business op])ortunities of the west, however, attracted him, and hoping 



244 ITTSTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

that lie might readily obtain a fortime in the mining districts of Cali- 
fornia, he made his way across the plains, accompanied by his family. 
They traveled over the stretches of hot sand, through the mountain 
passes, till the days had lengthened into weeks, and the weeks into 
months. At length the\' safely reached their destination. Mrs. Ander- 
son, however, did not long survive her arrival on the Pacific coast, her 
death occurring during the cholera epidemic of 1852. Hartford Ander- 
son, well known as one of the pioneer residents of Sacramento, con- 
tinued to make his home in the capital cit}^ until his demise, whicli 
occurred in October, 1896. He took an active and interested part in 
the early develoi)ment of this portion of the state, and his sympathy 
and support were always given to the measures and monuments which 
contributed to the latter-day progress and improvement. 

Judge Anderson was only three years old at the time of his 
parents' removal to the west. He began his education in the public 
schools, and supplemented his early mental training by study in Santa 
Clara college, thus completing his literary course. His professional 
training was received in the Benicia Law College. His earlier studies, 
however, were directed in such a manner as to i)repare him for the 
profession of civil engineering, but at a later date he determined to 
pursue the study of the law, and entered the institution mentioned, 
comj^leting there a thorough law course, after which he was graduated 
with the class of 1865. 

Throughout his entire business career Judge Anderson has de 
voted his attention to the law, having been admitted to the bar of Cali- 
fornia by the supreme court of the state in 1866, and to the United 
States circuit court in 1880. Admitted to the bar, he at once entered 
upon practice, and from the beginning has been unusually prosperous 
in every respect. The success he has attained has been due to his own 
efforts and merits. The possession of advantages is no guarantee 
whatever of professional advancement, wliicli comes not of itself, nor 
can it be secured without integrity, ability and industry. These qual- 
ities he possesses to an eminent degree, and he is faithful to every in- 
terest committed to his charge. Throughout his whole life, whatever 
his hand has found to do, whether in his profession or in his official 
duties, or in any other sphere, he does with all his might and with a 
deep sense of conscientious obligation. As a lawyer, he is sound, 
clear-minded and well trained. He is at home in all departments of 
the law, from the minutiae in practice to the greater topics involving 
the consideration of the ethics and the philosophy of jurisprudence and 
the higher concerns of public ])olicy. His success, however, affords 
the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advo- 
cate with the jury, and concise in his appeals before the court. Much 
of the success which has attended him in his professional career is 
undoubtedly due to the fact that in no instance will he permit himself 
to go into court with a case unless he has absolute confidence in the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 245 

justice of his client's cause. Basing his efforts on this principle, from 
which there are far too many lapses in professional ranks, it naturally 
follows that he seldom loses a case in whose support he is enlisted. 

Judge Anderson was first chosen to public office before he had 
attained his majority, being elected county auditor in 1866. His next 
public service was that of assistant adjutant-general in the Fourth 
Brigade of the California National Guard, from 1868 to 1879. In the 
meantime he was elected city attorney in 1875, and was continued in 
that office until 1886. In 1893 legislative honors were conferred upon 
him, he being chosen to represent the eighteenth district of California 
in the assembly, where he gave careful consideration to every question 
that came up for settlement, and espoused with ardor or opposed with 
equal earnestness the course which he believed would prove of benefit 
to the commonwealth or check its best interests. His service in the 
house won him the commendation of his constituents and the respect 
of his political opponents. In 1898 he was chosen police judge of 
Sacramento, and his decisions were characterized by the strictest im- 
partiality and equity. He was serving an unexpired term as city 
justice when the new charter went into effect. 

Judge Anderson has always given his j^olitical allegiance to the 
Republican party, and having made a close and earnest study of the 
issues and questions of the day, he has become more strongly con- 
firmed in his opinion that the party platform contains the best ele- 
ments of good government. His campaign work has been effective 
and far-reaching, for he has visited various portions of California, 
advocating the doctrines of Republicanism, and expounding the basic 
elements on which the political organization rests. He was one of 
the first champions of Major McKinley in California, and became a 
member of the executive committee during that campaign. He has 
been a delegate to nearly every Republican county and state conven- 
tion for nearly thirty years, and his opinions carry weight in the 
counsels of his party. In 1898 he was a delegate to the National 
Republican League convention, held in Omaha. 

Judge Anderson has been twice married, and by the first union 
had one son, Osmer W. Anderson, who was born August 22, 1871, and 
who was for two years a volunteer soldier in the Philippines. On the 
8th of September, 1880, Judge Anderson married Miss Mary Cadwell. 
Their 's is an attractive home, the center of many an entertaining- 
social function, and hospitality which is both gracious and generous 
is the pervading atmosphere of the household. In his fraternal rela- 
tions Judge Anderson is an Odd Fellow. He was reared in the 
Episcopal faith, but is a man of broad and liberal views in religious 
matters, and is a communicant of no church organization at the 
present time. 

A man of scholarly attainments and literary tastes, possessing 
broad general, as well as classical, information, he finds considerable 



246 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

enjoymeut in giving liis time to literary pursuits, and lias been a fre- 
quent contributor to the daily papers. He was one of the founders 
of a literary journal called "Themis," which was noted for historical 
merit and for its clear-cut and literary editorials. He is the author 
of some dramatic works, and is well known as a dramatic critic and 
lover of the drama. He has studied from the art standpoint many of 
the most celebrated dramas of the world, and has had a personal 
acquaintance with most of the great dramatists of a generation ago, 
including Edwin Booth, John McCullough, Lawrence Barrett and a 
number of the actors and actresses. His writings are fluent and enter- 
taining, eloquent and versatile, and for a third of a century he has 
been known to the public as a lecturer whose addresses have created 
widespread interest. His influence upon literary and aesthetic culture 
of the state has been most potent, and at the same time he has given 
a practical support to the measures intended to advance the material 
interests of Sacramento. As a man and a citizen he is honored and 
respected in every class of society. While undoubtedly he is not with- 
out that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful as an 
incentive to activity in public affairs, he regards the pursuits of pri- 
vate life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. 
His is a character that subordinates personal ambition to public good 
and seeks rather the benefit of others than the aggrandizement of self. 
His is a conspicuously successful career. Endowed by nature with 
high intellectual qualities, to which are added the discipline and em- 
bellishments of culture, his is a most attractive personality. Well 
versed in the learning of his profession, with a deep knowledge of 
human nature and of the springs of human conduct, with great 
shrewdness and sagacity, and extraordinary tact, he is in the courts 
an advocate of great power and influence, and both judges and juries 
hear him with deep interest. 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES 

The history of Masonry in the state of California is so inextric- 
ably interwoven with the history of Masonry in Sacramento, that we 
may be pardoned if we give a somewhat extended mention of its in- 
ception. The first meeting of lodges that resulted in the formation 
of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons 
of the State of California took place in the city of Sacramento. For 
the early history of Masonry in the state we are indebted to the deep 
and tireless research of old records by Edwin A. Sherman, 33°, Vener- 
able Grand Secretary of the Masonic Veteran Association of the 
Pacific Coast, as set fortli in his "Fifty Years of Masonry in Cali- 
fornia." 

Even with the first explorers of the wilds west of the Rocky 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 247 

mountains, came Masons as trappers, hunters and traders. Few, if 
any, such parties did not embrace within their ranks at least one or 
more Masons, fearless, energetic men, who carried in their bosoms the 
doctrines and secret ceremonies of the Mystic Tie, men of moral 
courage as well as physical, of stern integrity and fidelity to their 
Masonic obligations. Many a tale could be told of the devotion of 
these daring spirits to their distressed or imperiled brethren, and also 
to their comrades not bound to them by the ties of Masonry. 

The first Masonic missionary, for he might well be classed as a 
missionary, who came to California, and returned to Missouri to bring 
from the Grand Lodge of that state the first charter for a Masonic 
lodge, was Peter Lassen. Long before the discovery of gold, he came 
here, brave, hardy and determined, and was untiring in his resolve 
to found a Masonic lodge here, while the country was still under the 
Mexican rule. Lassen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 7, 
1800, and there learned his trade of blacksmith. At twenty-nine years 
of age he crossed the ocean to Boston, and a few years after removed 
to Missouri. In 1839, with a party of others, he came to Oregon, and 
after spending the winter there, sailed in an English ship to Fort 
Bodega, then occupied by the Russians. The Mexican comandante 
sent a party of soldiers to prevent their landing, but the Russian 
governor ordered the Mexican soldiers to leave or be shot down, and 
they retired. Lassen and his comrades were stranded and unable to 
get away, and appealed to the i\merican consul at Monterey, stating 
that they had been denied passports and were without funds, that they 
wanted to proceed to the settlements or to obtain a pass to return to 
their own country. The appeal wound up with the characteristic state- 
ment: "Should we receive no relief, we will take up our arms and 
travel, consider ourselves in an enemy's country and defend ourselves 
with our guns." 

After remaining at Bodega fifteen days, however, they managed 
to reach Yerba Buena and later Lassen went to San Jose, bought some 
land in 1841 at Santa Cruz and set up a sawmill. In 1843 John Bid- 
well, Lassen and James Burheim pursued a party bound for Oregon as 
far as Red Bluff and recovered some stolen animals. Bidwell made 
a map of the valley and named the streams, and on his return Lassen 
applied to Governor Micheltorena for a grant of land, based on Bid- 
well's map. He received it and selected Deer creek, in Tehama county, 
proceeding there the next spring and making the first settlement north 
of Cordua at Marysville. He laid out a town which he named Benton 
City, where he ]iro]iosed to start a Masonic lodge. He laid out the 
Lassen road for immigrants and named Lassen Peak. This was before 
the discovery of gold, and in 1847 he went back to Missouri to get a 
charter for a lodge, several other Masons having joined him at Benton 
Citv. He obtained a charter for Western Star Lodge No. 98, Mav 10, 
1848, naming Saschel Woods, master; L. E. Stewart, senior warden, 



248 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and Lassen, junior warden. He returned with the charter and an im- 
migrant train of twelve wagons, being joined at Pitt river by a party 
of Oregonians who had heard of the discovery of gold, of which he had 
not heard until they joined him. He did not learn that a Masonic 
lodge had been instituted at Oregon City, September 11, 1848, under 
authority of the grand lodge of Missouri, or that Joseph Hull, the 
master, and several other Masons of that lodge were with the Oregon 
train. Neither party learned till long afterwards that any of the 
others were Masons, or that Lassen had a charter for a lodge. He 
afterwards went to Plumas county, and in 1853 met his death at the 
hands of the Piute Indians. His body was recovered by citizens and 
buried at Honey lake on his ranch, and a stone monument erected to 
his memory, while the county of Lassen was named after him. 

November 9, 1848, Samuel York Atlee, William Van Voorhies and 
Bedney F. McDonald received a charter for California Lodge No. 13, 
from the District of Columbia, and located it at San Francisco. Con- 
necticut Lodge No. 75 was granted a charter by the grand lodge of 
Connecticut, January 31, 1849. Pacific Lodge, U. D., was granted a 
traveling charter by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, June 5, 1849, and 
located at Benicia, subsequently becoming Benicia Lodge. The same 
Grand Lodge also granted a dispensation to Davy Crockett Lodge at 
San Francisco. Illinois granted a dispensation to a traveling lodge 
which located at Marysville, and Wisconsin granted one to Lafayette 
Lodge at Nevada City. The records of Western Star Lodge were de- 
stroyed by fire, so that, although it was the oldest lodge in the state, 
the records of California Lodge No. 13 are the oldest extant. 

Connecticut Lodge No. 75, the first one in Sacramento, is now 
known as Tehama Lodge No. 3, F. and A. M. Its inception, as re- 
lated by R. H. McDonald and Past Grand Master John A. Tutt, the 
only Mason living who assisted in the organization of the grand lodge 
of California, we find some interesting data. In 1849 Dr. McDonald 
opened an office on K street near Sixth, and a friend of his, who was 
going to the mines, came to his office and said : ' ' Doctor, when I was 
coming across the plains and along the Humboldt valley in Nevada, I 
saw piled up on the sand by the side of the road, a lot of books, and 
on a card fastened on a stick, this notice: 'Help yourself.' There were 
a good many fine books in the heap, and among them this large red 
morocco-covered Bilile with gilt edges. As I could not pack more than 
one book along with me, I took this Bible, and brought it through. As 
I am going to the mines, and cannot take it with me, and as you are a 
kind of religious cuss, I'll give it to you." Dr. McDonald accepted it. 

Shortly after, in Septembef, 1849, several written notices were 
found posted up around the horse market, on the trees, calling a 
meeting of all Master Masons in good standing, to meet in the upper 
part of a building on the north side of K street. When the meeting 
convened, the little garret was packed with brethren who were nearly 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY :>49 

all strangers to one another. The meeting was called to order by John 

A. Tutt, and someone made a motion that Dr. R. H. McDonald take 
the chair. Dr. McDonald was surprised, as he did not know a single 
person present, but he approached the box that was used as a chair, 
and was confronted l)y a tall stranger, who also stepped forward to 
take it. It was an amusing scene, as they stood looking each other in 
the face. "Are you Dr. R. H. McDonald, and have you a monopoly of 
the name of McDonald," asked R. H. "I am Dr. R. H. McDaniel," 
was the reply, "but am known as Dr. McDonald through a mistake in 
calling my name." Mutual explanations followed, and as the stranger 
proved to be the one nominated, he. took the chair and opened the 
meeting. When it became necessary to ascertain who were Masons, 
it was discovered that there was no Bible present, and it could not be 
dispensed with. "Wait a minute, and I will get one," said Dr. Mc- 
Donald. He went out and brought in the pioneer Bible which his 
friend had given him. An association was then and there formed for 
the relief of the sick and distressed brethren who were constantly 
arriving. 

Soon afterwards the discovery was made that there was in ex- 
istence a charter for a Masonic Lodge in the hands of one of the 
brethren, issued to Connecticut Lodge No. 75. Upon this the associa- 
tion was dissolved, and on January 8, 1850, it organized under the 
name of Connecticut Lodge No. 75, and Dr. R. H. McDonald presented 
his Bible to the lodge. Today it belongs to Tehama Lodge No. 3, 
the successor of Connecticut Lodge. The lodge secured the upper part 
of the Red House, on the southeast corner of Fifth and J streets, which 
was the building best suited to its purposes, at that time, but as the 
owner shortly afterwards rented the lower story for immoral pur- 
poses, the lodge removed with its furniture to the attic over the old 
market house on M street near- Second. Previous to this, however, 
the Grand Lodge of California was organized in the building first 
occupied, on April 19, 1850. Tehama Lodge No. 3 was chartered by 
the Grand Lodge of California. The Bible used in organizing the 
Grand Lodge of California was the same one Dr. McDonald pre- 
sented to Connecticut Lodge. 

The deputy grand master of New Jersey issued a dispensation 
March 1, 1849, to open a lodge in the territory of California, which 
seems to have been a sort of roving commission, with power for the 
master and brethren to appoint his successors in office until the next 
annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. It seemed to 
exist continuously and to assume the functions and privileges of an 
independent chartered lodge. The dispensation from the Grand Lodge 
of New Jersey authorized Thomas Youngs, Moses W. Personett, John 

B. Clark and others to open the lodge, and named Youngs as master. 
He conveyed authority to John E. Crockett and certified that fact on 
the back of the dispensation. Crockett, so authorized, opened New 



250 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Jersey Lodge in this city December 4, 1849, and it was in active and 
successful operation by April 17, 1850, and chose its representatives 
to the convention of that date. The delegates, however, could take no 
part in the organization of the Grand Lodge, not being an independent 
chartered lodge, but only a temporary creation of the Deputy Grand 
Master of New Jersey. Innnediately after the organization of the 
Grand Lodge of C-alifornia, this lodge applied and received a charter 
as Berryman Lodge No. 3, which was changed shortly afterwards to 
Jennings Lodge No. 4. 

There are very few who are aware that there were two Grand 
Lodges of California instituted for the government of the order, but 
sucli was the fact. The records of the first Grand Lodge were un- 
doubtedly destroyed. There was no opportunity to examine the 
records of Connecticut Lodge and Western Star Lodge, which were 
destroyed by fire, nor of New Jersey Lodge, U. D., which is extinct, 
nor of Benicia Lodge, U. D., of Benicia, which presented no records 
to the convention. California Lodge No. 13, of San Francisco, was a 
regularly chartered lodge, but it was not notified of the action con- 
templated for the organization of a Grand Lodge, and as the Masonic 
law and custom provides that there must be present representatives 
from three regularly chartered lodges, the organization of the first 
Grand Lodge was irregular and illegal. 

California Lodge No. 13, being notified of the action organizing 
a Grand Lodge at Sacramento, appointed a committee to investigate, 
and finding the state of affairs, notified the Sacramento l)rethren of 
the irregularity of their action, suggesting that the matter be begun 
over again. The brethren at Sacramento, finding their error, aban- 
doned voluntarily their Grand Lodge, the officers of which are un- 
known, and joined with California Lodge for the formation of a legally 
constituted Grand Lodge. Notices were sent out to the regular lodges 
of A. Y. Masons of the state, for a convention to be held at Sacra- 
mento April 17, 1850, for the formation of a Grand Lodge. 

The convention met on the 17th in this city, and Most Worshipful 
Charles Gilman of San Francisco, Past Grand Master of Maryland, 
was called to the chair, and Benjamin D. Hyam of Benicia, after- 
wards Grand Master of California, was chosen secretary. Representa- 
tives of the following lodges presented their credentials to W. N. 
Doughty and John A. Tutt of Sacramento and John LI. Gihon of San 
Francisco, the Committee on Credentials: California Lodge No. 13, 
San Francisco; Connecticut Lodge No. 75, Sacramento; Western Star 
Lodge No. 98, Benton City; New Jersey Lodge, U. D., Sacramento; 
Benicia Lodge, IT. D., Benicia. The committee reported the first three 
as regularly chartered, and New Jersey Lodge as regularly under dis- 
pensation, but that Benicia Lodge had presented neither a charter nor 
a dispensation. The three chartered lodges were pronounced by the 
convention entitled to form a Grand Lodge. The constitution of the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 251 

Graud Lodge was adopted on April 19tli, and the following Grand 
Officers elected: Jonathan D. Stevenson, R. W. grand master; John 
A. Tntt, R. W. deputy grand master; Caleb Fenner, R. W. senior 
grand warden; Saschel Woods, R. AV. junior grand warden; John H. 
Gihon, R. W. grand secretary. 

New Jersey Lodge was granted a charter, and at the first aimnal 
meeting of the Grand Lodge in this city, May 7, 1850, Benicia Lodge 
received its charter. A dispensation had been granted to Sutter Lodge 
in Sacramento, and it was granted a charter. The lodges belonging to 
the Grand Lodge were given numbers as follows : California Lodge, 
No. 1; Western Star Lodge, No. 2; Tehama Lodge, No. 3; Berryman 
Lodge (Sacramento), No. 4; Benicia Lodge, No. 5; Sutter Lodge 
(Sacramento), No. 6. The name of Berryman Lodge was changed to 
Jennings Lodge No. 4. By this formation of the Grand Lodge, Sacra- 
mento secured in the election the deputy grand master, junior grand 
warden, and eight of the appointive officers, to which she was en 
titled, being the great distributing point for Masonic charity. 

The semi-annual meeting of the Grand Lodge was held at Sacra- 
mento in November, 1850, during the last days of the cholera epidemic, 
and in its proceedings it developed that those attending taxed them- 
selves voluntarily for charity, $17,010.70, an average of $205 each ; and 
assumed a debt of $14,425.44, an average of $174, making a contribu- 
tion of $379 for every Master Mason in Sacramento contributing to 
the Masonic Hospital inside of ten months, besides answering other 
demands for charity of all descriptions. Those were the days when 
Masons' hearts and purses were opened wide at the call of distress. 
Fortunately for Sacramento, she has never since been so strenuously 
called on for relief, although even now her board of relief, composed 
of the masters of the lodges, is called upon to contribute large sums 
yearly. Never, perhaps, in the history of the world has there been an 
exhibition of such great sacrifice, such unselfish charity, and such de- 
voted service to the cause of humanity as the records of the early 
days of Sacramento show to have been carried out by the Masonic 
pioneers of the city and state, in conjunction with the offspring of 
Masonry — the Order of Odd Fellows — during the terrible seasons of 
disease and epidemic in 1849-50. 

In 1864 the initial steps were taken for the erection of a Masonic 
Temple. The first meeting of the Masonic Hall Association was held 
July 1, 1864. The board of directors chosen from the five lodges were 
A. T. Nelson, Leonard Goss, W. F. Knox, H. T. Holmes, Richard 
Dale, S. D. Smith, Thomas Ross, P. S. Lawson and John W. Rock, 
all of whom have since passed away. The association incorpor- 
ated on September 17, 1864, with a capital of $30,000, divided into 
twelve thousand shares of twenty-five dollars each. November 1, 1864, 
they bought of R. D. Ferguson the old "Horse Market" at the south- 
west corner of Sixth and K streets, on the trees of which, in 1849, 



252 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the notices for the first meeting of Masons in Sacramento had been 
posted. June 24, 1865, the cornerstone of the building was laid by 
Grand Master William Caldwell Belcher. An excursion to Clipper 
Gap, where an oration was delivered by A. A. Sargent, netted $18,000, 
and the hall, which was added to and remodeled in 1875, at a cost of 
many thousands, is one of the finest and most valuable Masonic prop- 
erties in the state. A few years ago the directors of the association 
purchased a site at Twelfth and J streets, on which it is x)roposed to 
erect a new Masonic Temple, the plans of which have been accepted, 
at a cost of $450,000. In the present temple the five lodges of Sacra- 
mento meet, as well as the Chapter, R. A. M., the Council, Com- 
mandery and the Scottish Rite Ijodies, as well as four Eastern Star 
chapters. The Scottish Rite bodies are planning at present to erect a 
building for that Masonic branch. 

The early history of Tehama Lodge No. 3, which was first char- 
tered as Connecticut Lodge No. 75, and rechartered by the Grand 
Lodge under its present name January 8, 1850, has been delineated in 
this article. The charter was granted to Caleb Fenner, W. M. ; James 
W. Goodrich, S. W., and Elizur Hubbell, J. W. John A. Tutt, one 
of its charter members, was afterwards grand master. Two of Cali- 
fornia's early governors, John Bigler and J. Neely Johnson, were 
among its members on tlie first roll sent to the Grand Lodge in Novem- 
ber, 1850; also Gen. A. M. Winn. After the lodge removed from the 
Red House it located in tlie liall over the market house at Second and 
M streets, moving thence to the upper story of Stanford's bifilding on 
K street, and going, in 1854, to the third story of Bennett's building 
on J street, between Front and Second. Since the erection of the Tem- 
ple, it holds its meetings there. It is a prosperous lodge, its present 
membership being two hundred and thirty. The officers for 1912 : 
Henry A. W. Lindgreen, W. M. ; Louis R. Plate, S. W. ; Henry H. 
McCann, J. W, ; William 0. Girardy, treasurer; Theodore J. Milliken, 
secretary; Charles E. Parrar, chaplain; Donald McClain, S. D. ; Tol- 
bert T. Bray, S. D. ; Halleck H. Look, marshal ; Albert Greilich, S. S. ; 
Chester W. Foster, J. S. ; R. 0. Cravens, tyler. 

Jennings Lodge No, 4, acting under dispensation as New Jersey 
Lodge, and chartered by the Grand Lodge of California May 7, 1850, 
as Berryman Lodge No. 4, of which the name was changed the same 
day to Jennings Lodge No. 4, resolved February 14, 1853, to surrender 
its cliarter to the Grand Lodge, and did so, passing out of existence. 
Hon. H. C. Hastings, afterwards a justice of the su]n-eme court of 
CaliforniM, E. J. C. Keweu, and other prominent men were members 
of it. 

Sutter Lodge No. 6 was granted a dispensation by Deputy Grand 
Master Tutt Ai)ril 19, 1850, with Edward J. Willis', W. m! ; C. E. 
Thorn, S. D., and Addison Martin, J. D., as officers, and was granted 
a charter by the Grand Lodge on May 7th following. The lodge, hav- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 253 

ing- lost its furniture and jewels by fire, surrendered its charter, and 
was declared extinct bv the Grand Lodge, May 6, 1853. E. J. Willis 
was county judge of Sacramento, and E. W. McKinstry, another mem- 
ber, was afterwards a justice of the supreme court of California. 

Washington Lodge No. 20 was organized February 19, 1852, 
granted a dispensation two days afterwards, with Charles Dunscombe, 
W. M.; Jesse Morrill, S. W. ; J. L. Thompson, J. W., and a charter 
was granted to it May 5, 1852. Its first master, N. Greene Curtis, 
served four terms as grand master, and it has in its membership our 
present governor, Hiram Warren Johnson, besides two governors who 
afterwards received foreign appointments — ^John Bigler, United States 
Minister to Chili, and Romualdo Pacheco, United States Minister to 
Guatemala, and who was the second native Spanish Californian, as 
far as is known, to receive the degree of Masonry. There were a num- 
ber of other members who became prominent in the state's history. 
The officers for 1912 were: John Gibson Labadie, W. M. ; Clycle 
Horace Brown, S. W. ; John Plenry Lindenmeyer, J. W. ; Benjamin 
Huntington Gallup, treasurer; John Scott, secretary; Frank Bock, S. 
D. ; Mahlon E. Waldron, marshal; George B. Herr, tyler. 

Sacramento Lodge No. 40 was granted a dispensation July 20, 
1853, and May 3, 1854, obtained its charter, when its officers were: 
James Lawrence English, W. M. ; John A. Tutt, S. W. ; John H. Gass, 
J. W. ; W. J. Kohlman, treasurer; W. G. Borneman, secretary; B. F. 
Crouch, chaplain; W. W. Stovall, S. D. ; H. Greenbaum, J. D. Edwin 
Sherman, author of ''Fifty Years of Masonry in California," was a 
member of this lodge. John A. Tutt, William Lawrence English and 
E. C. Atkinson were all grand masters. W. M. Petrie, for more than 
thirty years treasurer of the lodge, W. L. English, Isaac Davis and 
W. F. Knox have been grand high priests of the Grand Chapter, and 
grand commanders of the Grand Commandery of California. Davis 
and English were also grand masters of the Grand Council. 

Union Lodge No. 58 was granted a dispensation June 5, 1854, 
with James Ralston, W. M. ; Gabriel Haines, S. W. ; and Sol Kohl- 
man, J. W., pro tern.; May 4, 1855, 'its charter was granted, with 
the same master and senior warden, W. A. Walters as junior war- 
den, taking Kohlman 's place. The only charter member now living 
is Col. A. Andrews of San Francisco. Samuel C. Denson, a former 
judge of the superior court, was a grand master from this lodge, 
and George T. Bromley, known all over the coast for his amiable 
and genial qualities, was a member. He was conductor of the 
first train on the first railroad built in California. Benjamin Welch. 
another member, was a thirtv-third degree member of tlic A. and 
A. S. R. 

Concord Lodge No. 117 never received a dispensation. Its ])eti- 
tion for a charter was received by the Grand Lodge May 14, 1857, and 
its charter was granted the next morning, naming John L. Thompson, 



254 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

W. M. ; Thomas Johnson, S. W. ; and Charles S. White, J. W. William 
H. Hevener, the oldest member and a past master of this lodge, was 
given his degrees in 1859. He has been secretary of the lodge for 
nearly thirty years. The late S. H. Gerrish, who died in August, 1912, 
for many years secretary of the Sacramento Free Library, was a 
member of this lodge. 

EOYAL AECH MASONS 

Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., was instituted October 5, 

1852, with the following officers and charter members: Isaac Davis, 
H. P.; J. H. Bullard, K.; Joel Noah, S.; T. A. Thomas, C. of H.; 
Charles Buncombe, P. S.; J. Ball, R. A. C. ; J. P. Gouch, M. Third V.; 
G. Haines, M. Second V. ; J. Wilcoxson, M. First V. The other charter 
members were: A. B. Hoy, T. W. Thayer, John L. Thompson, Jesse 
Morrill, William Reynolds, I. N. Briceland, A. liullub, Cyrus Rowe. 
The chapter at present numbers over three hundred members. 

Sacramento Council No. 1, Royal and Select Masters, was insti- 
tuted April 10, 1858, with the following officers and charter members : 
Isaac Davis, T. I. M. ; John A. Tutt, D. I. M. ; Geo. I. N. Monell, P. C. 
of W. ; G. E. Montgomery, R. ; N. Greene Curtis, treasurer. Other 
charter members were : Jesse Morrill, T. A. Thomas, G. Haines, H. H, 
Hartley, 0. H. Dibble, A. G. Richardson and J. Wilcoxson. It has at 
present a very large membership. 

Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T., was instituted July 5, 

1853, with the following charter members and officers : Isaac Davis, 
E. C. ; Jesse Morrill, G. ; T. A. Thomas, C. G. ; C. I. Hutchinson, A. B. 
Hoy, John L. Thompson, Charles Duncombe, J. P. Gouch and James 
M. Stockley. It numbers over two hundred and fift}^ members. 

In 1869 the Scottish Rite branch of Masonry was introduced in 
Sacramento, Jacques de Molay Council No. 2, Knights Kadosh, being 
instituted on May 13th of that year. Palestine Lodge of Perfection 
No. 3 and Alpha Chapter No. 1, Rose Croix, were also instituted about 
the same time, but the interest in the Rite d>dng down, they were dis- 
continued in 1873. It was revived again April 3, 1895, by the insti- 
tution of Isaac Davis Lodge of Perfection No. 4 and Palestine Chapter 
Rose Croix No. 6, October 25, 1901, and Sacramento Council No. 5, 
Knights Kadosh, instituted on the same date, followed. Sacramento 
Consistory No. 7 was instituted March 17, 1905. The order is in a 
most prosperous condition. It belongs to the southern jurisdiction of 
the United States of America. In the late '80s, or early '90s, a 
spurious ordei' of Scottish Rite endeavored to obtain a foothold in 
Sacramento, but was short lived. 

There are at present two 33° Masons in Sacramento: William 
M. Petrie and Edward C. H. Hopkins, Beni'amin Welch and M. J. 
Curtis having recently died. 

Naomi Chapter No. 36, Order of the Eastern Star, was instituted 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 255 

May 3, 1879, within a few weeks the membership increasing to forty. 
It is the senior chapter in the city, and boasts of the largest member- 
ship. The officers and charter members were: Mrs. E. M. Frost, W. 
M. ; J. N. Young, W. P. ; Mrs. M. J. Cravens, A. M. ; E. C. Atkinson, 
secretary; W. H. Hevener, treasurer; Mrs. A. J. Atkinson, chaplain; 
Miss H. A. Palmer, C. ; Miss M. A. Stanton, A. C. ; Mrs. A. Coghlan, 
Adah ; Mrs. G. Van Voorheis, Ruth ; Mrs. M. E. Parsons, Esther ; Mrs. 
E. M. Hartley, Martha; Mrs. C. P. Huntoon, Electa; Mrs. M. F. Mc- 
Laughlin, W. ; J. T. Griffitts, sentinel. 

Columbus Chapter No. 117, 0. E. S., was instituted August 8, 
1892, with eighty-three charter members. Sacramento Chapter No. 
190, 0. E. S., was instituted March 7, 1901, with seventy-one charter 
members. Ada Chapter No. 301, 0. E. S., was instituted in 1911. 

Jewel Court, U. D., of the Royal and Exalted Degree of Amar- 
anth, was instituted August 27, 1910, the grand officers of the order 
conducting the installation. The first officers were: Royal matron, 
Eliza Higgius; royal patron, Frank Kleinsorge; associate royal ma- 
tron, Lulu E. Adams; honored secretary, Estella Labadie; honored 
treasurer, Frances Just; honored conductress, Addie De Coe; honored 
associate conductress, Ellen Bowden ; honored herald, Frankie Carlaw ; 
honored marshal in the east, Mary N. Martin; honored marshal in the 
west, Alice E. Teal; honored prelate, James T. Martin; Lady Truth, 
Bertha Peart; Lady Faith, Elsie Lindgreen; Lady Wisdom, Elsie 
Kleinsorge ; Lady Charity, Margaret Z. Kelly ; honored warder, Agnes 
Hummell; honored sentinel, Henry Lindgreen. The court received its 
charter April 12, 1911. 

The colored people have what they claim are lodges of Free- 
masonry, working under charters obtained from other jurisdictions, 
but not recognized by the white Masons as being regular. 

Philomathean Lodge No. 2, F. and A. M. (C'olored), worked under 
a charter obtained from England. It was organized November 6, 1853, 
and has quite a large membership. St. John Chapter, R. A. M. (Col- 
ored), was organized in 1873. 

Adah Chapter No. 2, 0. E. S. (Colored), was instituted in 1871 
with twenty-nine members. Dr. R. J. Fletcher was the leading spirit 
in Colored Masonry among the colored people, and was instrumental 
in establishing the Grand Chapter 0. E. S. (Colored), which was in- 
stituted in this city December 27, 1882. The Chinese have a sign 
stating that they have a lodge of Masons on Third street, and are said 
to use some of the symbols of the order, but whether they have any 
of the esoteric work is not known. It is known, however, tliat there 
are Masonic lodges in China. 

T. 0. o. F. 

General A. M. Winn has the credit of introducing Odd Fellowship 
into Sacramento as earlv as August, 1849. There were a number of 



256 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Odd Fellows in the city at that time, and General Winn effected an 
informal organization among them for the purpose of affording 
relief to the sick members of the order, as well as to others. Their 
noble deeds should never be forgotten, for they spared neither time, 
work, nor money in relieving the distress and sickness that were so 
prevalent at that time. The Masons joined with them in the work 
and erected a joint hospital. The complete organization of the first 
Odd Fellows' lodge, however, did not take place until January 28, 1851, 
when Sacramento Lodge No. 2, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted, with Horatio 
E. Roberts, N. G. ; G. H. Peterson, V. G. ; George G. Wright, Secretary, 
and Lucius A. Booth, Treasurer. The other charter members were : 
Samuel Deal, M. Kaliski, Robert Robinson, N. C. Cunningham, M. C. 
Collins and William Childs. The meetings were held at first in the 
rooms of the Freemasons. The lodge numbers between two hundred 
and fifty and three hundred members. 

Eureka Lodge No. 4, I. 0. 0. F., was organized January 7, 1852, 
with the following officers and charter members: George I. N. 
Monnell, N. G. ; Thomas Sunderland, V. G. ; A. P. Andrews, Secre- 
tary; William Watson, Treasurer; Jolm Turner, R. S. N. G. ; R. Por- 
ter, L. S. N. G.; W. H. Tilley, R. S. V. G.; W. H. Hall, L. S. V. G.; 
Thomas M. Davis, Warden; A. J. Lucas, Conductor; also David Hall 
and Jesse Morrill. 

El Dorado Lodge No. 8, I. 0. 0. F., was organized September 24, 
1852, with officers and charter members as follows: J. F. Cloutman, 
N. G. ; J. L. Polhemus, V. G. ; L. D. Kelly, R. S. ; George W. Chedie, 
Treasurer; A. B. Armstrong, L. Korn, James Levi, Thomas B. Moore, 
Joseph S. Korn, James S. Scott and W. Prosser. 

Capitol Lodge No. 87, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted June 10, 1859, 
by District Deputy Grand Master, Samuel Cross, with the following 
first officers and charter members; E. F. White, N. G. ; C. M. Mason, 
V. G. ; John McClintock, Secretary, and Amos Woods, Treasurer ; the 
other charter members were: E. M. Heuston, G. A. Basler, C. B. 
Steane, Lewis Shuck, Thomas B. Byrne, James Bowstead, M. M. 
Estee and F. K. Krauth. 

Schiller Lodge No. 105, I. 0. 0. F., was organized on June 26, 
1862, with officers and charter members as follows: S. J. Nathan, N. 
G. ; Joseph Schwab, V. G. ; Charles Schwartz, secretary, Charles 
Dohn, P. S. ; L. C. Mendelson, treasurer ; Lewis Korn, H. Theilbahr, 
Anton Wagner, A. Meier, George Ochs, F. Gotthold, Jacob Klippell, 
Louis Greenbaum, Peter Kunz and George Guth. 

Industrial Lodge No. 157, T. 0. 0. F., was organized April 24, 
1869. The officers and charter members were as follows : G. W. 
Carroll, N. G. ; J. M. Ripley, V. G.; J. A. Seamon, R. S.; G. A. Stod- 
dard, P. S. ; John Rippon, treasure!'. Other charter members were: 
G. B. Dean, T. P. Ford, I. C. Shaw, Charles Noyes, C. C. Ault, H. C. 
Wolf, J. M. Anderson, M. Phelan, B. F. Huntley, S. H. Gerrish, Royal 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 257 

Preston, W. F. Emerson, R. McRae, J. L. Gerrisli, P. Bolger, G. F. 
Pattison, W. D. Hammond, J. S. Pliilbrick, George Landon, M. Fa- 
vero, E. E. Masters, W. C. Gent, John Thomas, Add Crandall, J. C. 
Carroll and F. Woodward. 

Pacific Encampment No. 2, I. 0. 0. F., was organized July 29, 
1853, with eight charter members: Matthew Parden, P. C. P.; C. C. 
Hayden, P. C. P.; Thomas W. Davis, P. H. P.; W. H. Watson, 
P. H. P. ; John F. Morse, P. Robinson, A. J. Lucas and Walter Prosser. 

Occidental Encampment No. 42, I. 0. 0. F., was organized No- 
vember 14, 1871. S. S. Nixon, P. L. Hickman, J. F. Clark, F. H. 
McCormick, R. Davis, Nelson Wilcox and W. M. Ruse were the 
charter members; nearly all have passed away. 

Grand Canton Sacramento No. 1, Patriarchs Militant, I. 0. 0. F.: 
June 14, 1875, fifty Odd Fellows organized Sacramento Battalion, 
Company A. The first officers were: A. H. Powers, commander; 
H. A. Burnett, first lieutenant; A. Menke, second lieutenant; J. A. 
Hutchings, secretary; G. M. Mott, treasurer; F. Hogeboom, first ser- 
geant; James S. Scott, second sergeant; J. H. Miller, standard bearer; 
P. E. Piatt and J. H. Stebbins, color bearers. 

The Sovereign Grand Lodge, at a regular session in September, 
1882, made a provision for the uniformed bodies of Odd Fellows and 
passed laws and regulations for them, to be known as Degree Camp 
of Uniformed Patriarchs. January 30, 1883, Sacramento Degree 
Camp No. 1, Uniformed Patriarchs, was organized with forty-three 
members and elected the following officers: Ed. M. Martin, com- 
mander; Frank Hogaboom, vice-commander; William A. Stephenson, 
secretary; Nelson Wilcox, treasurer; H. A. Burnett, officer of the 
guard; W. E. Piatt, picket; F. P. Lowell, banner; Charles Cooley, 
guard of tent. The first two initiates in the state were W. F. Nor- 
cross and J. Carlaw. 

In September, 1885, the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. 0, 0. F., reor- 
ganized the military branch and changed its name to ''Cantons of 
Patriarchs Militant, I. 0. 0. F." It also adopted a complete set of 
laws, with a complete list of military officers, to be under the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge. In accordance with this change, March 8, 1886, Grand 
Canton Sacramento, No. 1, Patriarchs Militant, I. 0. 0. F., was organ- 
ized by General C. W. Breyfogle, with eighty members. It elected 
officers as follows : W. N. Sherburn, commander ; Elwood Bruner, 
lieutenant; S. A. Wolfe, ensign for Canton No. 18, both Cantons to 
compose Grand Canton No. 1, which elected W. A. Stephenson clerk, 
and Nelson Wilcox accountant. 

Rising Star Lodge No. 8, Rebekah Degree, I. 0. 0. F., was organ- 
ized December 22, 1871, with seventy-one members. Its first officers 
were: P. G. William S. Hunt, N.'G.; Mrs. Ellen Gilman, V. G. ; 
Martha A. Hunt, R. S. ; Mrs. W. Roth, P. S. ; Julia Patterson, T. 

Germania Lodge No. 38, Rebekah Degree, I. O. 0. F., was organ- 



258 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ized April 27, 1876, with eliarter officers as follows: A. Heilbron 
(P. G.), N. G.; Mrs. Anna C. Greisel, V. G.; Mrs. Julie Fisher, R. S.; 
Mrs. Fredericke Newman, F. S. ; Mrs. Amilie Meckfessel, T. ; also, 
C. F. G. Salle, P. G. ; F. Fisher, S. Morris, P. G. ; Mrs. Dora Morris, 
John Bolze, P. G. 

Capital City Rebekah Lodge No. 160, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted 
September 3, 1890, by Grand Master John Glasson, with eighty char- 
ter members, eighteen of whom still retain their membership. The 
membership at present is two hundred seventy-five. The first officers 
elected were: Delia Pettit, N. G. ; Alice Seadler, V. G. ; Mary Mur- 
ray, recording secretary; Mary Moore, financial secretary; Annie 
McCaw, treasurer. The present officers are : Mabel Gordon, N. G. ; 
Emma Brady, V. G. ; Emma Gregory, recording secretary ; Mary 
Mills, financial secretary; Jennie AVashburn, treasurer. 

Sacramento Rebekah Lodge No. 232, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted 
March 29, 1898, with twenty-six charter members, and the member- 
ship at present is one hundred forty-two. The first officers elected 
were : Laura Label, P. N. G. ; Rose E. Schmitt, N. G. ; Rose E. 
Futterer, V. G. ; Lavinia Broughton, recording secretary; Emma E. 
Reinersman, financial secretary; Katherine Futterer, treasurer. The 
appointed officers were : Annie M. Schmidt, Ward. ; Carrie Gruhler, 
Cond. ; Gustave Kortstein, 0. G. ; Josie Reinerman, I. G. ; Mary A. 
Mayhen, R. S. N. G. ; Amelia Meckfessel, L. S. N. G. ; Carrie Popert, 
R. S. V. G. ; Josephine Lakin, L. S. V. G. ; Ida A. Olmstead, chaplain. 

Oak Park Lodge No. 5, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted April 29, 1905, 
by D. D. G. M. David F. Fox, with Weeden G. Conklin, P. G. ; James 
McDougal, P. G. ; Frank L. McGrew, William H. Dymond, W. A. 
Bird, William E. Cole, P. G. ; Alexander Orr and M. A. Jenkins, 
charter members. The first officers elected were : James McDougal, 
A. P. G.; William E. Cole, N. G. ; William H. Dymond, V. G. ; 
W. G. Conklin, secretary; Alexander Orr, treasurer. Twenty-four 
candidates were initiated on the night of its institution. The mem- 
bership at present is one hundred. 

Union Degree Lodge, No. 3, I. 0. 0. F., was organized October 7, 
1853, with a number of members, but was discontinued some time 
during the '80s. 

The Veteran Odd Fellows Association of Sacramento was organ- 
ized in 1873 by a call of several veteran Odd Fellows in this city. 
In order to be eligible for membership one must have been an Odd 
Fellow for twenty years and be a member of some lodge, in good 
standing. The Odd Fellows' General Relief Committee consists of 
three members from each lodge, to attend to the wants of transient 
members of the order who may be in need. The Odd Fellows' Temple 
Association was preceded by the "Hall Association," incorporated 
June 25, 1862, with a capital stock of $60,000, afterwards increased 
to $80,000, purchased the St. George hotel building at the corner of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 259 

Fourth and J streets and fitted it np and kept it for several years 
as an Odd Fellows lodge and business block. July 26, 1869, the 
trustees of the lodges and encampment met and organized the present 
Temple Association and purchased a lot for the erection of a temple. 
The result was the erection of the fine four- story building at Ninth 
and K streets, which was at that time the finest structure in the city, 
with the exception of the Capitol. The Association also owns a fine 
plat in the City Cemetery, adjoining the Masonic Cemetery plat. 

Sacramento Lodge No. 2189, G. U. 0. of 0. F., (colored) was 
organized on July 14, 1881, with thirty-one members. The first 
officers were: F. T. Bowers, P. N. F.; E. Brown, N. F.; D. A. John- 
son, P. N. G.; B. A. Johnson, N. G.; R. J. Fletcher, V. G.; H. H. 
Williams, E. S. ; R. H. Small, P. H. ; Q. H. Guinn, W. T. ; R. C. Fer- 
guson, W. C. The executive authority for this order was derived 
from the national body, under a sub-committee of management lo- 
cated at Philadelphia and acting in harmony with the order in Eng- 
land. 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 

The Knights of Pythias erected a fine hall at the northwest corner 
of Ninth and I streets, which was dedicated July 4, 1889. It is 40x90 
feet, four stories high, and fitted up for the lodge, drill and lecture 
rooms, and a banquet hall. 

Sacramento Division No. 7, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, 
was instituted in October, 1882, with fifty-four charter members. 
The first officers were : James A. Davis, commander ; John W. Guth- 
rie, lieutenant commander; Theodore Schumacher, herald; Frank H. 
Kiefer, recorder; George H. Smith, treasurer; George B. Katzenstein, 
sentinel; Joseph T. Keepers, guard; Charles E. Leonard, standard 
bearer. 

Sacramento Lodge No. 11, K. of P., was organized December 2, 
1869, with a large membership, the following being the officers : G. W. 
Wallace, C. C. ; J. H. Sullivan V. C; S. Pearl, Prelate ; Frank W. 
Marvin, K.' of R. and S. ; R. W. Jackson, M. of F.; J. E. Goods, 
M. of E. 

Columbia Lodge No. 42, K. of P., was organized April 21, 1877, 
with J. W. Guthrie, P. C; A. J. Vermilva, C. C; P. J. Spacher, 
V. C. ; S. A. Wolfe, P. ; John McFetrish, K. of R. and S. ; 0. H. P. 
Sheets, Jr., M. of F.; Robert Pettit, M. of E. ; W. E. Lugg, L G.; 
W. E. Oughton, 0. G.; also, J. Stubbs, M. Odell, J. Goddard, William 
Neidhart and W. Kay. 

Confidence Lodge No. 78, K. of P. was organized Au^iist 28, 1882. 
with officers as follows: J. F. Lucas, P. C.; J. A. Baker, C. C. ; 
A. V. Bovne, V. C; F. H. Kiefer, Prelate; A. J. Plant, M. at A.; 
W. B. Rodgers, K. of R. and S. ; J. H. Smith, M. of E. 

Three of the Sisters having heard that Mrs. C. L. C. Lawrence, 



260 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

S. M. of R. and C, would paSvS tlirougli Sacramento on her way to 
Los Angeles, where she was to institute the first Temple of Pythian 
Sisters, conceived the idea that as long as Sacramento was the Capital 
of the state, why not also have the first Temple of Pythian Sisters 
there. A committee met Mrs. Lawrence at the train and persuaded 
her to stop over and institute this Temple. This was on the morning 
of December 17, 1889. On the evening of the same day, the first 
Temple of Pythian Sisters in the state of California was instituted 
in this city, in Castle Hall, corner of Ninth and I streets. California 
Temple No. 1 had a charter membership of fifteen Sisters and eight 
Knights. Georgia Guthrie, who died July 22, 1909, was the first 
M. E. C. of the Temple and was also the first Grand Chief of the 
order in this state. Of those who signed the charter at the institution 
of the Temple the following are still members: Sallie Wolf, Delia 
Pettit, Emma Schumacher, Mary Alvord Fitzgerald, J. J. C. Fitz- 
gerald and J. W. Guthrie. 

California Temple has the honor of having had five Sisters elected 
to the highest office in the state, that of Grand Chief. They were as 
follows: Georgia Guthrie, Sallie Wolf, Wessie Katzenstein, Mary 
Alvord Fitzgerald and Maude Berry Sheehan. 

I. 0. R. M, 

Cosumnes Tribe No. 14, I. 0. R. M., was organized October 19, 
1867. 

Red Jacket Tribe No. 28, I. 0. R. M., was organized October 7, 
1869, with officers as follows: S. Pearl, Sachem; M. T. Brum, S. Sag.; 
F. Cushing, J. Sag.; W. T. Crowell, C. of R. ; George A. Putnam, 
K. of W. 

Owosso Tribe No. 39, I. 0. R. M., was organized March 25, 1871, 
with sixty-six charter members. The first officers were: Matthew 
E. Johnson, Sachem; Ed. M. Martin, Sen. Sag.; A. C. Freeman, Jun. 
Sag. ; Will J. Beatty, C. of R. ; Daniel E. Alexander, K. of W. ; George 
Y. Yount, financial secretary; George A. White, prophet. • 

Red Cloud Tribe No. 41, I. 0. R. M., was instituted November 
13 and 18, 1871, with over seventy names on the charter list. The 
first officers were: Thomas Sullivan, sachem; R. A. Renwick, Sen. 
Sag.; W. Harper, Jun. Sag.; J. J. Carter, C. of R.; William Huller, 
K. of W.; W. A. McNaughton, F. C. 

Wenonah Council No. 2, Degree of Pocahontas, I. O. R. M., was 
organized in October, 1887, with forty-one members. 

Juniata Council No. 5, Daughters of Pocahontas, I. 0. R. M., was 
organized July 9, 1888, with twenty-nine members. 

Sacramento Stanim No. 124 U. 0. R. M., was organized October 
18, 1888, with charter members and officers as follows: K. F. Wie- 
meyer, 0. Ch.; F. Engehardt, U. Ch.; C. Schmidt, B. Ch.; R. Nobel. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 261 

secretary; J. Suverkrupp, treasurer; George W. Derman, W. Knhnle, 
Charles Sold, George Schmeiser, Charles Boettcher, and W. Braun. 

A. 0. u. w. 

Union Lodge No. 21, A. 0. U. W., was organized February 9, 1878, 
with thirty-eight charter members, and the first officers were: M. T. 
Brewer, P. M. W.; C. B. Kellogg, M. W.; T. W. Sheehan, F.; George 
T. Bush, 0.; E. J. Gregory, R. ; Felix Tracy, receiver; John F. Farns- 
worth. Fin. ; Robert Frazer, guard. The lodge is a large and pros 
perous one. 

Sacramento Lodge, No. 80, A. 0. U. W., was instituted February 
8, 1879, with a large list of charter members. The first officers were: 
John F. Farnsworth, P. M. W. ; James M. Henderson, M. W. ; Edward 
I. Robinson, 0. ; George B. Katzenstein, R. ; M. R. Beard, Fin, ; 
C. H. Stevens, receiver; John W. Guthrie, G.; W. H. H. Willey, I. W.; 
W. I. Wallace, 0. W. 

Lily of the Valley Lodge No. 11, Degree of Honor, A. 0. U. W., 
was organized in 1882, with thirty-three charter members. 

u. A. o. D. 

Walhalla Groye No. 6, U. A. 0. D., was organized August 10, 
1866, and incorporated June 13, 1874. The charter members and 
officers were: Anton Menke, N. A.; C. H. Krebs, V. A.; Theodore 
Even, secretary; Jacob Keeber, treasurer; C. C. Hayden, M. Kestler 
and J. Acker. 

Union Grove No. 6, U. A. 0. D., was organized in 1885. Capi- 
tal City Grove No. 66, U. A. 0. D., was organized April 14, 1887, 
with thirty-six members. Fidelity Grove No. 31, U. A. 0. D., organ- 
ized in 1878, was consolidated with Walhalla Grove, May 1, 1888. 
Sacramento Druidic Circle No. 1, was a society for women, instituted 
April 7, 1872, but was soon permitted to dissolve. 

N. s. G. w. 

The Native Sons of the Golden West is an order originated by 
Gen. A. M. Winn in San Francisco in 1875. He had thought, while 
acting as marshal of a procession July 4, 1869, that a company of 
young Californians would make an interesting part of the procession. 
The idea was in harmony with the times, as the rapid growth of the 
order soon proved. It soon became an influential fraternal and bene- 
ficial society. The designation of each local organization is ''parlor,'' 
indicating its refined and social character. The order celebrates an- 
nually the anniversary of California's admission into the Union. Its 
founder was the first mayor of Sacramento, and his body was buried 
in the Pioneers' plat in the City Cemetery, where a monument to his 
memory was unveiled on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. 

Sacramento Parlor No. 3, N. S. G. W., is one of the oldest Parlors 



262 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in the state, liaviiii>- l)een organized Marcli '2'2, 187tS, with the following 
officers and charter members: Benjamin O'Neil, president; John C. 
Lnce, first vice-president; Edward B. Carson, second vice-president; 
James P. McGinnis, tliird vice-president; Edward R. Knox, R. S. ; 
William Rider, F. S. ; Clarence E. Parker, treasurer; David M. Mad- 
<lnx, marshal; Henry Steinmiller, Thomas W. O'Neil, and Martin 
Coft'ey, executive committee. Other charter members were: H. C. 
Chipman, Joseph Maddux, George Steinmiller, Thomas O'Brien, Wil- 
liam O'Brien, Josc))!) J. Magnire, Fred Kidder, George Adams and 
John Feeney. 

Sunset Parlor No. 26, N. S. G. W., was instituted January 21, 
1884, with forty members. Both Sacramento and Sunset Parlors 
are now large and i)rosperous. (lalafia Parlor No. 22, N. D. G. W., 
was organized in November, 1887, with one hundred nine members 
and now has a large membership. La Bandera Parlor No. 112 and 
Sutter Parlor No. 117 were instituted in 1900. 

OTHEE ORDERS 

(California Lodge No. 1580, K. of H., was organized April 22, 
1879, by Harmon Gregg, with forty charter members, the following 
being the first officers elected : Grove L. Johnson,- P. D. ; Edward F. 
Aiken, D. ; Norman S. Nichols, V. D. ; John N. Larkin, A. D. ; Israel 
Luce, C. 

Unity Lodge No. 2088, K. of H., was instituted March 1, 1880, 
with thirty-nine charter members. 

Harmony Lodge No. 399, K. and L. of H. ; Equity Lodge, No. 
1219, K. and L. of H., and Olive Branch Lodge, K. and L. of H., 
were organized later. 

Pioneer Council No. 54, American Legion of Honor, the first coun- 
cil in the state, was instituted December 18, 1879, with thirty-eight 
charter members. J. M. Henderson was the first commander and Mrs. 
N. S. Butterfield, vice-commander. 

Court Capital No. 6742, A. 0. F., was organized January 17, 1881, 
with forty-three charter members, Henry Longton, C. V. Court Sac- 
ramento No. 6861, A. O. F., was organized June 30, 1882. Court 
Sutter No. 7246, A. 0. F., was instituted later. The Foresters of Sac- 
ramento were the first in the state to erect a building of their own. 
It is located on I street between Seventh and Eighth. 

Friendship Council No. 65, O. C. F., was organized February 21, 
1882, with twenty-five members. Sacramento Council No. 96, 0. C. F., 
was organized September 4, 1884, with about fifty charter members. 

Division No. 1, Ancient Order of Hibernians, was organized Jan- 
nary 31, 1870, P. A. Murphy, priest. It was re-organized later. Di- 
vision No. 2, Ancient Order of Hibernians, was organized in the '80s, 
but soon discontinued. 

The Young Men's Institute, Branch No. 11, one of the first to 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 263 

organize in the state, was started August 8, 1885, at old St. Rose's 
hall, where the present postoffice building stands. There were fifty 
charter members, which soon increased to one hundred. D J Lono- 
was president, R. E. Murray first vice-president, Joseph ' McGuire 
second vice-president, T. T. Wiseman recording secretarv, Benjamin 
Neary financial secretary and James O'Reilly treasurer. Branch No. 
27, Young Men's Institute, was organized in their hall May 7, 1886^ 
with thirty-one charter members and T. W. O'Neil president Young 
Ladies ' Institute No. 17 has a large membership. ' "^ 

Etham Lodge No. 37, I. O. B. B., was organized June 23, 1859, 
by Grand Lodge Deputy Jacob Vogelsdorff, with Joseph Davis presi- 
dent. 

The first organization of the Hebrew Benevolent Association was 
in December of 1851 and the society was incorporated in February 
1854. ' 

Governor Leland Stanford Camp No. 11, Sons of Veterans, was 
organized July 11, 1887, with eighteen members. Among the first 
officers were P. H. Dodge, captain, William Kellogg first' heutenant 
and William H. Larkin second lieutenant. 

The Veterans of the Mexican war were organized at the Orleans 
house June 5, 1876. The first officers elected were as follows : John 
Domingos, president; Fred Chamberlain, vice-president; Peter Mc- 
Graw, treasurer; and Joseph Sims, secretary. Joseph Sims is the only 
one of the charter members now living, so far as the writer knows. 

The Sacramento Turnverein was organized June 2, 1854, with 
Theodore Steudeman, president; George Meyer, vice-president; J. 
W. Lehmann, secretary; Phil Kitz, treasurer; H. Lux, first turn 
leader ; J. Knauth, second turn leader ; R. Nobel, steward, and twentv- 
three other members. In 1859 the society erected a brick building on 
Iv street between Ninth and Tenth, costing $14,000 and known as 
Turner Hall. 

Benbow Lodge No. 229, Sons of St. George, organized in March, 
1887, was designed to take the place of the British Mutual Benefit 
and Social Society, which had been organized in 1877, but had gone 
out of existence. The society admitted to membership Englishmen, 
the sons and grandsons of Englishmen. It was discontinued, as was 
Victoria Lodge No. 1, Daughters of St. George. They have been re- 
placed by Victoria Lodge, which is prosperous. 

The Robert Burns Scottish Benevolent Association was organized 
in November, 1871. to relieve natives of Scotland who might be in 
need. It was succeeded by the Caledonian Society of Sacramento, 
incorporated in Novemlier, 1888, and which admits as members Scotch- 
men, sons and grandsons of Scotchmen. 

The Independent Order of Good Templars found its way to Cali- 
fornia in 1855, a lodge lieing organized in Santa Cruz on the 22nd 
of February of that year. Sylvan Lodge No. 2 was instituted in Sac- 



264 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

rameiito September 16, 1856, and iu 1860 a convention was called here 
for the purpose of forming a Grand Lodge. It was instituted May 
29, of that year. The order grew rapidly throughout the state and 
for many years the headquarters of the Grand Lodge was in Sacra- 
mento. The Rescue, the official paper of the order, was published 
here. Sylvan Lodge is now the oldest lodge on the coast. Capitol 
Lodge No. 51, I. 0. G. T., was organized December 12, 1861, became 
extinct in 1876, but April 2, 1879, an entire new organization with 
a new charter was formed, which assumed the same name and number. 
The I. 0. G. T. Bands of Hope (juvenile organizations) were formed 
in this city and known as Sacramento No. 56, Capitol No. 91 and 
California No. 163. Several divisions of the Sons of Temperance and 
a Father Mathew Total Abstinence Society also were organized here 
and flourished for some years, but were finally absorbed by other 
temperance organizations. 

Sacramento Grange No. 12, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized 
December 4, 1867, with the following officers and members: W. S. 
Manlove, worthy master; I. N. Hoag, w. . overseer; E. F. Aiken, 
w. lecturer; J. Holland, steward; G. F. Rich, a. steward; R. William- 
son, chaplain; A. S. Greenlaw, treasurer; William Haynie, secretary; 
R. S. Lockett, g. k.; Mrs. W. S. Manlove, Ceres; Mrs. I. N. Hoag, 
Pomona; Mrs. E. F. Aiken, Flora; Mrs. J. Holland, lady assistant 
steward; the other charter members were Amos Adams and wife, 
T. K. Stewart, William Kendall and A. P. Smith. Sacramento Po- 
mona Grange was instituted about twenty-five years ago. 

Almost every fraternal order and union are represented in Sac- 
ramento and claim large memberships. All are in a prosperous con- 
dition. 

CHAPTER XXIX 
CRIMINAL RECORDS 

In the earliest days of the country's history, when there was prac- 
tically no law to restrain the criminal element, and when the pioneer 
environment and training of many of, those coming here were such 
as to make them value human life lightly, it was to be expected that 
crimes would be committed. During the period when the community 
was a law unto itself, it was naturally to be expected that crime would 
become rampant. As a matter of fact, in spite of the lack of legal 
restraint, the community at first was more free from crime than many 
older ones that were under the protection of the law. 

In ]850, however, when the rush to the land of gold had assumed 
greater proportions, bringing with the other immigration a percentage 
of the criminal element, robbery and murder became more frequent 
and the operation of the law that had taken the place of self-govern- 
ment was so slow that people became exasperated by its delays; they 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 265 

arose to correct the existing evils and took the execution of justice 
into their own hands. 

The first victim of the aroused sentiment was a professional 
gambler named Frederick J. Eoe. A quarrel arose at a monte table 
in the Mansion House, at the corner of Front and J streets, and he 
engaged in a fight with an unknown man. They were separated sev- 
eral times by the b3"stauders, but as often renewed the conflict. At 
leng-th Charles Humphrey Myers, a peaceable and industrious man 
and a partner in the blacksmithing establishment of Joseph Prader 
& Co., again parted them and was fatally shot by Eoe, the ball, which 
entered his head, not killing him immediately. He was carried into 
the shop, where the surgeons announced that his wound was neces- 
sarily fatal. A crowd gathered and the excitement became intense. 
Dr. Mackinzie, who was a member of the city council, mounted a 
wagon and made a vehement address, saying that crime had run 
rampant long enough and that the courts and officers did not seem 
able to prevent it. It must be stopped somehow, or honest and re- 
spectable people would have to leave the city; that the people had the 
remedy in their own hands, and they owed it to society that they 
should exercise it. David B. Milne and Eoss and Taplin spoke to the 
same effect. A meeting was organized and Eoss was chosen president. 
It was ascertained that Eoe had been taken into custody and was in 
the station house, corner of Second and J streets, and the meeting 
determined to bring him out. A man named Everard addressed it, 
saying that if they ever intended to rid the city of the scoundrels 
infesting it, now was the time. He advocated the appointment of a 
committee to determine what should be done, and James Queen 
urged the selection of a jury to try the prisoner. The crowd fre- 
quently interrupted them with cheers and shouts of ''Hang him," 

City Marshal N. C. Cunningham addressed the crowd, saying that 
he had the prisoner in custody and that he could not escape, and asked 
them in the name of God and of Sacramento to let him be tried by 
the proper tribunal, the courts of the country. He was interrupted 
by the cries of "No, no; they have proved useless to prevent crime 
and punish murder." "If he don't get justice in the courts," said 
he, "I will help you to get it. I pledge my honor I'll resign my office 
and help you; but I am an officer of the law and cannot let you have 
him." His voice was drowned in cries of "Let the people have a 
jury." Queen spoke again, saying that he was in favor of having laws 
and supporting them, but they had proved inoperative. Let us have 
a people's jury as San Francisco did. 

C. A. Tweed was called to the chair and said he believed the 
prisoner was a great scoundrel and ought to be hanged, but he wanted 
it done according to law. He was hustled out of the chair and a man 
named Scranton replaced him. Justice of the Peace Bullock pleaded 
for law and order, but his voice was smothered by cries for a jury. 



266 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

A jury was chosen and all accepted except F. C. Ewer, who said he 
was a newspaper man and must report the proceedings impartially 
and Dr. J. V. Spalding was appointed in his place. The jury retired 
to the Orleans Hotel on Second street, and Levi Hermance was ap- 
pointed foreman and George Gr. AVright secretary. A committee was 
a])pointed to guai'd the prisoner and see that the officers did not re- 
move him. Tlie marshal and other officers pleaded, but it had no 
effect. 

The privilege of a lawyer for the prisoner was proposed and was 
voted down. Committees were sent to the jury room to ask them to 
hurry up, as they were too deliberate to suit the crowd of twenty- 
five hundred people determined on lynching. The committee reported 
that the jury was acting fairly, but needed the protection of the people 
to keep the lawyers out, as they could elicit the testimony themselves. 
The lawyers were ordered out — and stayed out. 

Tweed undertook to make the point that Myers was not yet dead, 
but the crowd would have none of it, and one man shouted that it 
was a deliberate murder that had made a widow and four orphans. 
"Blood for blood. He must die. All those in favor of hanging say 
'aye'." He was answered by a storm of "ayes." Dr. Taylor wanted 
men to go with him and take the prisoner, saying that if they had 
him they would know where he was. A large number stepped for- 
ward, but were stopped by a cry that the jury had agreed. The ver- 
dict was read from the balcony of the Orleans and was listened to in 
silence. It was as follows : 

"We, the committee of investigation appointed by our fellow citi- 
zens to investigate the circumstances of the unfortunate occurrence 
that took place this afternoon, report that after a full and impartial 
examination of the evidence we find that at about 2 o'clock P. M. 
this day, Frederick J. Roe and some other person, whose name is un- 
known, were engaged in an altercation which originated in the Man- 
sion House, and that after said parties had proceeded to the street, 
and where they were fighting, Charles H. Myers, who was passing 
in the street, interfered with words requesting them to desist fighting 
or show fair play; and that immediately thereupon the said Roe 
called out, "What the devil have you to say?" and drew his pistol 
and without further provocation shot said Myers through the head. 

"John H. Scranton, AY. F. Prettyman, J.'b. Starr, H. H. Lang- 
ley, George G. Wright, Harrison Olmstead, John T. Bailey, Edward 
Cronan, D. 0. Mills, F. B. Cornwall, A. M. Winn, L. Hermance." 

These signers composed the entire jury except Dr. Spalding, who 
participated for some time, but withdrew in consequence of what he 
considered the undue influence of the people's committee sent to the 
jury. As soon as the verdict was read, there was a stampede for the 
station house. Dr. Taylor, who had from the first urged immediate 
action, stated that he had conversed with the prisoner and found him 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 267 

penitent; that he thonght the murder was without malice or delibera- 
tion and he hoped a committee would be appointed to guard the pris- 
oner till next day, when a course of action might be determined. He 
was hooted down l)y the crowd. A. D. Rightmyer said the verdict had 
been murder, and he considered it the duty of all good citizens to see 
it carried out; he was ready, on his part. The assembly elected him 
marshal by acclamation. 

About 9 o'clock awning i)osts were pulled up and made into bat- 
tering rams, under the blows from which the doors of the station 
house soon gave way. Deputy Sheriff Harris stood in the doorway 
with a small posse and by remonstrance and threats to tire kept the 
mob at bay for a short time, but they soon crowded in and took him 
and his posse prisoners. Roe was found chained in an inner cell and 
it was found difficult to get his shackles off. As soon as that was 
done he was informed that he was to be hanged forthwith on one 
of the large oak trees that stood on Sixth street, between K and L 
street. Arriving at the spot where a staging had been placed for 
the purpose, he was placed on the stage, his hands and feet tied, and 
Rev. M. C. Briggs was sent for. Through' him Roe said that he had 
shot Myers in a fit of passion and had nothing more to say in self- 
defense, that he was an Englishman by birth, was twenty years old 
and had a mother and sister living in England. After the minister 
had concluded his duties, a noose was placed around the prisoner's 
neck, the ro})e being thrown over one of the big liml)s of a tree, and 
many strong hands drew him u\) to his fate in the presence of five 
thousand people. Myers was not yet dead at the time of Roe's 
execution. 

Thus ended the only lynching in the history of Sacramento, ex- 
cept one the following year, when a convicted inisoner was rei)rieved 
by the governor. Only the presence of the military prevented the 
hanging of Raten for the nnirder of Lansing, many years later. 

July 9, 1851, William H. Robinson, James Gibson and John 
Thompson knocked down and robbed James Wilson in broad daylight, 
on L street between Fourth and Fifth. More than a thousand people 
assembled around the jail and violent speeches were made, but it was 
finally decided, after a jury had been appointed and could not agree, 
that the parties should be indicted and tried the following Monday, 
when a special term of court would meet. They were tried and con- 
victed and sentenced to death, the law at that time making robbery 
and grand larceny punishalile with death, at the discretion of the 
jury. Judge Willis sentenced them to be hanged August 22, and 
Gibson and Thom])son were executed on that day on an old syca- 
more tree at Sixth and streets; l)ut Robinson was first re]-)rieved 
by the governor and afterward hanged at the same ]ilaco by the 
people. 

On the niiiht of Feliruarv 20, 185.S, John Carroll, alias "Boot- 



268 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

jack," one of a gang of thieves, was killed on the levee near Tenth and 
B streets by his associates, who suspected him of being a traitor. One 
of the gang, William Durham, turned state's evidence when arrested 
and Jack Thompson, Barnex' Ackerman and Charles Stewart were 
sentenced to hang. A gallows was erected near Sutter's Fort on the 
open plain, and April 29, 1853, they were hanged on it in presence of 
a large concourse. Thompson was twenty-five years old, Stewart 
twenty and Ackerman nineteen. 

Ah Chung, a Chinaman, was hanged between J and K streets, 
just below Sutter's Fort, May 9, 1856, for the murder of Ah Let, whom 
he claimed was his wife, and unfaithful to him. His execution was 
public and was witnessed by a large number. 

Samuel L. Garrett was hung near Sutter's Fort, June 27, 1856, 
for the murder of Amiel Brickell at the Golden Eagle Hotel, April 
26, 1855. Brickell had a difficulty with Garrett, relative to the daugh- 
ter of the former, whom he claimed Garrett had seduced. The quarrel 
ended by Garrett's shooting Brickell. He was tried before Judge 
Monson, convicted and sentenced to hang January 9, 1856, but took 
an appeal to the supreme court, which affirmed the judgment and he 
was again sentenced and executed. He was married to Miss Harriet 
L. Brickell, the daughter of the murdered man, by Justice C. C. 
Jenks, on the prison brig the Sunday before the execution, in the 
presence of a large concourse. She attempted suicide by taking 
poison a day of two before he was hanged. 

William S. Kelly was executed at the same time for the murder 
of Daniel C. Howe at Long Valley, Eldorado county. Mickey Free, 
George Wilson and Kelly went to the cabin of Howe and Ruggles. 
traders, on the night of July 10, 1855, for the purpose of robbery. 
Free shot Howe dead and Wilson shot Ruggles with a rifle, but did 
not kill him. Ruggles turned his side to them after being shot and 
asked them to kill him. Free said he would accommodate him, and 
stabbed him several times with a bowie knife. After Ruggles was 
dead, Wilson said Kelly nnist have a hand in the deed also, and com- 
pelled him to cut the murdered man's throat. Free was executed at 
Coloma, October 26, 1855, and in his confession corroborated Kelly's 
statement. Wilson was the principal witness against Kelly and de- 
clared that Kelly cut Ruggle's throat before he was dead. Kelly got 
a change of venue in November, 1855, to this county, and was tried 
and convicted before Judge Munson, December 20, 1855. He appealed 
to the supreme court, but the judgment was affirmed. 

Peter Lundberg was executed April 30, 1860, at the waterworks 
building, for the murder of John Peter Ritz. They worked for a 
man named Palm and Ritz had a dispute over money with his em- 
ployer. Lundberg confessed tliat he was induced to commit the mur- 
der and Mrs. Palm was arrested and tried, but acquitted. One dark 
night Ritz called on a friend above the old gas works, and when 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 269 

returning, was shot dead. The police suspected that Palm was the 
murderer, and Officer Burke went to his house, finding Mrs. Palm 
alone there. Burke turned down the light and waited and in a short 
time Lundberg appeared and the muddy condition of his clothes led 
the officer to suspect him and he was arrested. 

The case of William Wells, in 1860, is still talked of among old 
timers, on account of the singular circumstances connected with it, 
and the mystery connected with his fate. Some time during that year 
an old man named Matthias Wetzel was murdered and robbed of a 
large amount of jewelry and precious stones. Wells had been arrested 
at Virginia City for the murder, some of. the property being found 
in his possession. He was on his way down from Virginia City to 
Sacramento, in the custody of Deputy Sheriff Wharton of Sutter 
county and George Armstrong, a mountaineer of Virginia City. They 
left Marysville on July 25th, for this city. They reached Nicolaus 
safely, but at that place Wharton went to the stage driver and told 
him that Whitney, the driver of the up-stage, had informed him that 
the morning stage from Marysville had been met on the Lisle bridge 
by a party of men who looked like a rescuing mob. Whipple drove 
into the town without his passengers and reported to the officers, say- 
ing that Wharton expected assistance and would wait until they came. 
Officer Deal and Whipple returned to Nicolaus and there learned that 
Wharton had engaged a wagon, and a man named W. C. Stoddard, 
to go with them, and that they had left Nicolaus by the river road 
to avoid the supposed mob. At about 1:30 a. m. the party arrived 
at a point about half a mile from Swift's bridge over the American 
river, Stoddard was driving, and Wharton sitting on the seat beside 
him. Behind them, on the bottom of the wagon box, sat Wells, Arm- 
strong being stretched out on the bottom of the wagon, fast asleep. 
Stoddard said to Wharton, "We are near to Sacramento. You would 
better wake Armstrong up." As Wharton turned, Wells shot him in 
his right side, knocking him off his seat, upon the horses. Then Stod- 
dard was shot and killed instantly, and a third shot disabled Arm- 
strong. By this time Wharton had disentangled himself from the 
horses and fired at Wells, who was escaping, and who returned 
the fire, striking Wharton in the thigh. Wells appeared to have felt 
perfectly safe, as he started towards Sacramento, then went down to 
the river and took a row-boat, rowed back to the scene of the murder 
and robbed Armstrong of the money and jewelry stolen from Wetzel. 
He had evidently taken the key to his handcuffs from Armstrong's 
pocket as he lay asleep, unlocked the handcuffs and then taken Arm- 
strong's revolver from his belt and used it with such fatal effect. 
Arnistrong died that day, and Wharton the next. 

For several j^ears Wells was reported as having been seen, first 
in one state, and then in another. In March, 1866, the officers brought 
to Sacramento a man whom thev had arrested in Idaho under the 



270 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

idea that they had captured Wells. He proved to be Donald 
McDonald, and was freed and later was presented with $600 by vote 
of the legislature, to compensate him for loss of time and damage to 
his reputation. The last heard of Wells was a letter received by the 
Union from a man in Idaho, stating that Wells was killed in 
Washington Territory in 18()4, by one of a party with whom he was 
traveling. The theory generally accepted among the officers of Sacra- 
mento, however, was that he did not free himself from the irons and 
was drowned while attempting to cross the Sacramento river. He had 
been known as a man of low character and a lounger at Wetzel's 
saloon, and frequently had. been arrested for petty larceny. 

The next execution was that of Louis Kahl, at the waterworks 
building, November 29, 1861, for the murder of Catherine Gerken. 
The woman was found strangled in her room on L street, about mid- 
night on January 4th, preceding, and the deed had evidently been 
for the pur]iose of robbery. Officer Frank Hardy, assisted by a 
convict called 'Mimmey from town", arrested Kahl the following 
afternoon at the Father Rhine house, on J street, opposite the 
plaza, and the murdered woman's watch was found on his person. 
He could give no satisfactory reason for having it, and was tried, 
convicted and sentenced to hang. His case was appealed to the 
supreme court and sent back to the district court with directions to 
carry out the sentence. Kahl was a native of Germany, twenty- 
three years of age. 

May 20, 1864, William Williams was hung in the outskirts of 
Washington, about a quarter of a mile from the river, for the murder 
of A. Blanchard. He came to California from Wales in 1854, 
settling in San Joaquin township, in partnership with Blanchard. 
They had quarreled and dissolved partnership, but had ranched as 
neighbors and could not agree. A dispute about a horse resulted in 
Blanchard 's favor. A half-witted Englishman named Joe Blake 
was in Williams' employ, and as Blanchard was returning home from 
Sacramento on the night of August 3, 1860, Williams and Blake lay 
in wait for him in a ditch, Williams having a pick handle and Blake a 
wagon si)oke. Blanchard was found dead next day, with his head 
terribly mutilated. Williams was arrested and convicted of the 
murder, 

B. F. Russell was murdered near Benson's ferry on the night 
of July 11, I860, and George Nelson Symonds was hanged in the old 
waterworks building on December 4, 1863, for the murder. Symonds 
and Monroe Crozier had been arrested for robbery committed in Placer 
county, immediately after the murder, but before it was known that 
the murder had been committed. On July 12th they crossed the ferry 
with four horses saddled and bridled and their clothing was wet and 
their actions suspicious. When they were arrested for the robbery 
thev had a valise containing some bloody clothes, a stencil plate with 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 271 

the name of B. F, Russell on it and other articles belonging to the 
murdered man. In October, 1860, Symonds turned state's evidence 
in the robbery case, and shortly afterwards Crozier escaped. 

In October two bodies were found in the slough near the ferry, 
which had evidently been sunk there several months before, and were 
discovered when the water dried up. Thej" proved to be Russell and 
a man named Selizer, who had started early in the season for the 
mines at Coso. Symonds was brought down from Placer when the 
bodies were found, and tried before Judge McKune March 9, 1861, 
convicted and sentenced to hang May 10th. The supreme court granted 
him a new trial which was begun June 2, 1862, and on the 6th he 
was sentenced to be executed July 25tli. He again appealed to the 
supreme court, which affirmed the judgment of the district court and 
he was sentenced for the third time and executed. 

Frank Hudson, a corporal in Company I, Second cavalry, was 
executed at Cani]^ Union Agricultural Park, June 16, 1865, for the 
murder of Lieut. Webster Levergood, at Camp Bidwell, Butte county, 
on April 14th. Hudson had been ordered on the double quick by 
Lieutenant Livergood for drunkenness on the afternoon, and in the 
evening Livergood was shot and died in two days. He was certain that 
Hudson shot him. and as the latter deserted at once there was a 
strong case against him. He was captured, tried by court martial, 
brought here and hanged. 

The case of "Tip" McLaughlin, who shot and killed a man named 
Charles Lundholm, a barkeeper in the Railroad Exchange saloon, on 
the evening of June 17, 1870, excited much attention and criticism. It 
was alleged that Lundholm had written some slanderous stories about 
a relative of McLaughlin, which were published in a disreputable sheet 
called the Maze])]ia. McLaughlin was indicted for the murder, and 
the regular venire of jurors being exhausted, a special venire was 
summoned, which singularly was composed of the prisoner's friends. 
The prosecution exhausted all their peremptory challenges and were 
forced to go to trial. The jury disagreed after being out three days, 
and the prisoner's counsel applied for bail, which Judge Ramage 
refused. A writ of habeas corpus was issued by the supreme court, 
fixing bail at $10,000, the court holding that the fact of the jury's dis- 
agreement indicated a grave doubt as to the crime being murder in 
the first degree. The second trial was held in October and the jury 
brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree, and McLaughlin's 
attorney gave notice of a motion for a new trial. The Judge ad- 
journed court till next morning at 9 o'clock. McLaughlin was not 
given into the custody of the sheriff and walked quietly out of the 
court room. He was seen at various places around the city that night, 
but when court commenced next morning he was nowhere to be found, 
and a number of years ago he died in South America. Judge Ramage 
held that the order of the supreme court admitted the prisoner to 



272 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

bail and the bail bond provided for his appearance for judgment and 
the execiilion thereof, and that by ordering him into the custody of 
the sheriff he would have been placed in contempt of court. 

Charles Mortimer was executed in the yard of the Sacramento 
county jail, May 15, 1878, for the murder of Mary Gibson. His name 
was Charles J. F linn and his brother, William J. Flinn, came on from 
Massachusetts to rescue him, and was killed by Deputy Sheriff Cross 
on the night of April 16th, a month before Mortimer's execution. The 
woman, who lived on "Jib-boom" street, was found murdered on the 
morning- of September 20, 1872. Her face was lacerated by a blow 
from a broken glass, and strychnine was found in a glass of beer. 
Police detectives Len Harris and Nick Dole went to investigate and 
were accompanied by E. B. Willis, then a reporter. Willis noticed 
some hairs from a man's whiskers grasped in the dead woman's hand 
and called their attention to it. The officers suspected Mortimer and 
when he was arrested it was found that he had shaved and that an 
abrasion showed some of his whiskers had been torn out. Carrie 
Spencer, his companion, was also arrested and in their room some 
of Mrs. Gibson's property was found. A paper of strychnine was 
also found in Mortimer's pocket. After his conviction he made a 
confession, which was published, and stated that he had killed Caro- 
line Prenell in San Francisco the May previous. As stated, his 
brother tried to rescue him, ringing the bell of the jail about half 
past one in the morning. The night jailer going out into the yard 
was confronted by a masked man, with his coat turned wrong side out 
and a revolver in his hand. He fired twice and killed the man, whom 
Mortimer acknowledged to be his brother. Mortimer feigned insanity 
during tlie trial, but was hanged in the presence of al)out one hundred 
fifty persons. 

John Cruse, a sailor, was murdered for his money on the night 
of April 7, 1874, by Domingo Estrada and Filomena Cotta, and so 
energetic was Chief of Police Karcher that the murderers were 
arrested and confessed before dark next day. Their case was ap- 
pealed and great efforts were made by prominent men to induce Gov- 
ernor Booth to commute their sentence, but without avail, and they 
were hanged February 19, 1875. At the time of the execution the 
housetops and trees in the vicinity of the jail were crowded with 
spectators. 

David Turley, a sheep herder, attended a horse race near Rose- 
ville, April 1, 1875. He had been drinking and was on horseback. A 
farm hand named W. H. Shaw, intoxicated and on foot, applied an 
epithet to Turley, who drew a pistol and shot him dead. He then rode 
to Roseville and surrendered himself and was brought to Sacramento 
and tried. Creed Haymond defended him and took the ground that 
Turley was so much intoxicated that he was not responsible. The 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 273 

law, however, recognizes no such excuse, and Turley was convicted 
and hanged, February 25, 1876. 

A murder that for many years remained a mystery was that of 
Joseph Scott, a policeman, who was shot on the night of December 
7, 1878, about 8 o'clock in the evening, on Seventeenth street, between 
I and J streets. A citizen heard the shot and saw four men running 
from the spot, one of whom wore a long white coat. Several years 
after, James Ivey, a convict in San Quentin, informed the authorities 
that he had heard three men confined in the prison detail the par- 
ticulars of the murder, and that they had committed it. They were 
brought to Sacramento on the expiration of their terms and confessed 
that they were ex-convicts and had stolen a ride from Marysville, in 
company with another ex-convict named Edwards. Jumping off as 
the train slowed up near Twentieth street, they started down town 
with the purpose of robbing the first man they met. There had been 
a fire at the Orphan Asylum at Nineteenth and L streets that evening 
and Officer Scott had been detailed to watch the ruins. The men met 
him on Seventeenth street, attempted to rob him, and when he resisted, 
Edwards shot him and they all ran away without searching him and 
caught a train to Stockton. Three of them went to Sonoma county, 
robbed the house of Judge W. C. Wallace and were apprehended and 
convicted. When their terms expired, they were brought to Sacra- 
mento and tried. They pleaded guilty, with the understanding that 
their punishment should be life imprisonment. In the meantime 
Edwards had gone east and was confined in a state prison there. 

One of the most remarkable murders in the records of crime was 
that of a rancher on Grand island named A. M. Tullis, who was 
killed August 1, 1878, and was found dead in his orchard. He was a 
bachelor living alone on his ranch, and no motive could be found for 
the murder, as he was not known to have any enemies and no property 
was taken. Some little time afterwards some pieces of lumber, evi- 
dently part of a duck boat, were found in the tules on the opposite 
side of the river. Further down and on one of them was a calcula- 
tion of lumber surface. The board was taken to the various lumber 
yards in this city and finally identified by a salesman as made by him- 
self. The lumber had been purchased by a Swede named Edward 
Anderson, who was curious about the method of figuring, and the 
salesman had explained to him and repeated the figures on one of 
the boards purchased. The dra^maan who delivered the lumber stated 
that he delivered it at the house of Troy Dye, at that time public 
administrator. The neighbors stated that a boat was made in the 
basement of the house and an expressman took the boat to the river. 
Parties had seen two men passing down the river in an unpainted 
boat, and described them. Dye and Anderson were arrested and con- 
fined in separate cells, and both confessed fully. Dye had agreed 
with Anderson and a gambler named Tom Lawton to kill a number 



274 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of wealthy persons in the county who had no relatives in the state, in 
order that he might make commissions by administering their estates, 
and divide them with those who killed them. Tnllis was selected as 
the first victim, and Anderson and Lawton went to his ranch in the 
duck boat. They met him in liis orchard and while in conversation 
with him, Anderson struck him with a sand bag and Lawton shot him. 
They then rowed across the river and started uji the road, where Dye 
met them by appointment in a buggy, the agreed signal being that he 
should whistle "The Sweet Bye and Bye." They returned to Sac- 
ramento and on the same night Anderson returned to his work on 
a threshing machine in Sutter county. It was agreed that in case 
of danger a letter should be written to him, signed with a fictitious 
name, underscored once or more, to indicate the degree of danger. 

On August 8th a letter was sent to Anderson with the signature 
double underscored, as follows : 

John A. Parker, Esq. : 

Your child is very sick. You must come home at once. 
It would be well to come down in the night. It would be so 
much cooler for you. Call at the Doctor's new house. I will 
be there. Yours in haste, 

Charles Parker. 

Anderson came down and was arrested by the officers, who were 
watching for him. Lawton got wind of danger and was never cap- 
tured. Dye and Anderson were convicted and executed in the jail yard 
March 28, 1879. The defense of Dye was on the ground that several 
years before he had received an injury which had caused a lesion of 
his brain and consequent insanity, and there was a division of opinion 
among medical witnesses on the subject. After his conviction a 
sheriff's jury declared him sane. 

On the afternoon of April 10, 1882, a tragedy occurred that would 
have caused a lynching if the militia had not been called out to pro- 
tect the jail. Simon Raten, a Siberian, had been beaten in a (luarrel 
with a man and had applied for a warrant and been refused. He 
procured a revolver and meeting the man on K street, near Fourth, 
took a shot at him and ran away, followed by a number of people. 
While passing uj) an alley between K and L, Third and Fourth 
streets, James Lansing, proprietor of the International Hotel, ran out 
and tried to stop him. Raten shot him in the stomach and he died 
that evennig in great agony. Lansing had been sheriff and assessor, 
and had a host of friends. Excitement ran high, and several thousand 
people surrounded the city prison, threatening summary vengeance on 
Raten. The mayor addressed the crowd, urging them to let the law 
take its course, but to no avail. The militia were summoned and drove 
the crowd away, and a gatling gun was placed in the prison door, 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 275 

ready for action. Eaten was placed on trial a month latei- and con- 
victed. 

At the same time Joseph Hurtado shot and killed a man named 
bstuardo at Front and I streets and was convicted and sentenced to 
hang. The attorneys for Eaten and Hurtado appealed their cases 
to the state supreme court, but to no avail. Thev then carried them 
to the supreme court of the United States, on the ground that an 
mformation filed by a district attorney under the provisions of the 
state constitution was void, and that no man could be put on trial 
for a felony until after he had been indicted by a grand jury. It was 
further claimed that the state constitution contravened the federal 
constitution, but the United States supreme court in an elaborate 
opinion held the point was not well taken and the men were re- 
sentenced to death. Eaten meanwhile gave indications of insanity 
and was sent to Stockton. He was kept there in the asvlum for a 
number of years, but was discharged some years ago as rared. On 
his way to Sacramento he met some Japanese and without provocation 
killed one of them near Hicksville. He was tried and recommitted 
to Stockton, where we believe he died. Hurtado died of consumption 
m the county jail before the day set for his execution. 

In March, 1888, John Lowell went from his ranch near Brighton 
to his other ranch in Eldorado county, about seven miles from Folsom 
Not returning search was made for him and his body was found 
buried under his Eldorado cabin on June 2nd. Three men, John Henry 
Myers, John Olson and William Drager, brought some horses, a buggy 
and harness of Lowell's to this city and sold them openlv. They were 
arrested, made a full confession that they had gone to Lowell 'stanch 
ostensibly to cut wood, and that while they were going out to look 
at the wood, one of them had shot Lowell with a shotgun, their motive 
being robbery. They were taken to Placerville, convicted and hung. 
Lowell some years before had trouble with some parties near Briiihton, 
m which he shot and killed a man named Joseph Bowers, but was 
tried and acquitted. 

On the morning of December 30, 1894, the communitv was horrified 
to learn that F. H. Weber, a grocer living on L street near Thir- 
teenth, had been brutally murdered, together with his wife. They 
lived over the grocery store and were found lying on the floor, their 
skulls cloven with a sharp instrument, and a bloody hatchet near bv 
told the tale. Eobbery was evidently the object, as the house had 
been ransacked. No clue was to be found l)y the officers, who worked 
assiduously, but it bade fair to be one of those mysterious affairs 
that are never solved. The theory was advanced by" a man who had 
traveled in Europe and Asia, that tlie method of murder indicated 
it was probably done by a Eussian or a Finn, the ax being a favorite 
weapon with those nationalities. But as time rolled on the mys- 
tery did not clear up, and it began to be classed as one of the cases 



276 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

that would always remain unsolved. The various clues that had been 
followed up proved false. But the old saying that "murder will out" 
was once more verified, although it was nearly six months before the 
discover}" came through the drunken statement of the murderer. Ivan 
Kovalev was one of ten Russian convicts who escaped from the Si- 
berian penal colony at Saghalien and were picked up at sea in a pi- 
tiable condition and brought to San Francisco by the whaling bark 
Cape Horn Pigeon in the winter of 1893. They claimed to be Nihil- 
ists and excited wide spread sjTinpathy by a recital of their terrible 
treatment. Later developments proved that some of them, at least, 
were sent to Siberia for crimes committed. Kovalev 's companions 
were Kharlampi Nitikin and Mathiew Stcherbakov. Kovalev was 
arrested in San Francisco June 25, 1895, from information given to the 
police by a carpenter named Zakrewski, who said that Kovalev, while 
drunk, in the preceding February, had confessed to him a murder. 
He said that Kovalev told him that he and Stcherbakov had been 
watching the Weber store for three days and went around to the back 
of the store on the night of the murder and that he went up on the 
back porch, where he found a hatchet and when Weber came out with 
a candle in his hand, he (Kovalev) struck him on the head with the 
hatchet. As he did so, Weber cried out, "I'm murdered! I'm killed!" 
The two men then went into the house, found Mrs. Weber, demanded 
money and then killed her. They took some money and jewelry and 
left the city. Kovalev buried a little box about seven inches square, 
three miles from Sacramento. 

In March, 1895, Zakrewski accompanied Kovalev, Nitikin and 
Stcherbakov to San Jose, and while there they tried to rob a little 
grocer, but he wielded his pocketknife so eifectively that one of the 
robbers, supposed to be Stcherbakov, was found dead nearby the next 
morning. When Kovalev was arrested he was identified by Mr. 
Weber's son Frank, as a man he had seen loafing about the store just 
jireceding the murder. He identified the trousers Kovalev wore as 
belonging to his father, and the suspenders Kovalev wore as made 
by his sister for his father. The trial began December 5, 1895, and 
lasted till the 21st, when the jury, after fifteen minutes absence from 
the courtroom, brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first 
degree. He had feigned insanity and had been tried for insanity by 
a jury and declared sane, after the trial began. He was sentenced 
on the 29th, just one year after the murder, to be hanged February 
21, 1896,. and the sentence was carried out at the state prison at 
Folsom. 

Chin Hane was hung at Folsom prison on December 13, 1895, 
for the mul-der of Lee Gong in 1893. The murder was the result of 
a tong war. At that time the street cars ran on Third street to I. 
Lee Gong lived on the west side of the street, between I and J, and 
the tong headquarters were on the opposite side of the street. Sud- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 277 

denly a fusillade begun from the long headquarters and Lee Gong was 
shot down at his door. A street ear containing passengers was passing 
at the time, and the shooting endangered the safety of the passengers. 
Much excitement ensued, and there were threats of "cleaning out" 
Chinatown, but as no white people were hurt, they soon calmed down. 
While there have been a number of other executions at Folsom 
since, most of them were of persons from other counties, and those 
hung since the execution of Kovalev who were sentenced from this 
county are: George Puttman, November 19, 1900; Kochichi Hidaka, 
June 10, 1904 ; Charles Lawrence, October 7, 1904 ; Sing Yow, January 

6, 1905, and three men who were condemned for participating in the 
break at Folsom prison July 27, 1903. They were Joseph Murphy, 
Harry Eldridge and W. M. Gray. 

July 27, 1903, thirteen desperate convicts in Folsom prison as- 
sailed the guards, captured the prison armory and escaped, carrying 
with them Warden Wilkinson and Capt. R. J. Murphy. They had 
armed themselves with "file" knives and razors. Two of them turned 
on W. A. Chalmers, the outer gatekeeper, and stabbed him in the arm, 
while the others rushed into the captain's office, captured the warden, 
captain and other officials and taking them as shields, demanded that 
the armory be opened to them, or they would slaughter all the officials. 
The armory was opened and they supplied themselves with rifles, 
revolvers and ammunition and still holding their prisoners to shield 
them, demanded that the main gate be opened, under the same threat, 
and it was done. 

To the honor of two prisoners be it said, Joseph Casey, a life 
termer, slammed the inner door, preventing a general escape. 0. C. 
Clark, another convict, doing twenty years for forgery, dropped down 
in the office and going to the warden's office, gave the alarm, which 
was telephoned to Folsom, and the big siren was sounded. The war- 
den and officers were released and returned to the prison, their cap- 
tors having exchanged clothes with them. Chief Turnkey Joseph 
Cochrane had been badly stabbed, and Guard William Cotter was dead 
and others wounded. At Pilot Hill the convicts were overtaken by 
posses and J. J. Allison, a convict, was killed. On August 1st as a 
militia company from Placerville was trailing the convicts on a hill 
near that place, they were fired on from ambush and two of them, 
Festus Rutherford and Charles Jones, were killed and William Gill 
wounded. The convicts split into two bands, and posses hunted the 
foothills and mountains for them. Roberts was captured in a grain 
field near Davisville on August 5th by Deputy Sheriff John J. Hinters 
of this county. Roberts and Howard had come to Sacramento and 
passed the night at Agricultural Park, separating afterwards. Seavis, 
the negro convict, was captured on August 6th, at Auburn, by Sheriff 
Keene and Deputy Coan. Fahey had a battle on the night of August 

7, with Detective Max Fisher and Deputy Sheriff Wittenbrock, liut 



278 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

got away in the dark. On August 23rd Murphy was captured by offi- 
cers at Reno, and Woods was captured in the same city the next day. 
Roy Fahey, ''Red Sliirt" Gordon and some of the others have never 
been captured. 

December 80, 1904, a desperate attempt was made by seven con- 
victs engaged on the rock-crushing plant in the prison grounds, to 
duplicate the break of 1903, but it was a disastrous failure. Warden 
Yell, anticipating that such an attempt was contemplated, had given 
strict orders to the guards to fire on the convicts, no matter who might 
be killed, if such an attempt be made. The convicts were aware of 
the order, but did not believe it would be carried out. They stopped 
the machinery by throwing a sledge hammer into the rock crusher, 
and when Ca})tain Murphy went to see what was the matter they 
seized him and Charles Jolly, a guard, using them as shields. The 
convicts had cached a number of knives made from pieces of steel, 
with which they threatened to kill their prisoners. The convicts were 
Charles Carson, W. J. Finley and F. Quijada, life-termers; and D. 
Kelly, W. Morales, J. Quinlan and H. C. Hill. The guards began firing 
and in less time than it takes to tell it. Morales, Quinlan and Hill were 
lying dead, and the others badly wounded. Captain Murphy and 
Jolly, whom they had used as shields, were both wounded by bullets. 
Finley and Carson, being life-termers, were convicted after their 
recovery from their wounds, and sentenced to hang, but by appeal to 
the United States supreme court managed to delay their fate, but are 
now under re- sentence. 

Joseph Piraino was brutally murdered March 3, 1908, on the 
Yolo side of the river a little above the town of Washington, his body 
being almost severed and disemboweled, leaving only the backbone 
and a strip of the abdomen to hold it together. He was then thrown 
into the river by the murderers, but his immense vitality enabled him 
to reach the shore, where he was found. He told the officers that he 
had befriended a fellow countryman, a Sicilian named Antonio Cip- 
polo, who enticed him to go with him and two others to get some fish 
from a fisherman opposite the second Barnum's slough; that they 
attacked him in the brush, demanding the $120 he carried in his money 
belt, and stabbed him repeatedly and flung him into the river. De- 
tective Max P. Fisher searched untiringly for Cippolo until he cor- 
nered him in the lodging house where he and Piraino had lived, and 
the dying man identified him as the murderer. Part of the money was 
found in his shoe, and Fisher so skillfully wove a web of evidence 
around him that he was convicted and hung April 28, 1909, refusing 
to the last to reveal the names of his accomplices. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 279 

CHAPTER XXX 
THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE 

The great railroad strike of 1894, which as far as California was 
concerned, was a purely sympathetic strike, was the cause of loss and 
damage to this state, from which it took years to recover. Having 
its inception in a dispute between the Pullman Car Company and its 
employees over a reduction in w^ages, it was far-reaching in its effects, 
involving business of all kinds and parties who had nothing to do with 
the dispute and became sufferers through events with which they were 
not even remotely connected. The strike occurred at the time when 
the heaviest shipments of fruit from California to the east were 
being made, and in one day the business of the fruit growers was 
paralyzed and hundreds of carloads of fruit were left to rot in the 
boxes because they could not be forwarded on account of the strike. 
The fruit was ripening fast during the hot weather, and the total stop- 
page of traffic made the crops ripening at that time of year almost 
a total loss to the growers. A large percentage of them were ruined, 
and it was several years before others recovered from the blow and 
re-established themselves in their business. One singular thing in the 
circumstances was that a number of them, and of others in other 
branches of business who were also sufferers from the stagnation that 
resulted, were in sympathy with the strikers and aided them. Much 
of this feeling was probably only the open expression of the hatred 
many people bore for the Southern Pacific Company, engendered by 
its connection with state politics, and by personal causes. 

The province of the historian is to weigh carefully all the data 
and evidence he is enabled to collect, and* to state impartially the facts 
in each case as well as he can ascertain them. The strike on this 
coast created a great deal of bitterness which, at nearly twenty years' 
distance, has not been entirely obliterated. The writer, however, feels 
that at this date the consensus of opinion would be that the strike 
should never have extended to this coast, as the cause of it had no 
connection with the railroads doing business in this state. The strike 
began at the town of Pullman near Chicago. The town was known 
as a *' model town," being owned solely by the company, which had 
built it for use by the employees, with streets, sewers, etc., complete. 
They were in no sense railroad men, being in reality members of the 
cabinet makers' and kindred trades. But they had affiliated with the 
American Railway Union, the aim and scope of which was intended 
to embrace all crafts in connection with the railroad business. Al- 
though not railroad men, the Pullman employees' imion had affiliated 
with it, and when they appealed to it for aid, the A. R. U. thereupon 
declared that they were willing to handle the trains on the railroads 
affected, providing the roads would refuse to handle or put into their 
trains the Pullman cars. The railroads declining to do so, the mem- 



280 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

bers of the union refused to handle Pullman cars or trains of which 
they were a part. The railroad companies operating in California 
could not separate their interests from those of the Pullman company, 
tlie Southern Pacific being a three-fourths owner of the Pullman cars 
used in this state. The strike being declared, the Santa Fe railroad 
was the first to feel it, all trains being stopped June 27, 1904. As 
the Santa Fe road did not extend to Sacramento, this history is not 
further concerned in it further than the mention of this fact. 

On the following day, the 28th, however, Eugene V. Debs, the 
president of the A. R. U., telegraphed from Chicago to the heads 
of the local unions in this state to tie up the Southern Pacific com- 
pany's roads completely, and the strike was on in full force. It imme- 
diately assumed a threatening aspect in the main railroad centers and 
Sacramento being the main center of the system in California, was 
forced to bear the brunt of it. It was brought under control in Los 
Angeles before it attained full headway, while in Oakland, which con- 
tained many strikers, they managed to do considerable mischief. The 
railroad company refused to yield, and the fight grew more bitter 
daily. Besides the workers in the Sacramento shops, numbering about 
three thousand, there were all the train crews, freight handlers, sec- 
tion men and other out-door men of the system, numbering several 
hundred more. Most of these had become members of the A. R. U., 
and they became daily more irritated and inclined to violence in order 
to coerce the company to do their will. Passengers on the trains were 
tied up at various points. Baggage and freight were daily piling up. 
The crux of the situation, however, was the delayed mail, which accu- 
mulated rapidly and which finally forced the United States govern- 
ment to take a hand. It was evident that the dam must soon break. 
The situation had grown beyond the power of the local authorities. 
The local police could not cope with the trouble and it was generally 
known that the sheriff of Sacramento county sympathized with the 
strikers, and that both in Sacramento and Yolo counties there were 
many among the farmers and business men who were in sympathy 
with them. California had hitherto been free from any experience 
like this, but the eastern National Guard had been called out several 
times, to combat strikers who had deteriorated into rioters, and it 
was a foregone conclusion that as events were moving so fast toward 
a critical point, the National Guard would be called out to protect 
people and property. Governor Markham was marooned in Los An- 
geles, where he had been when the strike was declared, and all orders 
from him had to be received over the telegraph wires. The situation 
had become serious. 

But Uncle Sam was ready to move, and on July 1st Attorney- 
General Olney sent instructions to all United States marshals having 
jurisdiction over the territory affected by the strike, to execute the 
process of the court, and prevent any further hindrance to the free 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 281 

movement of the mails. In accordance with this order, the United 
States marshal of the southern district of California called on Gen- 
eral Ruger, commander of the western division of the reo-ular army, 
to furnish assistance at Los Angeles. Six companies, three hundred 
and twenty men, under the command of Colonel Shafter, were dis- 
patched there on July 2nd, and left San Francisco that night. 

_ Barry Baldwin, United States marshal of the northern district of 
California, was at Sacramento with a large number of deputy mar- 
shals, sworn in for the occasion, to co-operate with the regular troops. 
The plan was to break, almost simultaneously, the blockade in Sac- 
ramento and Los Angeles, the two real strategical points. At Los 
Angeles the regulars experienced but little trouble, but the marshal 
and his deputies found it very different at Sacramento. Here the 
mob of strikers was larger and more desperate, and also better 
organized than anywhere else in the state. Baldwin, on the afternoon 
of July 3rd, attempted to open up the blockade. The strikers calmly 
watched the operation of making up the trains, and everything seemed 
to be progressing smoothly, when all at once, at a signal, the strikers 
rushed forward and demolished in a few minutes what it had been 
the work of hours to accomplish. Superintendent J. B. Wright and 
T. "W. Heintzelman, assistant superintendent of motive power, both of 
whom were favorites with the men, when they attempted to throw 
off the brakes and start the train, were lifted "bodily from the plat- 
forms by the strikers and carried to the ground. The brakes were dis- 
abled and the train could not start. Marshal Baldwin was furious 
and endeavored to force his way through the crowd, but was thrown 
to the ground several times. Regaining his feet, he drew a revolver 
but was prevented from using it and the cooler heads in the mob had 
difficulty in keeping him from being severely handled. Seeing the 
hopelessness of trying to move the train, he left the depot in posses- 
sion of the strikers. He called on Governor Markham immediatelv 
for the assistance of the military to enable him to enforce his authority 
and maintain free passage for the mails. The Governor responded 
by ordering Major-General Dimond, of the National Guard, to furnish 
the necessary assistance. The experience of the militia in eastern 
strikes having shown the salutary effect of a large display of force, 
it was determined to call out a large number of troops. Accordingly 
troops were ordered out as follows: of the Second Brigade, com- 
manded by Brigadier-General Dickinson, the First Regiment of In- 
fantry, Colonel Sullivan, the Third Regiment of Infantry, Colonel 
Barry; one-half of the Signal Corps under command of Captain 
Hanks, and a section of the Light Battery, consisting of Lieutenant 
Holcombe, twelve men and a gatling gun ; of the Third Brigade, Com- 
panies A and B of the Sixth Regiment, under command of Captain 
Nunan; of the Fourth Brigade, under command of Brigadier-General 
Sheehan, Companies A, E and G of the Second Infantry Regiment, 



282 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

commanded by Colonel Guthrie, the Signal Corps, and Light Battery 
B ; in all about one thousand men. The Fifth Regiment, Second Ar- 
tillery Regiment and First Troop Cavalry were ordered to hold them- 
selves in readiness. Companies A and B of Stockton, Colonel Nunan 
commanding, were ordered to be ready to join the San Francisco 
troops when they reached Stockton, and the Sacramento troops were 
to join the main body on their arrival here. 

The men arrived in Sacramento the next morning, ready for duty, 
at 8 A. M. The officers had expected to disembark at the depot, but 
found that orders had been given to stop the train at Twenty-first 
street and the men were forced, after an all night ride, to march 
thence to the armory at Sixth and L streets, arriving there weary and 
hungry a little after nine o'clock. Here they were to breakfast. The 
adjutant-general had given orders for the men to be supplied with 
rations, but it had been overlooked, and they had none. They were 
promised an ample breakfast at the armory, but after an hour's delay 
it was found to consist merely of strong coffee and bread, and was the 
last food that most of them received until night. While the troops 
were being fed in relays, the Sixth Regiment stood in line on L street 
in the hot sun. It may here be stated that July 4, 1894, was one of 
the hottest days during the season, and the troops from San Fran- 
cisco, being unused to the climate, suffered severely through the day, 
and many succumbed to the heat, several officers among them. While 
in line, a private of the Sixth attempted to load his gun, but it not 
being in order, the cartridge exploded. The bullet passed through the 
leg of a soldier in front of him and, striking a cobblestone, was shat- 
tered into a number of fragments. Here was shed the first and only 
blood of the day. The fragments of that bullet did deadly work, cost- 
ing the life of an estimable citizen, 0. H. Wing, and wounding six 
other persons. 

After the troops had finished breakfast, they were marched to the 
depot, reaching it about noon. General Dickinson's troops marched to 
the west end of the depot. General Sheehan's being at the head of the 
column. The description of the day's events at the depot is collated 
and condensed from the testimony and report of the Court of Inquiry 
held afterwards in an effort to ascertain where the blame lay for the 
failure of the troops to take possession of the depot and drive the 
strikers out of it; and from the Record-Union report, part of which 
the writer had helped to make. 

Company A of the Second Infantry, one of the three Sacramento 
companies, flatly refused to go to the depot, saying that they were 
willing to do guard duty, at the armory, but would not fire on the 
strikers if ordered to do so. The Board of Inquiry held afterwards 
censured Major-General Dimond and Brigadier-Generals Sheehan and 
Dickinson, but the governor and adjutant-general afterwards declared 
that General Sheehan had received an undue decree of censure. It 



HISTOKY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 283 

is certain that several blunders were made by various officers. The 
San Francisco troops were not properly equipped, and had to ride all 
night and stand on the streets most of the forenoon without any- 
thing to eat. Even when they had breakfast in the armory it con- 
sisted only of coffee and bread, and hardly enough of that for the 
companies who breakfasted last. After this insufficient meal they had 
nothing more until evening, when they were taken to a hotel for 
supper. AVhen to this was added their being compelled to stand in 
the broiling sun for hours, on one of the hottest days in the season, 
many of the San Francisco and Stockton troops succumbing to the 
heat, while red tape delays prolonged their sufferings, it is not to be 
wondered at that their enthusiasm was dampened. 

It being the Fourth of July, the city was tilled with people from 
the country, and others seeking a holiday, and when the troops began 
to march to the depot, the sidewalks were filled with curious men, 
women and children who accompanied them, unmindful of the fact that 
any moment might precipitate a bloody conflict, in which they might 
come to harm. When the depot was reached, too, they formed a crowd 
of about two thousand in the west end of it, consisting of strikers and 
their s>^npathizers, among whom were mingled hundreds of women 
and children, many baby carriages even being present in the mob. 
These were what the soldiers found to confront them, and it is not a 
matter of wonder that the thought of firing into or charging with 
bayonets upon such a crowd appalled many of the troops, and tested 
their loyalty to the state and to society. They were confronted with 
men who were defying the law, but these men were not at the time 
actively engaged in destro^dng property, nor did they, as a body, show 
any intention, as is shown clearly, of attacking the troops. On the 
contrary, they were good-humored and attempted to fraternize and 
argue with the members of General Sheehan's command, who occu- 
pied the head of the column, and among whom many of them had 
relatives and friends. In justice to all, these circumstances must be 
taken into account in passing judgment on the fiasco of the day. 

General Sheehan, on being ordered by General Dimond to clear 
the depot, found the west entrance blocked by the mob, who refused 
to give way, and pressed up close to Company G. He addressed 
them, telling them the troops did not wish to use force, if it could be 
avoided, but were there to protect the United States marshal in the 
discharge of his duties, and must use force if it became necessary. He 
asked them to disperse and permit the troops to occupy the depot, as 
they must place the railroad company in possession of the government 
mail trains, as ordered, and would have to do their duty. Major 
Weinstock addressed the strikers in the same manner, but they said 
they would die in their tracks rather than give up the fight. General 
Sheehan convinced some of the leaders that they could not right any 
wrongs by resisting the law, and the mob began to give way to the 



284 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

troops, when some one cried ont to hold on, and demanded that he 
would promise not to allow any Pnllman cars to be moved. He 
answered that his troops wonld not help to move any cars, but if 
called on, mnst do their duty and protect those moving- them, and a 
chorus answered, "Then you can never enter here unless you do so 
over our dead bodies. ' ' 

Some time prior to this General Sheehan had discovered that the 
east end of the depot was unguarded and unoccupied by the strikers, 
and he suggested to General Dicldnson, who was with the San Fran- 
cisco troops in the rear of his command, that he occupy it. Major 
Douglas, who was sent by him to General Dickinson with the sugges- 
tion, forced his way through the crowd and delivered the message, and 
General Dickinson referred him to General Dimond, who was in con- 
sultation with Marshal Baldwin in the office of Superintendent Wright. 
General Dimond, on Major Douglas' explanation of the situation, ap- 
proved of the suggestion and calling Colonel Plooper, his chief of 
staff, directed him in Major Douglas' presence to instruct General 
Dickinson to carry out General Sheehan 's suggestion, and detail a 
body of his men to pass around the depot and occupy it from the 
other end. Meanwhile General Sheehan endeavored for more than an 
hour to induce the strikers to give way, but they still refused, baring 
their breasts and inviting the soldiers to use their bayonets. "You 
wouldn't put that steel through me, would you. Bill?" said one striker 
to his brother, who was in uniform, and whose bayonet was within a 
few inches of the striker's breast. "Then^ for God's sake, step 
aside, Jim," said the soldier, pale and quivering with excitement. "Go 
ahead. Jack ; jal) your bayonet through me, and make your sister a 
widow," said another. "Go ahead, boys, and run us through; we 
might as well die here as to starve," said others. 

Seeing- the situation was hopeless unless force was used, and that 
General Dickinson had not taken any action towards occupying the 
east end of the depot, and that his order to the troops to "charge 
bayonets" had produced no effect on the mob, General Sheehan went 
to Marshal Baldwin and told him of the situation, and that nothing 
but force would dislodge the mob; that if it was the marshal's desire 
to use force, he must decline to use it unless he received the written 
order of the marshal to do so. The marshal took the position that the 
troops were under the orders of General Dimond, to whom he referred 
General Sheehan. General Dimond was present, and thereupon exer- 
cised his privilege of turning over the command of the troops to the 
marshal. Finding that the res]ionsibility now rested on him. Marshal 
Baldwin told General Dimond tliat if he nuist take charge his first 
order would be that the Sacramento and American river bridges must 
be immediately guarded and ]>rotected by troops. General Dimond 
thereupon turned to Genei-al Slieehan and directed him to detail two 
of his companies and a liglit l)attery to take ]>osition on the bridges 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 285 

named. All of this time the strikers were endeavoring to persuade 
the men of Companies E and G to lay down their arms, but they re- 
membered their duty, and refused. The men were suffering terribly 
from the lieat and many fell exhausted, and had to be removed and 
cared for. An injunction issued by Chief Justice Fuller of the United 
States supreme court had been served on Harry Knox, chairman of 
the strikers, restraining him from interfering with any and all trains, 
but he paid no attention to it, and the wreck of the first train out 
occurring a few days later, so far as known no punishment was ever 
meted out to him for his contempt of the court's order. He refused 
the request of the committee of the board of city trustees that he 
would consult with the officials of the railroad company. That after- 
noon Major Steinman issued a proclamation requesting all citizens to 
abstain from visiting the depot or grounds or helping to swell the 
mob. 

Marshal Baldwin ascended a locomotive cab and harangued the 
strikers to no avail and finally suggested that they call together their 
calmest and ablest leaders and see if they would not agree that it 
would be best to leave him in peaceable possession of the depot. After 
some opposition this was agreed to, and a truce was declared till 
three o'clock, and afterwards extended to 6 P. M. The troops were 
dismissed and left the grounds. During the afternoon armistice a 
crowd of strikers went to Smith's hall on Seventh street, where the 
Bersaglieri Guard, an independent Italian organization, kept their 
arms, and took possession of the entire outfit of guns and accoutre- 
ments, it is understood, without much opposition. 

The order of Marshal Baldwin withdrawing two companies of 
General Sheehan's command for the purpose of guarding the bridges 
over the American and Sacramento rivers was an unfortunate one, 
and being misunderstood, had the effect of encouraging the strikers. 
On receiving the order. General Sheehan requested the crowd to fall 
back about five feet in order that he might not be compelled to use 
force on them. His request was complied with, and on the command 
"Fours right! Column right! March!" the two companies of Sacra- 
mento troops that had faced the crowd marched off the ground and 
proceeded to the bridges as ordered. No sooner did the crowd see 
the troops marching away than they began to cheer, and the report 
soon spread that the troops had refused to fire on the people when 
ordered to do so. The Sacramento troops having departed, and no 
orders having come to take further action. Colonel Nunan, command- 
ing the Stockton troops, took upon himself the responsibility of order- 
ing his men, who were weakened and almost prostrated by the heat, 
to break ranks and seek the shade. Again the crowd cheered, and 
again the false report spread that the Stockton troops had been 
ordered to fire, and had refused. This left only the two regiments of 
the Second Brigade, under General Dickinson's command, who still 



286 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

stood in line. Many of these had fallen out of the lines and were 
beino^ cared for by the surgeons. After the truce between Marshal 
Baldwin and the strikers was declared, the troops were allowed to 
seek the shade, and at 6:30 P. M. they were ordered to fall in for 
supper, and were marched to the hotels. 

On July 5tli the troops were ordered to put up tents and make 
their camp in Capitol Park, which was done, and the camp was main- 
tained there until the order to dismiss them was given. 

Excitement over the occurrences on the Fourth quieted down 
next day and the troops took up the routine of camp duty. On the 
11th, however, there came a terrible change that caused a revulsion 
of the tolerant feeling with which the strikers had been regarded, and 
which cost five lives. On the morning of the 11th, nearly eight hun- 
dred United States troops arrived on the steamer Alameda and 
the steam barge Acme, consisting of two troops of cavalry, five ])at- 
teries of light artillery with several gatling guns and two Hotchkiss 
rapid-fire cannon, six companies of marines and one company of 
infantry. There was also a full corps of surgeons and hospital stew- 
ards, army wagons with supplies, etc. They were under the command 
of Colonel Graham, commandant at the Presidio, in San Francisco. 
The whole river frontage was at the time occupied by the National 
Guard, eight hundred strong, under the command of Brigadier-General 
Sheehan. The boats landed at the foot of Y street and the troops 
debarked, l)eing covered from interference by the militia. The cavalry 
deployed and took possession of the cross streets, to guard the march 
of the infantry and the guns, and lining up the spectators driven 
from the streets, in the rear of the cavalry. The command took pos- 
session of the depot grounds, without resistance, the strikers realiz- 
ing that here was a force it would not do to trifle with. Guard lines 
were thrown out rapidly and the batteries planted, and in a short time 
the whole railroad property was enclosed in a line of sentinels. While 
the guards were clearing the grounds, the switch engines, under the 
guard of a heavy body of soldiers, began to clear away the congestion 
of cars and locomotives. The gatling guns were cleared ready for 
service and a detail was sent to guard the supply train, which soon 
arrived. The hospital tent was set up near the baggage room, and 
the surgeons put their instruments in order. Meanwhile, a detach- 
ment of marines had taken possession of the Yolo bridge, cleared it 
and had taken up its position at the Yolo end, having been preceded 
by a cavalry company which took an advantageous station. 

Meanwhile the militia had been under fire and had returned it. 
About 8 :30 A. M., opposite the foot of street, five shots were heard, 
and the bullets came whizzing overhead. About fifty shots were sent 
back, and one man was seen to fall from a tree, while others were 
seen behind a sand bank on the Yolo shore, deliberately aiming at the 
troops. One shot from the troops entered Reed's cannery, wounding 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY . 287 

a Japanese. A boat with a white flag was sent across, and several 
men were found behind the levee, who were unarmed and claimed that 
they had been sent over b,y the strikers to patrol the levee and see 
that no more shots were fired, but they were not believed. However, 
there was no proof against them, and they were not arrested. 

Heretofore there had been no bloodshed, but it seemed as if the 
arrival of the regular troops, although it had served to clear the depot 
and give possession of it to the railroad company, had served to make 
the strikers desperate. It developed afterwards that Worden and 
others had planned to use djTiamite to destroy the regulars when 
they arrived and disembarked. Probably nothing but the fact that 
the militia had occupied and guarded the river bank prevented the 
murderous scheme from being carried out. The strikers' leaders, 
angered by their temporary defeat, had resolved on desperate meas- 
ures. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers stated 
that they had been threatened by members of the American Railway 
Union, and that they had been told that they would never live to haul 
a Pullman car ten miles. In view of the events of this day, and the 
testimony adduced at the trial of the strike leaders, Harry Knox, 
Thomas Compton and James Mullen, later on, there remains no reason 
to doubt that they had determined to prevent the moving of trains by 
all means in their power, however desperate. The body of the strikers 
were not admitted to the councils of the leaders, and it is certain 
that the large majority of them would never have sanctioned the 
means employed. Indeed, a large number of the strikers not only 
took no part in the unlawful acts, but even stayed at their homes, not 
coming to the vicinity of the shops at all. 

After the regulars had completed their investment of the depot, 
their attention was turned to the making up of a train for move- 
ment. The cars belonging to overland train No. 4, which had been 
''killed" by the strikers two weeks before, were assembled and prepar- 
ations made to start the train for San Francisco. The train was com- 
posed of a locomotive, two mail and three express cars, one baggage 
car, three day coaches, and the three Pullman coaches and the Pull- 
man diner that came in with the train originally. The locomotive was 
handled by Samuel B. Clark, one of the oldest and most popular 
engineers in the employ of the company, with J. S. Denekamp as fire- 
man, and conductor Samuel Reynolds. The train was guarded by 
twenty-one men of Battery L, Fifth United States Artillery, under the 
connnand of Lieutenant Skerret, as it was thought that the strikers 
or their sympathizers might fire on it or assault it. How many strik- 
ers had knowledge of the plans to wreck it will never be known, but 
it is certain that many of them freely prophesied that the train would 
not go far and it is certain that many of the strikers knew of the 
wrecked train before the messengers bearing the news arrived at the 
depot. It is known that the strikers applied to Father Grace for 



288 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

permission to use the Cathedral tower as a signal station, but that 
he refused. It also developed afterwards that several of the strikers 
were in the Capitol dome watching the train with field glasses and 
that they signalled to persons in the street below. 

The train steamed out of the depot with its guards, the crowd 
that liad asseml)led outside of the sentry-line looking sullenly on and 
casting an occasional jeer at the trainmen and soldiers. It passed on 
out of sight, six of the soldiers perched on the locomotive and the 
rest scattered along on the car platforms, with rifles ready to repel 
attack. ''The blockade is broken at last," said some of the railroad 
officials, not dreaming of the terrible fate impending over the occu- 
pants of the train. It was nearly an hour after its departure, and the 
railway officials were awaiting news of its arrival at Davisville, when 
a colored Pullman porter came running into the depot and proceeded 
to Superintendent Wright's office with a message from Conductor 
Reynolds, stating that the train had been wrecked at the long trestle, 
two miles from the city, and Engineer Clark and several United 
States soldiers were killed. In a few minutes the wrecking train was 
prepared and sent, with a couple of coaches, to the rescue, carrying 
several surgeons and men with stretchers, as well as a number of 
armed soldiers. As the wreck had occurred on the trestle, it was 
difficult to get on the farther side of it, and there was some delay before 
the wrecking train returned with the wounded men, who were im- 
mediately cared for. 

Conductor Reynolds stated that the train was running about 
twelve miles an hour when it came to the trestle. As soon as it struck 
the trestle there came a crash, and he evacuated the mallear in which 
he was, as quickly as possible; the engine had gone over and lay in 
about six feet of water and deep in the mud, with two express cars 
piled on top of it. Engineer Clark and three soldiers lay buried under 
the engine, and others were floundering in the water, one soldier 
named Dugan having his arm cut off, being caught between the engine 
and a trestle beam. Denekamp, the fireman, saved his life by jump- 
ing when he felt the engine topple. Besides Engineer Clark, Privates 
Clark, Byrne, Lubberdon and Dugan were killed, the latter dying that 
evening. An inspection of the track told that the wreckers had done 
their work well. The spikes and fishplates of a rail had been pried 
up and taken away, leaving the rail in place, with nothing to show 
that it was loose, and deceiving the engineer. As it was reported that 
several men were lurking in the brush on the other side of the river 
along the track, a squad of cavalry was sent to scour the ground. 
Such was the revulsion of feeling in the crowd over the horrible plot, 
that the crowd cheered them as they swept by. The Southern Pacific 
immediately offered $5000 reward for information that would lead to 
the arrest and conviction of one or all of the nmrderers, and the 
United States district attorney offered $2000 more. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 289 

During the afternoon four men were arrested and lodged in the 
county jail. They were Salter D. Worden, A. G. Ureenlaw, William 
Burt and H. E. Rodmer, the first being charged with wrecking the 
train, and the others with conspiracy and obstructing the marshal. 
Detectives who had been investigating found that Worden had hired 
a team and wagon and taken a party of four or five into Yolo county, 
the team being returned without them. It was also learned that 
Worden stopped a lineman of the Western Union Telegraph Company 
and took his tools from him. Worden presented himself at the stable 
later in the day, and was arrested, and some dynamite and fuse was 
found to have been left in the wagon by the wreckers when it was 
returned. 

The wrecking of the train caused a revulsion of feeling in the 
community. A great number of citizens who had sympathized with 
the strikers suddenly awoke to the fact that murder and violence like 
this could not be condoned, and that it had placed the leaders beyond 
the pale of sympathy. They realized that the talk of peaceful resist- 
ance to the law was only a hollow pretense, and that the men most 
active in the strike were prepared to go to any length in order to 
carry out their purpose. The naked fact stood out in bold relief in 
all its hideousness and could no longer be ignored. Men whose heated 
imagination had placed the strikers and their leaders on the pedestal 
of martyrdom realized that they had been deluded and their ardor of 
sympathy suddenly cooled. The press of the state, which had largely 
expressed itself as on the side of the strikers, changed its tune and 
voiced the general horror and indignation at the cowardly act. An 
attempt by a number of men on the morning of the 24th to wreck 
a Southern Pacific train by taking up the rails on the track near 
Arcade station, on the grant, and who fought a pitched battle with 
the soldiers who discovered them, augmented the revolution in the 
minds of the people. It is probable, also, that many strikers, whose 
passions had been excited to a high pitch by the organizers and 
leaders, began to realize whither their zeal was leading them. An 
attempt was also made at Dutch Flat on the 18th to wreck a train by 
piling obstructions on the track. Fortunately it was discovered in 
time to save the train, which had on board a large number of women 
and children. In consequence, Colonel Graham ordered that anyone 
found tampering with the rails should be shot first and allowed to 
explain afterwards. The strikers began to fall away from the organ- 
ization, and when the notice was given on the 17th by the company, 
that those who had not resorted to violence or destruction of property 
could return to work when the whistle blew on the morning of the 
18th, several hundred men gladly availed themselves of the oppor- 
tunity, and in a few days all the men that were needed were once 
more at work, only a couple of hundred of the -^dolent strikers being 
barred out. Some of these began to threaten the men who returned 



290 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

to work, but Colonel Graham quickly put bis soldiers on patrol duty 
to protect the workers, and the recalcitrant strikers soon decided to 
let them alone. 

The regular soldiers were not at all backward in obeying orders 
regarding the strikers. They had been deeply angered by the 
dastardly slaughter of their comrades in the wreck at the long trestle, 
and were eager to avenge their death if the strikers gave them prov- 
ocation to do so. The militia shared this feeling, for they also had 
been abused and threatened. A number of strikers and sympathizers 
had been arrested for insulting soldiers, but a much sterner lesson 
was necessary, and on the 13th it was given. A number of soldiers 
had been detailed to ride on the flat cars and protect the railroad 
employees in their work in the yards, there being many cars of valu- 
able freight that should be moved to more secure quarters. Captain 
Roberts and Lieutenant Skerret, with men of Battery L, Fifth Regi- 
ment, U. S. Artillery, some marines, and Company F of the Third 
Infantry, N. G. C, were overseeing the switching, when they were 
abused and stoned by a group of men in the rear of the sheds, and 
some shots were fired at them from the sheds. The soldiers made a 
rush for them, when most of them threw up their hands, but some 
ran away. They were called on to halt, but not heeding the warn- 
ing, the troops fired, wounding two, one of whom, named Stewart, died 
that night. A number of prisoners were also gathered in, and held 
to answer before the federal court. 

On the 19th Debs telegraphed to the Oakland strikers' executive 
committee to effect a settlement with the company, allowing the men 
to go back to work, and on tlie 22nd the local union declared the 
strike off. 

In the meantime Knox, Compton and Mullen, who had been ar- 
rested, were charged with the nmrder of Engineer Clark and the 
soldiers. Their preliminary examination began at "Woodland on the 
18th, before the justice of the peace. The case against Worden was 
postponed for a time. A number of telegrams sent by Knox were 
produced in court, among them one to a person living in Willows, 
which read: "Sacramento, July 7, 1904 — To Lizzie McMillan Sehorn, 
Willows, Glenn Co., Cal. : We need financial assistance, but armed 
assistance would be more acceptable. John Buchanan, by H. Knox." 

These dispatches were offered in corroboration of the charge of 
conspiracy against the defendants, and the manager of the Postal 
Telegraph company testified that they were sent through his office. 
Arthur J. Wilson, owner of the stable, stated at the preliminary exam- 
ination of Knox, Compton and Mullen, at Woodland, that Worden 
asked for a wagon that would hold nine people, but that he could 
furnish one that would hold six only. Worden presented an order 
which read: "Give bearer a rig to go to Brighton. H. A. Knox." 

The trial of the defendants was long drawn out. There was 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 291 

difficulty in getting a jury, as public sentiment ran high on both sides ; 
also many were afraid to serve on the jury, as threats and intimida- 
tion were charged to have been made against jurymen and witnesses. 
The result of the trial was generally looked upon by unprejudiced 
people as a miscarriage of justice, the evidence clearly pointing to 
the guilt of the defendants. Worden, who was an impulsive, erratic 
man, and was regarded largely as the tool of the three conspirators, 
was the only one to suffer, and was found guilty and sentenced to 
hang. His sentence, however, through influential intervention, was 
commuted to imprisonment for life. At this writing (1912), he has 
presented an application for parole. It was found impossible to con- 
vict Knox, Mullen and Compton, and they escaped punishment. 

The strike cost California many millions of dollars, ruined a 
large number of fruit growers through the loss of their crops, par- 
alyzed business for several months, and accomplished nothing of the 
purpose for which it was inaugurated. It is to be hoped that another 
one like it will never visit this coast. 

September 30, 1911, the employes belonging to an association 
similar to the American Railway Union of 1894, which attempted to 
consolidate the various railway unions into one, with a managing 
board to make all agreements with the various railroads of the United 
States, and to claim recognition of the consolidated unions and the 
concession of certain demands, went on a strike, which is still pend- 
ing. Quite a few employes forfeited their chance for pensions in the 
near future by joining the strike, while a number of others refused 
to go out. 

CHAPTER XXXI 
THE CHURCHES 

The first church organization in Sacramento was Grace Protestant 
Episcopal church, of which the present St. Paul's church is the suc- 
cessor. During the first rush of the gold seekers to the coast the 
worship of Mammon was predominant. It seemed as if the lust for 
the yellow metal had taken precedence of all the early training of the 
men who had joined in the mad scramble for wealth. Church-goers 
and members, deacons, and even in some case ministers, turned aside 
from the straight path and threw off all the restraints that religion 
had imposed on them. It is recorded by Dr. Morse that one preacher 
descended to dealing monte in one of the early gambling tents, and 
another to playing faro. But many still remained faithful to their 
early training, and needed only the opportunity to avow their allegi- 
ance to the religion of Christ. The opportunity came about the mid- 
dle of August, 1849, when Rev. Flavel S. Mines, of San Francisco, 
visited Sacramento, and for the first time a church gathering was had, 
and the beautiful service of the Protestant Episcopal church was 



292 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

lieard iu tlie city. The place in which tiiis aud others of the earliest 
religious services were held, and which acquired thereby a historical 
reputation, was the blacksmith shop between J and K, on Third street. 

On the day following the parish was organized under the name of 
"Grace Church, Sacramento," at the store of Eugene F. Gillespie, by 
the election of officers as follows: A. M. Winn, senior warden (Mr. 
Winn was at the time mayor of the city and presided at the meeting) ; 
F. W. Moore, junior warden; Eugene F. Gillespie, Henry E. Robin- 
son, E. J. Barrell, P. B. Cornwall, J. M. McKenzie, William Prettiman 
and J. F. Morse, vestrymen. In the early part of September, Rev. R. 
F. Burnham of New Jersey, visited the city, and preached, and was 
called to the rectorship of the parish. His health, however, became 
impaired, and he died in Aj^ril, 1850. Rev. Samuel P. Morehouse was 
then placed iu charge of the parish, and held occasional services until 
about the 1st of October, 1850, when Rev. Orlando Harriman of New 
York, became the rector, but as he was attacked by typhoid fever 
shortly after and was left in a debilitated condition, he was able to 
officiate a few times only. During his sickness Rev. Mr. Pinnell and 
Rev. Augustus Fitch of New York, officiated several times. Mr. Har- 
riman left the city and returned to his home in the east in March, 
1851, and an interregnum followed lasting until 1854, during which 
Rev. Orange Clark, Rev. John Reynolds, Chaplain, U. S. A., and Rev. 
John Gungan officiated occasionally, the causes being the great tire 
of 1852, which destroyed the church records, and later the flood which 
inundated the city for several months. 

In February, 1854, however, Right Rev. Bishop William Ingra- 
ham Kipp paid his first visit to Sacramento. He preached in the 
edifice of the Methodist Church South, and confirmed six persons. This 
infused new energy into the parish. July 29, 1854, the parish was 
legally incorporated under the name of "Grace Protestant Episcopal 
Church of Sacramento." A call was sent to Rev. H. L. E. Pratt, of 
Perth Amboy, N. J., who accepted it at a salary of $250 a month, and 
held services for the first time on Monday, the 19th day of November. 
Bishop Kipp preached again in the same Methodist church on the 
morning and evening of September 24, 1854, and administered the 
Holy Communion to twenty-one communicants, it being the second 
time that sacrament had ever been administered by him in this city. 
Just previous to Rev. Pratt's coming, Hamilton hall, on K street, 
between Fourth and Fifth, had been rented by the vestry and fur- 
nished as a temporary place of worship. Services were held in this 
place for about a year, when a change was made to Pioneer hall, on J 
street, l)etween Front and Second, and while still using that place, Mr. 
Pratt resigned, in the spring of 1856. Rev. W. H. Hill, at that time 
rector at Nevada City, Cal., accepted the call to succeed him. His 
connection with the parish began in May, 1856, and continued until 
June 1, 1870. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 293 

A brick structure was erected on the lot on the corner of Eighth 
and I streets during the summer of 1856. It was capable of seating 
three hundred i)eople and cost about $15,000. Rev. Mr. Hill preached 
the opening services Sei)tember 7, 1856. Mr. Hill tendered his 
resignation in 1870, and in May Rev. J. H. C. Bonte accepted the 
call. The walls of the church built in 1856 having settled, the build- 
ing was abandoned after the first Sunday in March, 1871, and April 
18, 1871, Bishop Kipp laid the cornerstone of a new church on Eighth 
street between 1 and J. A mortgage to aid in building the New Grace 
church was placed on the property at the time of its erection. The 
church cost $26,000, exclusive of the lot, and was mortgaged to the 
Odd Fellows' bank for a loan of $10,000. For several years the in- 
terest on the loan was paid regularly, and during that time $1000 of 
the principal was also paid. In 1874, however, owing to the removal 
from the cit>' of some of the wealthiest parishioners, the closing of 
the church for several months on account of the absence of the rector, 
the revenues of the church were lessened. The interest being unpaid, 
the debt began to increase, and in 1877 the parish had become bank- 
rupt. The mortgage was foreclosed, and all of the property of the- 
church was sold to satisfy creditors, and the name of the church and 
its organization were extinguished. 

Realizing the crisis that had arisen, a number of the prominent 
laymen collected enough money to purchase the church from the bank, 
and the new i)arish of St. Paul's was organized March 2o, 1877, and 
in May following Rev. E. H. Ward, of Marysville, was invited to take 
charge. He was succeeded January 1, 1882, by Rev. Carroll M. Davis, 
and he in turn was followed by Rev. John F. von Herrlich. Under his 
charge improvements amounting to over $2000 were made, and later 
two fine stained glass memorial windows of beautiful design were 
placed in the church. The one in the chancel was the gift of Mrs. 
Charles Crocker, in memory of Mrs. Col. Fred Crocker, and a large 
side window was put in as a memorial for Mrs. Creed Haymond. 
These windows cost over $1000 each. Later Governor and Mrs. Stan- 
ford placed a memorial window for their son, Leland Stanford, Jr., 
who died in Rome during their visit in that city. 

Rev. G. A. Ottman succeeded Mr. von Herrlich, and was in turn 
succeeded by Rev. C. L, Miel. Mr. Miel was very energetic and ag- 
gressive, and the work was extended under his rectorship. The church 
on Eighth street having been racked by a severe storm, was con- 
demned. The lot was sold, and a lot purchased at Fifteenth and J 
streets, on which a parish house was erected for temporary use. Later 
a stone church was erected on the corner of J street, of which the 
present rector is Rev. Charles E. Farrar. It is one of the few stone 
churches in the state, and one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices in the 
northern ])art of California. In March, 1897, Mr. Miel started a mis- 
sion church at Twentv-third and K streets, which was known as St. 



294 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Andrew's, and a few months later Rev. Mr. Johnson was put in 
charge by Bishop Graves. Later Bishop Moreland purchased a lot 
on M street, and St. Andrew's was moved upon it and it became 
known as Trinity, Rev. George Swan being placed in charge. In 
1909 Trinity pro-cathedral, a fine stone edifice, was erected on the rear 
of the lot by Bishop Moreland. The Good Samaritan Mission, on 
Seventh street, between N and 0, was opened, but was closed about a 
j^ear afterwards. St. Paul's Japanese Mission was established at No. 
502 M street and was afterwards moved to Fifth street. Bishop More- 
land having purchased property there for it. 

Christ Church, Episcopal, of Oak Park, is the third church for 
Sacramento of the jurisdiction of Bishop Moreland. Early in Febru- 
ary, 1908, Rev. Harry Perks, the present rector, conducted the first 
service of the church in Red Men's hall, Magnolia avenue. Interest 
continued, and in May of the same year the church was organized as 
'^ Christ Church, Episcopal." In September the new congregation was 
accepted by the Diocese of Sacramento. In July, 1910, the foundation 
was laid for the new church. The building has a Packard organ and 
is furnished with modern pews and kneelers. It was opened for wor- 
ship September 4, 1910. It is part of a plan which, when complete, 
will include a larger church, parish house, social hall and rectory. 

St. Rose's Church: Rev. Augustine P. Anderson, 0. S. D., a 
native of New Jersey, arrived in this city August 7, 1850. He at 
once began the organization of the Roman Catholics, procuring a 
building on L street, between Fifth and Sixth, which answered as a 
temporary chapel until the church could be erected at the corner of 
Seventh and K streets. October 28, 1850, ex-Governor Peter H. 
Burnett executed a deed to Anthony Langlois, in trust for the Roman 
Catholic Bishop of California, for lot 8, in the block between Seventh 
and Eighth, and J and K streets, and August 17, 1867, Governor 
Burnett deeded lot 7 in the same block to Bishop Alemany. During 
the terrible epidemic of cholera Father Anderson labored unceasingly, 
visiting the cholera hospital several times daily and seeking out the 
poor and afflicted in their tents and administering all the consolation 
and aid in his power and procuring medical assistance for those un- 
able to pay for it. His unceasing ardor in his work weakened his 
system and in his exhausted condition, having contracted typhoid 
fever, he succumbed to it, a victim to his self-sacrificing zeal, dying 
November 20, 1850. By this time the frame of the new church had 
been erected and the roof ]:>artially completed, l)ut a severe gale aris- 
ing, the building was blown down and many of the timbers shattered. 
Rev. Anderson was succeeded by Rev. John Ingoldsby, who completed 
the church, but it was destroyed in the great fire of November 2, 1852, 
after which a frame building on Seventh street and Oak avenue was 
used for a church until the completion of the brick basement story of 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 295 

the new church. Rev. John Quinn succeeded Rev. Ingoldsby in 
April, 1853. 

October 18, 1854, the cornerstone of the brick church was laid by 
Archbishop Alemany, and service was held in the basement on Christ- 
mas following. The church was sixty by one hundred feet; the base- 
ment, nine and one-half feet in the clear, cost $10,500, and the church, 
which was completed in 1861, cost nearly $50,000. The bell, which was 
placed in the tower, arrived on July 13, 1859, and weighed 2079 
pounds. The earthquake which shook the state in the winter of 1871- 
72 rocked the tower so that the great bell rang. It is now in the 
tower of St. Francis' church. In 1861 Rev. Eugene O'Connell was 
placed in charge of the northern part of the state. He resided in 
Marysville, as Sacramento was in the San Francisco bishop's juris- 
diction. 

During the charge of Rev. James S. Cotter in 1866, some im- 
provements were made to the building, amounting to over $15,000. 
He was assisted first by Rev. M. McGrath and afterwards, in 1868, 
by Rev. Patrick Scanlan. Father Cotter, who was a great favorite 
with all classes, died in this city June 18, 1868. Rev. Thomas Crim- 
min, another priest here, died also in this city January 20, 1867, a 
few hours after being stricken with paralysis. Rev. James Cassm 
was pastor in 1861-62, assisted by Rev. N. Gallagher. Rev. Thomas 
Gibney was pastor in 1868-70. After that time Rev. Patrick Scanlan 
was rector, assisted by Rev. J. McSweeney, until July, 1881, when 
he went to San Francisco, being succeeded by Rev. Thomas Grace 
from Marysville, who was assisted by Rev. William Walshe until 
1886, and afterwards by Father Leonard Haupts. Father Grace in 
1886 was appointed rector of St. Rose's pro-cathedral by Bishop 
Patrick Manogue, the seat of the diocese having in that year been 
transferred from Marysville to Sacramento. When Bishop Manogue 
came to build the splendid cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in this 
city, he found that Father Grace had, during his ministry, made a host 
of friends who became zealous assistants in the work. 

The Cathedral, begun in 1886 and dedicated in 1889, is a stately 
and imposing structure in the later Italian style of architecture. Its 
dome rising to a height of one hundred and seventy-five feet, its 
arches, and arched ceiling set in frames of varied frescoes, the har- 
mony of due proportion in dimensions, the storied windows, rare 
paintings, and the statues it contains, endear both the structure and 
its venerable builder to Sacramento citizens of all classes. Its delicate 
spire, surmounted by a golden cross, that rises to a height of two 
hundred and sixteen feet, meets one's eye for miles outside the city. 
Its tower clock and massive dials, with its sonorous chimes, mark the 
hours as they pass. The building is cruciform, and is two hundred and 
eight feet in length by one hundred and fourteen feet in width, being 
by far the most spacious church in California, as well as the most 



•296 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

elaborate and ornate in design. Bishop Manogue had the consolation 
of seeing it and his residence completed and financed before he passed 
away. A year after his death he was succeeded by Father Grace, who 
was consecrated bishop of this diocese and still fills that office. Bishop 
Grace was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1841, and is of Norman 
lineage, being a descendant of Raymond le Gros, of the twelfth 
century. 

Opposite the Episcopal residence at Twelfth and K street is the 
Christian Brothers' College. The brothers were induced to locate the 
school here by Father Scanlan in 1876, and many thousands of boys 
have since passed through their school. Father Scanlan, who re- 
cently died in San Francisco, was in charge here for many years and 
had a host of friends in this city. 

St. Joseph's Academy, on G street, conducted by the Sisters of 
Mercy, was established first in 1857, in a building connected with St. 
Rose's Church. There is an interesting incident connected with the 
coming of the little band of seven sisters, who came to San Francisco 
in 1854, with Mother Mary Baptist Russell as Superior, at the in- 
vitation of Archbishop Alemany. They had made arrangements to 
come on the ill-fated steamer Arctic of the Collins line, but on their 
arrival in Liverpool they found, to their great disappointment, that 
there was no room for them, and they were forced to wait for two 
weeks. Their disappointment was turned to rejoicing, later, when the 
news arrived of the loss of the Arctic, that they were not on board. They 
taught school in this city, visited the sick and prisoners, and when 
the cholera broke out, they nursed the sick fearlessly and lovingly. 
They hold a warm place in the hearts of the pioneers for their gentle 
ministrations, and their deeds should never be forgotten. The convent 
and school was soon moved from Seventh and K streets to its 
present location, the whole block being purchased. The orphanage 
carried on for several years by the Sisters was moved to Grass Valley 
in 1870, and the large and commodious school as carried on at present 
was erected and incorporated as St. Joseph's Academy in 1875, gradu- 
ates of which are living all over the state, and the reputation of which 
ranks high among educational institutions. 

Under the guidance of the Sisters of Mercy the church took up 
the care of homeless children in 1904, at the Stanford mansion on N 
and Eighth streets, which was a gift for that purpose by the late 
Mrs. Jane Stanford. A school for the inmates is carried on in con- 
nection with the home. In all, there are five Catholic schools now in 
this city, the Sisters of St. Francis carrying on the work of teaching 
in some of them. 

When Bishop Manogue was in charge of the diocese he extended 
an invitation to the Provincial Council of the Sacred Heart Province 
of St. Louis to establish a parish of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi 
in this city. Accordingly, Rev. Augustine McGlory, 0. F. M., was sent 



HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 297 

liere to establish the parish and arrived in Sacramento October 16, 
1894. By agreement tlie new parish was to accommodate both the 
English and German speaking members by preaching in both lan- 
guages. The northern half -block between K and L, Twenty-fifth and 
Twenty-sixth streets was acquired as a site for the several buildings 
of the new parish, and a small cottage was remodeled for the Fathers. 
The first services were held in Union hall. Twentieth and streets, 
and February 7, 1895, the work on the present church, school and 
monastary was begun. 

On Palm Sunday, April 7, 1895, the first services were held in the 
new St. Francis church, and in the autumn of the same year, on 
November 5th, the St. Francis ])arochial school was opened by the 
Sisters of Mercy. The cornerstone of the present church of St. Fran- 
cis of Assisi was laid by Right Reverend Bishop Grace October 17, 
1908. The church, which is a very handsome specimen of the Cali- 
fornia mission style, was dedicated on Sunday, October 23, 1910, by 
Bishop Grace. It has a seating capacity of nine hundred, and con- 
tains forty-six stained glass art windows from Innsbruck, Austria. 
Rev. Godfrey Hoelters, 0. F. M., is the present rector. 

The First Church of Christ in Sacramento (Congregational) was 
organized in 1849, the first preliminary meeting being held on Septem- 
ber 16 of that year in the original schoolhouse which stood near the 
northeast corner of Third and I streets. The chairman was Rev. J. 
A. Benton, and Rev. S. V. Blakeslee was secretary. A number of 
those present at the meeting were Presbyterians, which fact gave rise 
to a discussion. The question of organizing a Presbyterian church 
was raised, but Mr. Benton announced that as he was not a Presby- 
terian, he had no authority to organize a church of that denomina- 
tion. They therefore organized a church under the title of the First 
(Christian Church of Sacramento, omitting purposely the word "Con- 
gres'ational " in order to preserve harmony and co-operation. As this 
absorbed about all the Presbyterian membership in the city, the Pres- 
byterians did not organize a church until 1856. 

A confession of faith and a covenant were adopted September 23, 
1849, and temporary officers were elected. A manual was adopted 
early in the following year, and Januarv 6, 1851, the permanent 
officers of the church were chosen as follows: Rev. J. A. Benton, 
pastor; James Gallup, J. W. Hinks, John McKee, Z. W. Davidson, A. 
C. Sweetser, deacons; W. C. Waters, treasurer; J. C. Zabriskie, clerk. 
May 5, 1850, an "ecclesiastical society" was formed in connection with 
the church, when they became able to build a clmrch on the west 
side of Sixth street, between I and J. A frame building was erected 
there and was dedicated on the 6th of October following. It is 
claimed that the laying of the cornerstone, on September 4th, was the 
first public ceremonial of the kind ever held in the state. But tlie 
structure erected then was swept away in the great fire of Julv 13, 



298 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1854. The congregation sold the lot for $1300, and the society pro- 
ceeded to erect the present brick church directly opposite. The church 
and society were so popular that they received very substantial aid 
from the public, both in building the structure and caring for it after- 
wards. The property was sold for a good price recently, and Mrs. 
Cornelia Fratt, relict of C. E. Fratt, donated to the church a valuable 
lot, 80x80, on the northeast corner of Fifteenth and P streets, where 
a fine church will be erected. 

It is a fact worthy of mention that from the organization of this 
church until 1890, only three pastors were in its service — Revs. J. A. 
Benton, I. E. Dwinell and W. C. Merrill, the latter assuming the 
pastorate. Since that time the pastors have been: J. B. Silcox, 
1890-92; J. B. Koehne, 1892-94; Henry N. Hoyt, 1894-98; J. B. Silcox, 
1898-1900; C. A. Dickinson, 1900-02; J. A. Chamberlain, 1903-04; 
Henry K. Booth, 1904-07 ; William H. G. Temple, 1907-10 ; Arthur B. 
Patton, 1910. The Sunday school of the church was organized August 
26, 1849, thus being the first Sunday school established in this city. 
The Golden Jubilee of the church was celebrated with impressive serv- 
ices on the 22nd and 23rd of September, 1899. A resolution to incor- 
porate having been adopted, the church was incorporated on June 20, 
1899, under the name of the First Congregational Church of the city 
of Sacramento, with William Geary, S. E. Carrington, L. Tozer, C. 
T. Noyes, D. W. Carmichael, P. R. Watts and A. H. Hawley, trustees. 
At present the trustees are: W. L. Witherbee, C. T. Noyes, 0. G. 
Hopkins, S. S. Finney, C. L. White, Dr. E. H. Pitts and W. A. Friend. 
Deacons : C. T. Noyes, J. H. Stebbins, W. L. Witherbee, A. J. McKay, 
W. A. Friend. Deaconesses: Mrs. G. A. Stoddard, Mrs. M. E. Gal- 
lup, Mrs. C. L. White. Clerk, George A. Capen. 

Westminster Presbyterian Church: The Presbyterians were the 
first to hold religious worship in Sacramento, Revs. J. W. Douglas, 
A. Williams and S. Woodbridge having preached here as early as 
March and April, 1849. The Presbyterians united at first with the 
Congregationalists, and no Presbyterian church was organized until 
1856. The organization was named the First Presbyterian Church of 
Sacramento. The church failed to raise the necessary funds for the 
purchase of Philharmonic hall for a place of worship, during the years 
from 1860 to 1863, and disbanded. The Sunday school, however, was 
kept alive by the zealous and energetic efforts of W. S. Hunt. The 
present church was organized January 21, 1866, under the name West- 
minster Presbyterian Church, and has since that time enjoyed a period 
of steady growth. It has a large Sunday school, a Chinese mission 
school, young people's society and other organizations. 

Since its organization the pastors have been: Revs. William E. 
Baker, P. V. Veeder, A. Fairbairn, N. B.' Clink, Joshua Phelps, J. S. 
McDonald, 1866-69; Frank L. Nash, 1869-72; Charles Schieling, 1872- 
74; James S. McKay, 1874-75; Henry H. Rice, 1875-86; J. E. Wheeler, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 299 

1886-90; R. M. Stevenson, 1890-97; R. J. Johnston, 1897-1901; H. C. 
Shoemaker, 1901-04; Rev. J. T. Wills, D. D., succeeded Mr. Shoe- 
maker, January 4, 1904. For many years the church edifice was at 
Sixth and L streets, being bnilt in 1866 at a cost of $18,000, and dedi- 
cated March 24, 1867. The building was sold a few years ago to the 
Roman Catholic denomination and is now known as Serra hall. A 
new edifice was erected at Fourteenth and K streets. 

During the various pastorates since 1886, in addition to the Sun- 
day school, various organizations have been added to the church, as 
follows: Chinese Sunday school. Ladies' Missionary Society, Gleaners, 
Ladies' Mite Society, Christian Endeavor Society, Boys' Brigade, 
Junior Christian Endeavor, Bethel Mission Sunday school, Young- 
Men's Conservatory, Loyal Sons, Loyal Daughters, and Home De- 
partment. In 1911 Charles M. Campbell, who had loyally given his 
services as Sunday school superintendent for twenty-three years, re- 
moved from the city, and was succeeded by John Stein. The church 
membership is al^out four hundred and fifty. 

Fremont Park Presbyterian Church: The Westminster Church or- 
ganized a Sunday school in July, 1868, and maintained it under the 
name of the Bethel Sunday school. It was on Fourteenth street, be- 
tween and P, and in March, 1882, it grew into a church, becoming 
self-sustaining and free from debt in a few years. The church was 
instituted by Rev. Dr. Thomas Eraser of San Francisco, assisted by 
Revs. H. H. Rice and Nelson Slater, and Andrew Aitken of Sacra- 
mento. Rev. A. H. Croco acted as pastor until July, 1883, when he 
resigned, and Rev. George R. Bird was called. Mr. Bird had been 
pastor of the Hamilton Square Presbyterian church in San Fran- 
cisco, having previous to that had charge of the First Presbyterian 
church in Seattle, Wash. Until the past three years the church was 
known as the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian church, as it was located 
on that street. Two years ago a new church edifice was erected at 
Fifteenth and streets, and it is now known as the Fremont Park 
Presbyterian church. 

The First Methodist Episcopal Church: This church is familiarly 
known as the ''Sixth Street Methodist church." It was first organ- 
ized under another local name October 28, 1848, at Dr. Miller's store, 
by Rev. Isaac Owen, and seventy-two persons enrolled their names. 
Mr. Owen was familiarly known as "Father Owen," and was the first 
missionary sent by his church to California. He and his wife and 
baby suffered many hardships in crossing the plains, and he was 
nearly drowned by the carelessness of a drunken crew in capsizing a 
schooner in Suisun bay. Lie managed to escape with the clothes he 
wore, which were rusty from crossing the plains, and came to Sacra- 
mento, preaching here October 23, 1849, under an oak at the corner 
of Third and L streets, and organized a church. A man of great 
energy, he had great plans for upbuilding the church in the state. 



300 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

One of his dreams was a university, and it was largely through his 
aid and energy that the University of the Pacific was afterwards 
built, being the first of its kind cliartered in California. As material 
for a church 24x.*)(i feet in size had been shipped for him from Balti- 
more by the conference, and had come by way of the Horn, it was 
soon put U]), and the chui-ch was finished ready for use-. It was plain, 
but as it was the first church building erected in this city, it was 
looked on as an elegant house of worship. Erected on a fine lot 
presented by General Sutter, at the southeast coik^ier of Seventh and 
L streets, fronting on Seventh street, it was known as the Seventh 
Street Methodist church, and the society took the same name. Mr. 
Owen soon had a comfortable parsonage. In the flood of 1850 his 
church was carried from its foundations, and his house rendered 
untenantable, so he removed to San Francisco. 

Later in the year he was succeeded by Rev. M. C. Briggs, who en- 
larged the church to acconuuodate the rapidly growing congregation. 
It was known as the Baltimore California chapel. Mr. Briggs served 
this church three terms, being the only pastor who did so. 

The cornerstone of a new brick edifice, 50x80, which cost $18,000, 
was laid June 22, 1852, Rev. S. D. Simonds making the address. Revs. 
J. A. Benton, Congregationalist ; O. C. Wheeler, Baptist, and W. R. 
Gober, M. E. Church South, participated. It was to have been dedi- 
cated on Sunday, November 8rd, but a terrible fire broke out in the 
city on Saturday, destroying $5,000,000 worth of property, and the 
new church was swept away with the rest. The society was un- 
daunted, however, and hurriedly erected a cheap building, in which 
they worshii)ed until they could erect a frame churcli on the site of 
the Baltimore House. This was sold to the Jewish congregation in 
January, 1859, for about $3500. The society worshiped for a whik' 
in the hall over the old i)ostoffice until they erected the ])resent church 
on Sixth street. It is 52x100 feet and cost about $25,000. It was 
finished in 1874, when it was raised to a higher grade, and tlie tower 
and steeple built, at a cost of about $15,000. 

The pastors of this church were: Isaac Owen, 1849-50; Royal B. 
Stratton, 1851-53; Warren Oliver and Elijah Merchant, 1853-55; N. 
P. Heath, 1855; George S. Phillips, 1855-57; J. W. Ross, 1857-59; J. 
D. Blain, 1859-61 ; Jesse T. Peck, 1861-63; M. C. Briggs, 186.3-65; J. W. 
Ross, 1865-68; J. H. Wythe, 1868-70; H. B. Heacock, 1870-73; A. M. 
Hough, 1873-75; M. C. Briggs, 1875-78; R. Bentley, 1878-81; T. S. 
Dunn, 1881-84; E. R. Dille, 1884-87; Arnold T. Needliam, 1887-91; T. 
0. George, 1891-93; C. V. Anthonv, 1894; M. D. Buck, 1894-97; J. S. 
Carroll 1897-1901 ; AY. K. Beans, 1901-03; W. W. Case, 1903-06; J. H. 
N. Williams, 1906-07; Frank Kline Baker, 1907 until the ])resent time. 
Mrs. Helen R. Peck is the deaconess. The church is prosperous, has 
a large membershi]) and a uuTidier of societies that arc doing effective 
work. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 301 

Central Methodist Episcopal Church: This society was organized 
with seven members as the H Street Methodist Episcopal church 

Eldei, Martin Grier; J. L. Thompson, A. Fowler, H. Kronkite, l! 
Pelton and B. Ward composed the first official board. A church edi- 
fice was erected and paid for during the first year of its existence at 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Rev. N. R. Peck was the 
pastor until 1857, being succeeded by Rev. David Deal, who was 
pastor tor two years, and afterwards served a second term. Durino- 
his pastorate a ])arsonage costing $1500 was erected, and prosperity 
attended the church. Rev. H. Baker succeeded Mr. Deal and was in 
turn succeeded by Rev ^Y. S. Urmy. During the pastorate of the 
lat er the great floods of 1861-62 occurred, and the water rose eighteen 
inches above the pews of the church, and Mr. Urmv and his familv 
were rescued from the parsonage in boats. No service could be held 
tor several weeks until the water subsided. The church suffered at 
this time from the business depression following the flood, and the 
exodus of many people from the city. 

At the conference of 1863 the proposition was made to unite the 
two congregations, but it was not approved, and Rev N R Peck 
was returned as pastor, and reported an increase of eighteen mem- 
bers during the following year. Rev. J. A. Bruner was appointed to 
he charge next and served one year. During the vears 1865 and 
1866, both the H street and Sixth street churches were under one 
pastorate. Rev. J. W. Ross being the pastor. This arrangement was 
disastrous to the H street church, nearly destroying its identity and 
decimating its membership, but in 1867 the old "status was restored 
Key. J. M. Hmman being appointed pastor, and the church took on 
renewed prosperity. May 12, 1869, some miscreant attempted to liurn 
the church l)y setting a fire in the bookcase and in the puljut. 

Rev. George Newton was ai)])ointed in 1869 to this charge, and 
kept it for three years, during which time some radical changes took 
place Early m his pastorate a success was realized that seemed to 
nnstify a change, and the old church lot on H street was sold, as well 
as the i)arsonage. The old church building was moved to a lot on the 
corner of Eleventh and I streets, the present church site being a part 
of the lot. The l)ui]ding was cut in two and fitted up for dwellino-s. 
An old building which stood on the lot was fitted up for a iiarsonai>e. 
and plans were made for the erection of a large church buildino, to 
be a "memorial church" for Bishop Kingsley, who had died durin- 
the year at Bey rout in Syria. The plans included the erection of a 
chapel first, and this was done and was called ''Kingslev Clia])el." 
But the church had been too ambitious. By the close of Mr. Newton's 
pastorate the debt had amounted to about $8500. and the property 



302 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

had become so much involved that further prosecution of the plans 
was impossible. 

The years that followed were of various success and depression, 
and their record tells a tale of heroic sacrifices on the part of the 
members in striving to uphold the church and liquidate the indebted- 
ness. It was discouraging work, but they persevered in spite of the 
increasing indebtedness and a decreasing membership. A revival 
under Mrs. Van Cott encouraged them by increasing the membership 
during the pastorate of Rev. J. L. Trefren, but most of these after- 
wards went to other churches. Rev. A. J. Wells, J. E. Wickes and 
Deal succeeded to the pastorate in turn, and during the dark hours 
of the society they labored devotedly and made great sacrifices. At 
length, in 1882, Rev. McKelvey was appointed pastor. By his in- 
domitable energy during his pastorate he succeeded in wiping out debt, 
by the sacrifice of all the property except the church and the lot it 
stands on. He also remodeled and improved the church building at a 
cost of $3500, most of which was raised by Mrs. McKelvey outside of 
the membership, and the name was changed from Kingsley Chapel to 
the Central Methodist church. Thus when it was reopened by Bishop 
Fowler the congregation had a neat church, free from debt. Rev. Mr. 
McKelvey was removed by limitation before an opportunity was of- 
forded him of enjoying the fruits of his labor, and was succeeded by 
Rev. Thomas Filben. After four years' service Mr. Filben was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. C. H. Beechgood, who gave way in 1892 to Rev. E. E. 
Dodge. In 1894 Rev. J. L. Trefren was returned to his former charge 
for three years, and then Rev. J. B. Chynoweth came, and remained 
for six years, the time limit having been removed. Rev. Richard 
Rodda succeeded him and is the present pastor. 

A German Methodist church was organized in this city in 1856, 
but debts finally accumulated until in 1866-67 the burden became so 
heavy that the church was broken up. 

St. Andrew's Church, African Methodist Episcopal, was organ- 
ized in 1850 by Rev. Isaac Owen, at the house of "Uncle Daniel Blue," 
on I street, between Fourth and Fifth. A church building was erected 
on the site on Seventh street, between G and H, where the present 
brick church now stands. The first pastor was James Fitzgerald, who 
served in 1851-52. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church South was organized in April, 
1850, by Rev. W. D. Pollock, who was also the principal factor in the 
building of a frame church on the site of the brick church which suc- 
ceeded it, on Seventh street between J and K. The latter edifice was 
dedicated by Bishop Pierce July 10, 1859. The first building was 
burned in the fire of November 2, 1852, and the second cost $4000. 
Mr. Pollock was forced by ill health in the fall of 1850 to return to 
Alabama, where he died the following year. He was succeeded by 
Rev. Mr. Penman, who shortly afterwards abandoned the ministry and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 303 

engaged in other pursuits. Since that time the pastors have been as 
follows: W. R. Gober, 1851-52; John Matthews, from August, 1852, to 
April, 1853; B. F. Crouch, appointed by Bishop Soule, 1853, to April, 
1855; A. Graham. 1855-56; W. R. Gober, 1856-58; Morris Evans, 1858- 
60 ; J. C. Simmons, 1861-62 ; S. Brown, 1862-63 ; George Sim, 1863-65 ; 

E. K. Miller, 1865-66; T. H. B. Anderson, 1866-68; George Sim, 1868- 
69; W. R. Gober, 1869-72; T. L. Moody, 1872-73; C. Chamberlain, 1873- 
75; B. F. Page, 1875, to fill out Mr. Chamberlain's time; R. Pratt, 
1875-76; M. C. Fields, 1876-78; C. Y. Rankin, 1878-79; T. H. B. And- 
son, 1879-82 ; F. Walter Featherstone, 1882-83 ; H. C. Christian, 1883- 
87; George B. Winton, 1887-88; A. C. Bane, 1888-90; H. Singleton, 
1891-93; T. A. Atkinson, 1893-97; W. E. Vaughn, 1897-1901 ;>. T. 
Ramsey, 1901-04; C. C. Thompson, 1904-05; W. A. Ott, 1905-06- C. T. 
Clark, 1906-10; L. S. Jones, 1910-14. Mr. Jones, the present pastor, 
is bringing the church to a prosperous period. 

German Evangelical Lutheran Church: In 1865-67, Rev. Mr. 
Buchler, of San Francisco, and Rev. Mr. Elbert preached in this city 
a few times and endeavored to organize a church, but without success. 
Rev. Matthias Goethe, formerly of Australia, later began work in 
Sacramento, organized the church December 1, 1867, with twenty- 
three charter members, and purchased the old German Methodist 
church on the corner of Ninth and K street (now Hale's) for $2400. 

F. Klotz, H. Winters, H. W. Schacht, F. Hopie and A. Grafmiller were 
elected trustees. The building was afterwards sold and the later 
church on the corner of Twelfth and K streets was erected in 1872 at 
a cost, including the three bells, of about $15,000. This property was 
sold in 1911 and another church edifice is being constructed at Seven- 
teenth and L streets. 

Mr. Goethe was succeeded in 1875 l)y Rev. T. Langebecker ; Dr. C. 
Taubner, 1877-1888, and Adolf Jatho, 1887-1890. In 1890 Rev. Charles 
F. Oehler succeeded to the pastorate, and has continued in it with 
splendid success, building up the church to a large and prosperous 
membership. Soon after his arrival the debts were paid off and a 
parsonage erected. A new pipe organ was installed and many mem- 
bers added to the church and Sunday school. Services were held in 
German and English. About six years and a half ago Mr. Oehler con- 
ceived the idea of establishing a building fund, to be used when the 
time arrived for the erection of a larger and more beautiful edifice. 
The fund was started by an Easter offering in 1905, Mr. Oehler hav- 
ing sent out a letter asking for an offering of $1000 and receiving 
$600. Since then the pastor, trustees, and women and other members 
of the church have labored faithfully and increased it to $16,000, and 
in 1911 a fine lot, 120x160, was purchased on the corner of Seven- 
teenth and L streets, the sale of the old church property at Twelfth 
and K streets netting a large sum, and the new edifice is in course of 
construction. The style of the church is German Gothic and the 
material a fine white artificial stone. Four of the large windows will 



304 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

be memorial windows, and the chureli will seat more than five hundred 
people, and will have galleries in the rear and the transept. The 
cornerstone was laid December 10, 11)11, Mayor Beard, the local Luth- 
eran clergy and several visiting ministers participating. The German 
Elvangelical Lutheran clmrcli is the second oldest Lutheran church in 
the state of California, Rev. J. M. Buchler having begun as early as 
1864 to nuike preparations for establishing it, but it was not organ- 
ized until 1867 by Rev. Matthias Goethe. 

First Church of Christ, Scientist: Tlie first i)ublic Christian 
Science services held in Sacramento were in Granger's building. Tenth 
and K streets, in 1890. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, here 
was organized in 1899, and granted a state charter in 1901. The his- 
toric clmrch building on Fourteenth and K, known as the United 
Brethren church, was purchased in 1904. Later this property was sold 
and a lot })urchased on Twenty-third street, between K and L. 

The beautiful structure erected there was finished in 1910, at a 
cost, including the site, of about $35,000. The exterior is of Medusa 
cement, with mahogany interior finish. The four-square domed audi- 
torium is seated with opera chairs on a sloping floor. Three large 
art windows and a fine crystal electrolier make it one of the best 
lighted auditoriums in the United States. This was the tenth church 
of the denomination in C'alifornia. 

Christian Church, or Disciples of Christ: October 18, 1855, Elders 
J. N. Pendegast and Thomas Thompson conducted the first services 
held by this denomination in Sacramento. They met in the Methodist 
brick church which until a few^ years ago stood on Seventh street, 
between J and K. John 0. Garrett and R. B. Ellis were appointed 
elders, and Rufus Rigdon and A. M. C. Depue, deacons. A nice chapel 
was erected on Eighth street, between N and 0, in 1877, the cost, in- 
cluding the lot, being $4500, and the church was very largely indebted 
to the enterprise of Elder J. N. Pendegast for the building. In 1896 
a new church was erected on the corner of Sixteenth and L streets, 
which was destroyed by fire on the night of July 4, 1910. 

The pastors have been Revs. John G. Parrish ; Stev- 
enson, who ]mblished a paper in this city; J. N. Pendegast, who pub- 
lished the same paper; Peter Burnett; McKorkle; Alexander 

Johnson; E. B. AVare; R. L. McHatton; L. N. Early; A. M. Growden; 

A. M. Elston; Hand; B. B. Burton; J. E. Denton; Henry 

Shadle; W. F. Reagor, and J. J. Evans, the latter succeeding Mr. 
Reagor in 1909, and being the present pastor. 

In 1896, during the ])astorate of Rev. J. E. Denton, the old church 
became too small, and was removed to the corner of Sixteenth and 
L streets, and made the basis for the erection of a new edifice, the 
enlargement and finishing costing about $6000, a del)t being incurred 
that has since been wiped out. On the evening of July 4, 1910, the 
church took fire, supposedly from a rocket which fell on the roof 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 305 

during the celebration, and the building was burned and almost the 
entire contents were destroyed. A new site at Twenty-seventh and N 
streets was selected, and a new edifice was erected, containing two 
auditoriums with a combined seating capacity of nearly nine hundred. 
Rev. H. O. Breedon conducted the dedication services December 17, 
1911. The structure also contains eighteen rooms for classes and 
departments. 

Calvary Baptist church was first organized October 17, 1869, by 
Rev. Frederick Charlton, pastor of the First Church. The organiza- 
tion took the form of a mission Sunday-school superintended by R. H. 
Withington and held in a schoolhouse situated on Thirteenth and G 
streets. When it became necessary to have more suitable accommoda- 
tions a building, 40x160 feet, costing $1,000, was erected on I street 
between Twelfth and Thirteenth. Another building, 38x65 feet, was 
erected in 1870 at a cost of $2,000. In 1871 a new church was organ- 
ized to accommodate members of the parent church living in that 
part of the city. The first deacons of this church were W. R. Strong, 
A. J. Barnes and R. H. Withington. The clerk was A. A. Bynon. 
The pastors have been as follows: J. P. Ludlow, R. F. Parshall, 
William Hildreth, C. F. Forbes, H. W. Read, George L. Lewis, S. B. 
Gregory, J. Q. A. Henry, 1881-8-1; S. A. McKay, 1884; A. C. Herrick, 
December, 1884, to 189i; J. H. Reider, 1892 to 1896; F. M. Mitchell, 
1896-99; S. G. Adams, 1899-1904; D. M. McPhail. During the latter 's 
pastorate the edifice was destroyed by fire. A new lot was then pur- 
chased at the northwest corner of Sixteenth and I streets, where the 
present building was erected, at a cost of about $13,000. Soon after 
the retirement of Mr. McPliail, who was with the congregation about 
six years, the proposition of consolidating with Emanuel Baptist 
Church was taken up, with Rev. A. J. Sturtevant to act as pastor of 
both churches. The proposed union did not materialize and in 1911 
Rev. C. H. Hobart, the present pastor, took charge of the work, 
which has ])rospered under his leadership. 

The First Baptist Church was the pioneer Baptist organization 
in Sacramento. As early as 1849 Rev. J. Cook, who kept a boarding 
house on I street, preached a number of times in the grove. Rev. 0. 
C. Wheeler came up from San Francisco September 9, 1850, and while 
the state was being admitted to the Union he was busy organizing 
the First Baptist Church at the residence of Judge E. J. Willis on 
H street l>etween Sixth and Seventh. He was probably assisted in 
the work by Mr. Cook. Judge Willis and John A. Wadsworth were 
elected deacons; Madison Walthall, treasurer; Leonard Loomis, clerk; 
and Rev. J. W. Capen, pastor. The first public services were held 
the following day in the courthouse on I street. A churcli costing 
$4,000 was built in the spring of 1851 on the corner of Seventli and 
L streets and was consumed in the fire of November 2, 1852. What 
was claimed to be the finest church building in the state was erected 



306 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in 1854 on the west side of Fourth street between K and L. While 
costing only $8,000, it was a very fine edifice for the price and had a 
main auditorium 35x85 feet, with a vestry 15x32 in the rear. In the 
great fire of July 12, 1854, it was only saved from destruction by the 
most strenuous exertions of the citizens. During 1877 it was sold for 
$3,000 and was afterwards removed to the corner of Fourteenth and 
K streets, where it was used for a number of years by the United 
Brethren in Christ. The present building on Ninth street between 
L and M was erected in 1877-78 at a cost, including the lot, of $18,- 
230.48. The corner stone of the edifice was laid with Masonic cere- 
monies August 20, 1877, and opening services were held March 10, 
1878. Ah Mooey, a Chinaman, was admitted into the church Septem- 
ber 2, 1855, and subsequently was licensed to preach, his baptism 
being supposed to have been the first of one of that nationality in 
California. His conversion occurred during the pastorate of Rev. J. 
L. Shuck, who was then an accredited missionary to the Chinese of 
Sacramento and later went to South Carolina, where he died in 1863. 

The Siloam Baptist Church (colored) was organized in 1856 and 
existed until late in the '80s. 

The Seventh Day Adventist Church of Sacramento was organized 
February 6, 1885, with ten members, by Elder E. A. Briggs, then a 
resident of Oakland. The congregation had been first established at 
Pleasant Grove, Sutter County, and had borne the name of that 
town, but in October of 1887 the name was changed to Sacramento. 
The members of this denomination observe Saturday as the Sabbath. 

In March of 1872 an Advent Church was organized in Sacramento 
by Elder Miles Grant with about thirty members, but the organiza- 
tion existed only about four years. That congregation observed Satur- 
day as the Sabbath. 

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 
was established in Sacramento in 1865 and met at first in the Chinese 
chapel on Sixth street between H and I, next in Graham's hall, later 
in the lower hall of the Masonic building and finally in 1884 erected 
a frame building, 34x44, on the corner of Twenty-fourth and K streets, 
costing $2100. This society has worked faithfully for the wiping 
out of polygamv. Among the elders who have served in the churcli 
are E. H. Webb, G. W. Harlow and J. H. Parr. 

A small society of Brighamite (polygamous) Mormons were in 
existence in Sacramento in 1872, and a few years afterwards. 

The first Unitarian sermon preached in Sacramento was by Rev. 
Mr. Brown December 29, 1867, in the Metropolitan theatre. During 
the spring of the following year the First Unitarian Church of Sacra- 
mento was organized and the congregation increased rapidly for a 
time, but went down in 1873, was revived in 1887 and worshiped in 
Pioneer hall. A lot on Sixteenth street between K and L was pur- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 307 

chased, on which to erect an edifice. For some years Rev. C. P. 
Massey (now deceased) preached occasionally. For nearly seven- 
teen years, with the exception of the occasional sermons of Mr. 
Massey, the church was without a pastor and then in 1911 Rev. Frank- 
lin Baker assumed the pastorate. 

Congregation B'nai Israel was formed in 1852. Previous to that 
there had been another organization, which met at the residence of 
M. Hyman, a jeweler on Front street. Rev. Mr. Wolf officiated. 
The first synagogue owned by the society in this city was a small 
frame building on Fifth street between N and 0. This was sold 
afterward to the colored Baptists, who worshiped there until the 
building was destroyed by fire in 1861. The frame house on Seventh 
street near L was purchased from the Methodist Episcopal Church 
for $3,500 and was converted into a synagogue. This building also 
was destroyed by fire in October, 1861, and in the early part of 
1864 the congregation purchased the building on Sixth street between 
J and K, previously used by the First Presbyterian Church. The 
building was remodeled and then used for some time, but eventually 
sold. The congregation now worships in a fine synagogue which they 
erected on Fifteenth street between N and 0. The rabbis have been 
as follows: Rev. Mr. Wolf; Z. Neustadter, 1857-59; R. Rosenthal, 
1859-60; S. Peck, 1860-61; R. M. Cohen, 1861-62; M. Silverstein, 

1862-65; Stamfer, 1865-68; H. P. Lowenthal, 1868-79; S. Gerst- 

man (who led in changing the society from orthodox to reformed), 
1879-81; J. Bloch, 1882-83; G. Taubenhaus, 1884-88. 

Ebenezer Church, Evangelical Association, (German) was organ- 
ized in 1881 and the following year the present edifice was erected. 
It stands on Tenth street between and P. The old building, which 
was owned by Trinity Church, Evangelical Association, was sold in 
1887 and that society disbanded many years ago. 

United Brethren in Christ have been represented in Sacramento 
for many years. During 1875-76 Rev. Alexander Musselman took 
the first steps toward organizing a church of this denomination here. 
A series of meetings were held in the Calvary Baptist Church in 
1876 by Rev. J. H. Becker and Rev. J. L. Field. In the fall of that 
year the present organization was formed. The old building known 
as the Fourth Street Baptist Church was purchased for $3,000. The 
closing of the sale was delayed for some reason and the society did 
not obtain possession of the building until November, 1877. In 
September, 1878, they removed it to the corner of Fourteenth and 
K streets, raised the building six feet, and repaired, repainted and 
refurnished it, the total cost of the work being $2,800. In 1884 a 
parsonage was erected on the lot adjoining on the west. The pastors 
have been as follows : J. H. Becker, 1877-78 ; D. D. Hart, who became 
pastor in 1878 and died in the pulpit in 1881 ; J. H. Becker, for various 
periods; Revs. Field and Demondrum to 1883; Francis Fisher, two 



308 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

years; T. J. Bander, to September, 1888; J. W. Baumgardner, 1888- 
90; M. S. Bovez, 1890-92; Harvey Bell, 1892-94; Olin Lowe, 1894-95; 
Daniel Shuck, 1895-99; T. J. Bander, 1899-1900; William Thompson, 
1900-03; Homer Gallalier, 1903-06; T. J. Bander, 1906-07; L. Harter, 
1907-12; and H. G. Smith, who in 1912 assumed the pastorage tliat 
he now tills. 

Ahiiost every denomination is represented in Sacramento. 

CHAPTER XXXII 
REMINISCENCES 

Some interesting reminiscences in relation to the early railroads 
were related to the writer by James G. Patterson, a pioneer of 1852 
and the son of A. D. Patterson, a pioneer of 1849. Mr. Patterson 
had a great fund of recollections to draw on, concerning both him- 
self and others, and gives one many an insight into the methods and 
incidents of the early days. Speaking of the Freeport road, he said: 

"It was projected by stockholders and bondholders of the Sacra- 
mento Valley railroad, John H. Carroll and George Mowe, who bought 
land and incorporated in 1863- '64. I was ordered down from the 
Auburn railroad in March to commence grading. I graded the track 
into Free])ort and went back to work on the Auburn road. I came 
back in July and laid the rails, and finished in October, about the 
10th, I think, and as soon as I got the side track in, they built a 
wharf for steamboats and leased it to the Sacramento Valley rail- 
road for two years. They sounded the river at midnight and found 
thirty-five feet of water, and no one knew of the survey. Carroll 
was a stockholder in the ^"alley road, but they bought the ranch in 
their own names so that no one would know it was for the Valley 
road. There was a bar up the river near the Edwards place, where 
the steamboats often got aground at low water, and frequently they 
would not reach Sacramento until noon or later the next day. The 
steamboat from San Francisco used to arrive at Freeport at 11 P. M. 
and the train would start as soon as the passengers got aboard with 
their l)aggage. The stages connected with the trains at Latrobe, and 
passengers ate breakfast at Placerville and went on over the moun- 
tains by daylight and landed in Virginia City at 3 P. M., twenty- 
three hours from San Francisco. The road was built to sell to the 
Central Pacific, which was done. The Central Pacific bought the 
Sacramento Valley road October 13, 1865 — the last day T worked for 
them. 

"All the ties and rails for the Free])ort road came up on vessels, 
and when T began to lay the road old Captain Kidder brought me up one 
and a quarter miles of rails and only one car of ties, and only four ties 
to a pair of rails. I told him that I couldn't lay them that way, as I had 
onlv five men and thev could not handle the iron and carrv it so fai*. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 309 

The engine was a light one, but it was a greyhound to run, and I asked 
the engineer if four ties at the ends and middle of the rails would carry 
the engine. He said it would, so I put down a tie every 6ix feet. The 
next day he gave us plenty of ties, and two of my men on the car un- 
loaded them. I walked along ahead and held up my hand as a signal to 
throw them down. They unloaded a whole train and then pulled the 
train out of the way. Then we shoved the ties in under the rails. 

"When the Central Pacific was laying its track near Gold Run, 
Strowbridge was superintendent of construction, and Maker was fore- 
man of the track-layers. They were experiencing the same trouble in 
regard to rails and ties that I had, and the work was proceeding slowly. 
There was an Irishman, Ned Hussey, working for Maker, and he became 
impatient at the way the work was going on. ' Av ye had Jim Patterson 
here, he'd show yez how to get this thrack down,' said he to Maker. 
'What do you know of Jim Patterson and what he would do I' asked 

Maker. 'H to your sowl, didn't I work undher him in laying the 

thrack an the Freeport road and the Valley road?' was the retort. 
'Well, what did he do!' asked Maker. Hussey explained to him, and 
he asked the engineer if the track would hold np the engine in case he 
laid fewer ties and had them put under the rails afterwards. The 
engineer said it would, and Maker hustled down to Strowbridge and told 
him about it ; Strowbridge told him to go ahead. Maker had a big gang 
of Chinamen and he put them at work. The consequence was that he 
laid six miles of track the next day, and when additional ties came, the 
Chinamen slid them under the rails and spiked them down. They hus- 
tled the track laying from that time on, till the road got to Promontory 
and met the Union Pacific gang. 

''This was the only road built in California where the people did 
not know anything about it. I kept the engine out on the old Jackson 
road, and used to sneak in in the morning with the engineer and fireman 
and again at night to bring them back, the men boarding on the road, 
so no one knew anything about it. I built the first movable cook-house 
in this part of the country for the men to board in, and bought pro- 
visions from the ranchers, who let the men sleep in their barns and out- 
buildings. My men were stevedores, who knew nothing but how to 
work, and I pushed things lively. Engineer Pope was running the 
engine, and was sparking Sam Rich's adopted daughter. Some days 
we laid a half mile and some days a mile of track, as we could get 
material. Old Page was owner of the Lake House then and would not 
let us grade across his land, so we had to lay the rails on the ground 
after the matter was fixed, and then haul dirt in for a roadbed. The 
trouble was adjusted afterwards. When the track was all finished I 
ran an excursion train over the road to Freeport. I stopped along the 
road and invited the farmers' families to get aboard. Then a re- 
porter got hold of it and published an account of the road, so the people 
found out what I had been doing. 

20 



310 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

"People nowadays do not realize the conditions that prevailed in 
early days. At the time of the '62 flood I went to Elk Grove, sick. 
The water was all over the country and they had to run a steamboat 
to Routier's to bring supplies for the people. There was only one 
sack of flour at Elk Grove, and George Bates had that and divided 
it with his neighbors. That was what is- known as old Elk Grove 
now; tlie present Elk Grove was not in existence until after the 
railroad was l)uilt. You can judge how the water covered the country 
when they built a barge at Buckner's at .old Elk Grove, right on the 
upper Stockton road, to go to Stockton for supplies. 

"Robinson asked me if I could work, and I told him yes. There 
was very little hay in the country for the horses and it was hard to 
get at tliat. T went over to Detercling's and paid $40 a ton for some 
old, rotten hay. The roads were awful, and teams were stalled every- 
where. I went over to Salisbury's and engaged some hay at $40, to 
be delivered to me the next morning, and when I went after it the 
fellow told me he had sold it for $45, so I had my trouble for my 
pains. I could not get to Florin or Perkins, as the water was too high. 

"The high water washed away a part of the Sacramento Valley 
railroad tracks, and the ties and rails were scattered all over the 
country. I began gathering them up, and it was a job to get them 
out of the mud with the teams. Where Agricultural Park is, was 
covered with railroad iron, and iron was iron in those days, when 
it had to come 'round the Horn.' Robinson came to my camp where 
the Buffalo brewery stands and asked me, 'how much iron have you 
got?' 'All there is here,' I answered. 'That is not enough,' says he. 
I kept, on gathering it u)), and was going along by Gerber's, near the 
hospital, and saw some railroad iron in the mud. They had held a 
fair out at Buck Harrigan's that year. So I hauled it out with the 
teams, and it was hard work. I found a good deal had floated down 
there on the slough that runs through the county hospital grounds. 
Still we were short of iron. 'Tear up the sidetrack at Brighton,' said 
Robinson. 'I won't do it,' said I. 'There are a lot of rails at Buck 
Harrigan's that I will get.' 'Go to it,' said he. A good many bosses 
would have discharged me for answering that way, but I never 
worked under a better boss than Robinson. 

"When they built the S street sewer a few years ago, they found 
some rails under ground, and one of the men said there nmst have 
been a track there in the early days, but I told him the rails came 
there during the flood. Romeo Carroll built a corral out that way by 
splitting ties and driving them into the ground endways. I asked him 
where he got them and where I could find the rails, but he only 
laughed, and would not tell me. There are lots of rails today buried 
in the slough that runs through the William Curtis place. 

"It was tough on the people when everything was flooded so. All 
the box cars were full of families, and the water stood all about them. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 311 

You couldn't see the wheels or the trucks. I was afraid they would i>-o 
down and be washed away, so I got the two engines; the Garrison 
was in front and the Robinson behind. We cut the train in two parts 
and ran half of it out across the break between Eleventh and Twelfth 
streets. The water was running through fast, and I got stringers 
across and anchored them with anchors from the vessels on the river. 
Then I dumped in two carloads of cobbles that were to have been 
shipped to San Francisco for paving streets. When that was done, 
we had connection made from Sixteenth to Twenty-first street so that 
we could transfer our Folsom passengers. I was afraid the other part 
would go before we could get it out, but we saved it. 

"I worked for Colonel Wilson in '59 and '60 on the Marysville 
road ; Montague was the engineer. The road only got to Lincoln, and 
was sold to the Central Pacific, which road had hard times, and there 
is more than one little bit of interesting history concerning it that 
but very few know. Before it got to Newcastle it was out of money, 
and C. P. Huntington was sent to Boston to try to make a raise. On 
the steamer, going to Boston, was Judge Slauson, a Boston attorney, 
and as Huntington had also come from Boston, they became good 
friends. Some of Slauson 's clients, moneyed men of that city,\ad 
become involved in a deal whereby they stood to lose $7,000,6oO, or 
thereabouts, and he had been sent for to go east and help them out. 
Huntington confided to Slauson the financial difficulties of the road 
and asked him to get his clients to buy out the promoters. 'They 
have money,' said he, 'and can carry it on and win out and make 
money. We will sell out the road to them, rolling stock and all, for 
$1,500,000.' Slauson told his clients, but they said they knew nothing 
about railroading, and they stood to lose $7,000,000 already. Slausoia 
bundled them off to Europe, where papers could not be served on 
them, and saved them $4,500,000. Then he got busy among his friends 
and raised $250,000 for Mr. Huntington on second mortgage bonds. 
iVs soon as he received the money the company began to work again 
and built the road to Clipper Gap. Then the change came and the 
mountains were brought down to Roseville and they got their $48,000 
a mile. The first thing they did after they got money Vas to buy Sam 
Brannan's mortgage and foreclose on the California Central. Charles 
Crocker bought one share of the stock for the purpose and served an 
injunction on Robinson to prevent his taking the rails on the Auburn 
road. My father and Stanford were very friendly, and they held 
three meetings in my father's house at Folsom with the Sacramento 
Valley railroad people before the California Pacific started from Sac- 
ramento. Robinson wanted to have one director on the lioard if they 
bought the road, but they would not consent. Finally the })urchase 
was made. My father paid the Valley road the first money it ever 
received for freight, when it brought him u]> a ton of seed wheat for 
$1.50, the reg-ular rate being established at $3. 



312 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

''The other day Tom McCoimell, of McConnell station, was in 
here to see me, and we had a chat about the old days. McConnell 
settled at Garden Valley, on the Georgetown road near Greenwood 
and Johntown. He started a store there and cultivated a garden, 
from which the place took its name. He raised potatoes and sold 
them to the miners for thirtj^ cents a pound. Such things were high in 
those days. He came down to Sacramento one day and stepped into 
a store where Charlie Grimm was having an auction. A lot of cotton 
shirts were being sold and he bought the whole lot for five cents 
apiece and took them home. It cost two bits in those days to get a 
shirt washed. He told the miners he would sell them the shirts for 
two bits, and they concluded it was better to wear a shirt a couple of 
weeks and throw it away than to pay for having it washed, so he sold 
all his shirts and got the reputation of being the cheapest storekeeper 
to buy of in that country. 

"In the winter of '52-53, the rains were very heavy and the bot- 
tom dropped out of the roads, and a great many teams were laid up 
along the road. Flour was selling at fifty cents a pound. Some 
freighters got within three miles of Garden Valley and got stalled. 
McConnell went down and bought their flour for thirty cents and sold 
it to the miners for forty cents. 'I was lucky,' said he; 'I just got 
rid of it when it came down to twenty-five cents.' For a time the 
price of all kinds of merchandise was low except picks and shovels, 
and McConnell said he never got more than $5 apiece for picks and 
$10 for shovels." 

THE FIKST BALL 

The following tale of a historic event by "Forty- Niner" relates 
the incidents surrounding the first ball given in the county and was 
published in the '70s in the Record-Union, and will prove of interest 
as depicting the shifts to which those inclined to shine in "sassiety" 
in those days were reduced in order to make items for the social 
column. The narrator says : 

"In my brief history of this place (Mormon Island) as appeared 
in your issue of the 12th, I neglected to give you a statement of the 
manner we enjoyed ourselves in those good and jolly old days of '49. 
We had our social gathering once each month, after 'the ball,' how- 
ever. The first ball ever given in Sacramento county was given here, 
and was the most difficult to make a success and the most amusing. 
It will be well remembered by two of the residents of your city, and 
two of San Francisco, when they refresh their memory. A full and 
true insight as to the management of such affairs at that early time 
will be a treat to your readers, especially to those who are 'high- 
toned' this present day, if they had been present as spectators to 
witness those hale and buxom maidens with short dresses, gray woolen 
stockings, and brogans, soles one-half inch thick. How they did laugh 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 313 

and sing and grow fat under such innocent and moral enjoyment. 

''The second day after my arrival at the Blue Drilling hotel, I 
borrowed a yeast powder can, holding about half a gill. I started, 
after my morning meal, for the bank of the river. The sand was liter- 
ally mixed with gold, as I supposed. I sat me down, exposed to the 
boiling sun, the thermometer claiming one hundred and seventeen de- 
grees, and spent the entire day gathering with the point of my knife 
the scale gold, as I thought, and depositing the same in my miniature 
tin safe. At sundown it was full, and I thought that a few days of such 
work would be all I cared for, and return home. I took the result 
of my day's work to Markham's store to have it weighed and get the 
coin for the same, but to my astonishment it was nothing more or less 
than mica. Feeling discouraged, I thought that gold is only sought as 
a means toward this end. Happiness is the concentration of all riches, 
and the most perfect happiness of this world is simply to be content. 

''My cash account growing short, I had to resort to some strategy 
to make a raise, so I suggested to the landlord that as winter was fast 
approaching he ought to have a canvas roof on his building, to pro- 
tect the health of his patrons. The roof that was on his house would 
leak when it rained, and the interior of the hotel was dry when it did 
not rain. Upon my suggestion, he concluded to make the necessary 
repairs, and I to do the sewing at fifty cents a yard, and when the 
work was done a grand ball was to be given to pay such an extrav- 
agant expense. Two gentlemen, then residents of this town (now one 
is a captain of one of the Sacramento and San Francisco boats, and 
the other a wealthy and prominent member of the board of brokers 
of San Francisco), were called upon, and the promised treat was dis- 
cussed in all its parts. One of these gentlemen suggested that a 
floor should be laid so that it would be more pleasant for the dancers. 
I and the landlord objected, he on the ground of unnecessary expense, 
and I for the reason that the cost would overbalance the receipts ; the 
house would be bankrupt, and I would whistle for my pay. I gained 
my point by arguing that the ladies' brogans would last longer on a 
dirt floor than on wood. 

"Next in order was discussion as to the proper arrangements to 
be made on such an important occasion. Our friend, 'now on the 
river,' suggested the programme, which was concurred in by the com- 
mittee. Large posters written upon brown wrapping paper, with a 
blue pencil, were posted in every direction — 'Tickets, twenty dollars.' 
and the 25th of December, 1849— for the first ball ever held in the 
county of Sacramento. 

"A few days before, quite a large immigration from the western 
states arrived, and it was suggested and proposed that the committee 
should wait on the female portion and solicit their aid and services in 
preparing food for the supper, 'as the cook at the hotel could not be 
trusted, for he was one of those Yankee fellows, and his extravagance 



314 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

iu prepariug tlie food would surely bust the boss.' We waited upon 
the ladies, and their excuse was that having just arrived, their whole 
time would he occupied in the wash tub, bath tub, and the preparation 
of their outer garments. Our only hope was to solicit the aid of the 
miners for our supper, and we offered to pay them for their food and 
premiums for the best meats, bread, cakes and pies; and your cor- 
respondent was ai)pointed a committee of one to make the award — 
which was half-]H'ice to the dance. That was a smart trick of the 
landlord, for he knew I would find some excuse for refusing any 
premiums, as he had an eye for profit, and I for my pay. 

"Well, the 25th arrived; the miners brought in their several 
meats, cakes, pies, etc., each one doing his best to excel the other. 
x\t 2 P. M. everything needed for the supper was exhibited for in- 
spection and awards in the cabin of W. Jones. The first examination 
was of two fine appearing hams. Premiums were refused in both 
cases — first, that the hams had not been washed before boiling, and 
the skin had not been taken off after boiling. The other was a 
shoulder, but by a neat contrivance about four inches of the leg of a 
ham had been carefully sawed off and with a wooden peg neatly 
placed in the shoulder, having the appearance of a genuine ham. Each 
was paid for his ham at $1 per pound, and they paid for their tickets 
$20 each. The next examination was the corn beef, which proved to 
be a chunk of 'salt horse' brought there some two weeks before by a 
sailor. He was paid for his salt horse and he paid for his ticket, as 
no ]n'emium was awarded him. 

"The bread was examined, and it was the unanimous opinion of 
the committee, at my suggestion, that it was dark. A person could 
not tell whether he was eating bread or leather. This report soon 
spread through the town, and an old and venerable Jack Tar had his 
trunk half full of ship biscuit, w^nch he offered as a substitute, and 
was accepted. The bread-makers' premium was withheld, and the 
donor of the biscuits received a pass to the dance at half-price. 

"Sausage meat came next, but as it had been made of nothing 
but beef and tallow, it could not be pnt on the table, as fishballs 
are prepared for use, so the whole bunch was boiled and served up 
cold, and a complimentary ticket given him. The cakes were in fine, 
order, sufficient grease having been used to make them palatable. 
They were accepted, and another $20 was lost. Something had to be 
done to avoid any further issue of free tickets for the ball, so the 
committee, taking a wink from me, agreed that the balance of the 
food should be averaged with that that had been examined except the 
pies, and they should be ])assed npon at the table, during supper, when 
pie was called for. The time did arrive. The first one cut proved to 
contain dried apples, brought from Boston, thoroughly eaten up with 
worms, and the black seeds still sticking in them. The crust was fair; 
he was paid for his pies, but received no pass. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 315 

''The second pie cut liad the appearance of being 0. K. of the 
dried peach order. A strong demand was made for peach pie. The 
first person that took a bite happened to have a false tooth in his 
head; instantly it fell from his month. An inquiry was at once made 
as to the cause of all this confusion, and the fault lay in the crust 
of the pie. It was carefully examined by those of the committee who 
had sound teeth and found to excel India rubber in toughness. The 
competitor was at once assessed for the damage done, which was set- 
tled by paying for the unfortunate gentleman's ticket. 

"Our work being done, the question arose as to who should have 
the honor of presiding over the floor at the dance. My old friend, 
now of San Francisco, was appointed as boss owing to his having a 
neat, white, fried shirt to give tone to the occasion. Myself and my 
Sacramento river friend were appointed as jigger bosses, he having a 
swallow-tailed coat with brass buttons, and I having a neat and clean 
collar over my woolen shirt, and a neat pair of boots, well greased, 
which made a good appearance. 

"The appearance of the ballroom was all that could be desired 
except that the managers were guilty of the grave oversight of neglect- 
ing to provide benches around it for the company. Wheeling planks 
were soon on hand, and, supported by drygoods boxes, made all satis- 
fied, and for the better accommodation and comfort of the ladies the 
landlord kindly allowed his two pairs of blankets to be used to give 
them the appearance of stuffed benches. The music stand was a shoe 
box and a three-legged stool on top. The hall was handsomely illum- 
inated l)y twelve candles stuck in porter bottles, and secured to the 
walls of the building with wires and handsomely decorated by the 
rough but tasteful hands of the miners with miniature flags and ever- 
greens. All was now ready; the proprietor looked up and down the 
streets for the coming of the dancers. One fellow told the landlord 
that in California the people never go to balls until the next day; that 
joke cost the landlord a cocktail and a steerage cigar. The company 
began to appear, however, at rather a late hour. Everybody had 
heard of the grand ball, and everybody wanted to see the crowd in 
attendance. It was a most singular miscellany, and in some cases 
the wonder was how the requisite $20 for a ticket was raised. 

"If it were desirable, I could critisize the ball pretty freely with- 
out being untruthful, but I should lavish ink and exhaust rhetoric in 
the vain effort to describe the entire success of this first entertain- 
ment. I dare not do it in print for the sake of my reputation for 
veracity nor undertake to say how many sighs were lavished upon the 
managers, the languishing glances that were leveled at them across 
the hall, what eloquent rhymes were coined to their praise, and how 
many gallant men risked the perils of a duel for the honor of first 
attempting to solicit the hand of the fair maidens for a dance. Even 
the furniture — wheeling planks appeared to hold high carnival, the 



316 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

sofas displaying their elasticity, the candles winking, and the fiddlers 
sometimes bursting out into such uproarious hilarity that the very 
strings appeared as if they were struggling to get out of their places. 
"12 M. supper was called. Boards in the center of the hall 
were placed in their proper position, the old blue drilling roof was 
used for a table cloth, tin plates and knives and forks were in plenty, 
and soon the crowd took their standing positions. Be it known that 
the table was made high enough to compel the hungry crowd to 
stand, for by such an arrangement they soon got tired and would 
leave the table with their bunch of fives full of grub, to make room 
for the steerage patrons. Shortly after eating commenced a colored 
miner, who had been cook of a whaling ship, entered and graciously 
donated a plum duff, tapering regularly to a point from a circular 
base. The handsome donation was thankfully received, but the out- 
side of the duff had the smell of something very much like perspira- 
tion, and from its appearance must have been boiled in the sleeve 
of a shirt. However, the outside was carefully scraped, and not a 
"speck was left for the second table. Supper over, the tables were 
kicked out doors and dancing renewed. A young maiden was present, 
named 'The Infant,' fourteen years of age, weight one hundred and 
eighty-nine pounds. I asked for the honor of her hand for a polka; 
her answer was 'you bet.' The first turn I made, flop I went on the 
dirt floor ; a clothes brush was in demand, but as none could be found, 
she took a long-handled broom and swept me off. After, this was 
done, she called aloud, 'Here, Jim, finish this dance with me; this 
fellow can't swing under my weight.' I surrendered, but before they 
got well started a string on the fiddle broke. The fiddler declared 
that he could not play any fancy dances without four strings. The 
polka had to be abandoned, at which I felt a calm satisfaction. 

"Well, the ball ran until four o'clock, and only the bass string 
left. Thus ended the first ball ever given in Sacramento county.- I 
got my pay for my work, and my name is yet Forty-Niner." 

In the previous article alluded to "Forty-Niner" told of customs 
at the ."Blue Drilling" hotel. He says: "I took up my quarters at 
the hotel made of blue drilling ; the polite landlord, at present a resi- 
dent of your city, bowed me into my room, which consisted of ninety 
pine poles covered with canvas, and would accommodate forty per- 
sons, but contained only two pairs of blankets. As soon as one fell 
asleep, tlie accommodating landlord would remove the blankets from 
him for the next customer, and if they were slow to retire, a glass of 
'49 Bourbon soon compelled them to. After all were asleep, the land- 
lord took tlie blankets from his last patron and went to bed himself, 
to dream of the many two dolUu's coming in the next morning for 
lodging. Many inquiries were made for the b'edclothing, but the 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 317 

gentlemanly proprietor settled the muss by another cocktail and a 
steerage cigar (cabin cigars at that time sold for fifty cents each), 
and all was peace." 

CHAPTER XXXIII 
TOWNSHIP HISTORY 

ALABAMA TOWNSHIP 

Alabama township was established October 20, 1856, a prior divi- 
sion of the county having been made February 24, 1851, by the court 
of sessions, by which eight townships (known as Sacramento, Sutter, 
San Joaquin, Cosumnes, Brighton, Center, Mississippi and Natoma) 
were established. It is bounded on the north by Lee and Cosumnes 
townships, on the west by Dry Creek township and on the south and 
east by the county line. It was originally part of Cosumnes town- 
ship and includes township six north, ranges seven and eight east, 
which lie north of Dry Creek, and also a strip from the west side of 
townships five and six north, range nine east, nearly a mile wide, in 
this county. 

John Southerland came into this township in 1850 and engaged 
in stock raising, and Roberts and Chaplin, who were the first ones" to 
raise barley in the township, settled on a ranch near him the same 
year, and Joshua and William Hewald, adjoining them, also raised 
grain and hay. In 1851 Ed Thompson, an old sea captain, settled 
with his family in the township, but afterwards sold his farm to tbp 
Goodwin brothers. Soon after selling he had a dispute with a laborer, 
and calling him out of the house, shot and killed him, then left thf^ 
country and was never found. Dr. George Elliott settled in 1851 at 
the crossing of the Stockton road and Dry creek, kept a stage station 
and hotel, owning the stage line. The place was known as Elliott's 
station and a postoffice was established there in 1852, Elliott being 
appointed postmaster. He sold out in 1858, a Mr. Mitchell being ap- 
pointed to succeed him, until the office was discontinued, when Martin 
Scott purchased the hotel and moved it across the creek into San 
Joaquin county. James M. Short and W. Lords came in 1852, and 
the former still lives there. Other early settlers previous to 1855 were 
S. B. Lemon, James Crocker, Thomas H. Fowler, William Mitchell 
(a large sheep-raiser), Richard White, William H. Young, William 
Callon, John Bowen and Joshua Bailey. In 1858 Thomas Steele set- 
tled at what is now known as Clay Station, and a postolfice was estab- 
lished there in 1878, Steele being postmaster, storekeeper and black- 
smith. The Sacramento and Stockton stages ran through the town- 
ship and by the station and hotel kept by Dr. Elliott. The Forest Line 
Stage Company began running in June, 1869, and ceased in 1876, 
running from Gait to Mokelumne Hill. George Brusie kept a station 



318 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and hotel. S. B. Lemon opened a hotel in 1854, which was closed in 
1861 or 1862, and Calvin Bates opened one in 1863, on the Michigan 
Bar or Lagiina road, which closed in 1866, 

The lirst school in the township was a private one, kept by George 
H. Stringfield, in 1857, which lasted one term, and in 1858 a public 
schoolhouse was built 1)y ])i-ivate parties. Miss Mary McConnell being 
the first teacher. 

The soil of the bottom lands is a black loam. The upland is 
gravelly, mixed with adobe, and considerable red loam and sandy soil. 
The chief industry was stock raising until the passage of the "no- 
fence" law, since which time the land is more profitable for farming 
than grazing. T]iom])son and James brought several herds of cattle 
into the townshii) in 1853, and until 1860 "Uncle Billy" Hicks, of 
Hicksville, also had considerable cattle. In 1858 sheep-raising ob- 
tained a hold and has ever since proved ])rofitable. After 1877 barley, 
wheat and hay began to be raised profitably. Very little fruit has 
hitherto been raised in this township, but of late the large ranches 
have been purchased and are being cut up into small tracts, with the 
idea of colonizing them for the purpose of intensive farming and 
planting vineyards. Dry creek is a torrential stream coming down 
from Amador count,y, which carries water only in the winter and 
spring. The Lagoon, as it is known, carries a great deal of water in 
winter, sometimes overflowing its banks, half a mile wide. It runs 
nearly through the center of the township. 

AMERICAN TOWNSHIP 

On July 30, 1851, the court of sessions cut off from Sacramento 
township all of the land north of the American river, creating it into 
a townshi)) to be known as American township. On the 20th of 
October, 1856, the board of supervisors of this county estal)lislied the 
boundaries of the different townships as they now exist, all except 
Riverside township, which was carved out of Sutter township in 1909. 
In 1874 the supervisors changed the boundaries of Sacramento city, 
throwing all the land north of A and North B streets into American 
townshi]). At present almost all the land in the township is swamp 
and overflowed land, comprised in Old Swamp Land District No. 1. 
The Natonias Consolidated Company, however, has obtained ownership 
of most of the overflowed land, and has begun the work of reclaiming 
many thousands of acres, at a cost of several million dollars, and the 
day is not far distant when the township will be the site of hundreds 
of small holdings of alluvial land of great fertility and will make a 
thickly settled section tributary to the city of Sacramento. The 
township contains about fourteen thousand acres of the Norris Grant, 
or Rancho del Paso. This also is being subdivided, and many set- 
tlers are making improvements on it. The Southern Pacific station 
at Arcade is situated near the southeast corner of the township. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 319 

The Six-mile House on the old Marysville road was built by Mr. 
Holmes in 1852 or 1853, but sold in 1857 under foreclosure to H. C. 
Harvev, who was interested in a stage line from Sacramento to Marys- 
ville, and who kept it as a hotel and farmhouse. It is now the head- 
quarters of a game club. The Arcade House was about two miles 
from the American river luidge. The Star hotel was on the Nevada 
road on the Norris Grant. It was a favorite stopjung place for team- 
sters and was owned by a Mr. Pitcher in 1857. The Twelve-mile 
House was a stage station on the Nevada road. The land, being sedi- 
mentary deposit, is very rich on the bottoms, and much sediment was 
deposited on it by the '62 flood, which nearly ruined the farms over- 
flowed, carrying away barns, houses, tools, etc., and the indications 
are that at some time previous to the American river occupation the 
water was much higher than in 1862. 

This townshi)! was the scene of one of the early duels — that be- 
tween Philip W. Thomas, district attorney of Placer county, and Dr. 
Dickson, one of the physicians of the State Marine hospital of San 
Francisco. Thomas had made some remarks derogatory to the char- 
acter of J. P. Rutland, one of the clerks in the office of State Treas- 
urer McMeans, and Rutland sent a challenge, which Thomas declined, 
saying he did not regard the challenger as a gentleman. Dr. Dickson 
appropriated the insult to himself, and sent a challenge to Thomas in 
his own name, which was accepted, and a hostile meeting was ar- 
ranged for four A. M. March 9, 1854. The parties left the city at 
two-thirty A. M., but found they were pursued by the sheriff and his 
deputies, and it was arranged that a mock duel should take place be- 
tween two of their friends, H. O. Ryerson and Hamilton Bowie. They 
took ])osition and exchanged shots, and Ryerson was immediately ar- 
rested and taken to the city, where he gave bonds. The principals 
proceeded to the ground, about two hundred yards from the residence 
of H. M. LaRue, where Bowie acted as second for Thomas and Judge 
McGowan as second for Dickson. The distance had l)een fixed at 
ten paces, Init was changed to fifteen, in hoj^es of saving their lives. 
The weapons used were dueling pistols, and both fired promptly at 
the word, Thomas being a little the quicker of the two, which prob- 
ably saved his life, as Dickson's bullet struck the ground at Thomas' 
feet. Dickson fell and was l)rought to the city, where he died at 
midnight. James H. Hardy was then district attorney, and the other 
participants were indicted, l)ut through the exertions of Col. P. L. 
Edwards, their counsel, the indictments were quashed. Thomas was 
later twice re-elected district attorney of Placer county, and in 1860 
was elected to the state senate, but resigned before the expiration of 
his term. He died in Auburn in 1874 or 1875. 

BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP 

Brighton township, as originally established l)y the court of ses- 



320 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

sions February 4, 1851, was described as follows: Beginning at the 
southeast corner of Sacramento township, thence along the eastern 
line of said township to the county line of Sutter county; thence east- 
erly along said line for three miles; thence in a southeasterly direc- 
tion to Murray's ranch and including the same; thence in the same 
direction to the intersection of San Joaquin, Sutter and Cosumnes 
townships; thence along the northern line of Sutter township to the 
place of beginning. This included part of what is now known as 
Center township. In 1856 the board of supervisors changed the 
boundaries. 

The town of Brighton was started in 1849 by a party of Sacra- 
mento speculators, the town plat made, lots staked oif, a race track 
and the Pavilion hotel built by the originators of the enterprise. It 
was located on the bank of the American river, nearly a mile north 
of the location of what is now known as Brighton. In 1849-51 it was 
a lively place. The Pavilion hotel burned down in 1851, and another 
hotel, the Five-mile House, with John and George Berry as j^ropri- 
etors, was started, but closed in 1856. There were two stores and 
several dwellings in the town, but in 1852 it was abandoned, on ac- 
count of land troubles, defective title and other reasons. 

The station and postoffice now known as Perkins was called 
Brighton until the early '80s, when the name was changed. At one 
time the postoffice at Brighton was moved to what is now called 
Brighton Junction, remaining there for four years, and then going 
back to its present location. T. C. Perkins built the first store and 
was the first i)Ostmaster there in 1861, and his son, C. C. Perkins, 
still carries them on. S. H. Pugh built the Washington hotel and the 
first blacksmith shop in 1874. 

Hoboken, or Norristown, was laid off by Samuel Norris in 1850 
on the south bank of the American river. Very little was heard of it 
till the flood of 1852, when Sacramento was cut off by water, and Sac- 
ramento merchants had to move to the high ground in order to reach 
their customers. The town was rechristened Hoboken, and grew 
quickly. January 10, 1853, there were from thirty to fifty houses and 
tents. Prominent business houses of Sacramento swelled the popula- 
tion to several himdred. In January of 1853 the vote for the election 
of mayor of the town stood, after an exciting campaign : E. L. Brown, 
613; Samuel Norris, 546; J. B. Starr, 598. Mayor Brown made a 
speech to the voters, promising to faithfully perform the duties of 
his office, "provided I am paid for it." When the waters subsided 
Hoboken was deserted and became farm land. 

Routier postoffice, named in honor of Joseph Routier, is on the 
Placerville railroad. Routier settled there in June, 1853, as the agent 
of Captain Folsom, occupying the house built by Leidesdorff in 1846. 
He bought part of the property and lived there until his death in 1898. 
The fii'st railroad station in this vicinitv was at the American Fork 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 321 

House, or Patterson's. A few years later the station was moved to 
Mayhew. In 1871 Mr. Patterson lost his new house by fire, and re- 
built at Routier's. In 1872 Mrs. Mayhew, postmistress at Mayhew, 
resigned, and the office was moved to Routier's and Patterson was 
appointed postmaster. 

A. D. Patterson came to this country in 1849 and started the 
American Fork or Ten-mile House on the Coloma road, remaining 
there until 1871. The house was constructed principally of cloth, and 
was about ten miles from Sacramento. It became popular, and flour- 
ished so that in 1850 he built a wooden house costing, it was said, 
about $40,000, owing to the cholera season in that year. On Christmas 
Eve, 1850, a ball was held that realized $1500, of which Patterson paid 
$250 to Lothian's band for music. In 1853 the "Plank Road," built 
on the continuation of J street, reached Patterson's hotel, which was 
its eastern terminus. The house immediately became a great place 
of resort, and flourished till he sold it in 1872. 

The Magnolia, also known as the Five-mile House, was built orig- 
inally in 1849, on the old Placerville and Jackson stage road, and was 
well known in its day. It was burned twice in 1863, and rebuilt the 
second time. The Twelve-Mile House was built in 1853 by a man 
named Caldwell, and was known as the Antelope ranch. The Four- 
teen-mile House was built on the old Coloma road in 1850, and sold 
to John Taylor in 1854. 

Among the early settlers in the township we have gathered the 
following: N. J. Stevens settled near Patterson in 1850. Charles 
Malby settled here in 1849, and kept the Nine-mile House on the 
Coloma road. James T. Day came in 1849. Israel Luce came in 
1850. James Allen came with his family on the American river,, and 
was driven out in the Squatter riot, the sheriff having been killed at 
his house, as heretofore narrated, and an adopted son of his having 
also been killed. He returned, and sold his place in 1861. W. B. 
Whitesides settled in the township in 1850, on what is known as the 
Rooney place. A. B. Hawkins came in 1849. A. Cerytes came in 
1850, but moved away later. A. Kipp and Charles Petit settled on 
the Allen place in 1851, but when he returned they gave it up to him. 
John Rooney came in 1851. W. S. Manlove and Dr. Kelloi>-g settled 
there in 1849. 

Mills station, formerly known as Hangtown Crossing, has a store 
kept by John Studarus, and a gristmill from which it takes its name. 
Walsh's station is situated on the Jackson road about nine miles 
from Sacramento, and a postoffice was established there in 1873, J. 
Walsh, who kept the store, being postmaster. Enterprise Grange hall 
was built there the same year by a business association connected 
with the Grange. 

CENTEE TOWNSHIP 

Center township was established by the court of sessions in 1851, 
and comprised part of the present township, as well as parts of 



322 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Brighton, Granite and Lee townships. The supervisors in 1853 
changed the boundaries of Brighton and Center townships, making 
the portions of both lying north of the American river. Center town- 
ship. In 1856 new boundaries were established. The township is al- 
most entirely composed of Spanish grants. About thirty thousand 
acres of the Norris grant, known now as the Rancho del Paso, are in 
the township; also about eight thousand acres of the old San Juan 
grant, the latter having been subdivided and sold in smaller parcels. 
During the past two years the Rancho del Paso has been sold by J. B. 
Haggin to eastern capitalists, and is being rapidly cut up and sold 
in small farms to settlers. The price paid for it is stated to have 
been about one and a half millions. For fifty years its forty-four 
thousand acres has stood like a stone wall in the way of the city's 
expansion on the north, as Mr. Haggin refused to sell it, except as a 
whole. It is being rapidly settled up at present. The proprietors of 
the Norris grant made three separate attempts to reach artesian 
water or to find a flowing well, but were unsuccessful, and the last 
of the three wells was abandoned in 1879. The depth of these wells 
was, respectively, nine hundred feet, six hundred and forty feet, and 
twenty-one hundred and forty- seven feet. 

The Auburn road runs diagonally through the township, and in 
the early days houses of refreshment were located along it at short 
intervals, the most prominent of them being the Oak Grove House, 
about seven miles from Sacramento, which was a popular resort in 
1851-52. It was kept l)y D. B. Groat, and w^as tlie one at which the 
parties of the Denver-Gilbert duel took breakfast on the morning of 
the tragedy, the ground being only a few yards away. The house 
disappeared long ago. This was one of the most noted duels in the 
early history of the state, and had its origin in a newspaper con- 
troversy in 1852. Denver was at the time in charge of the supplies 
for overland immigration, and Gilbert attacked him editorially, cliarg- 
ing members of the expedition with dishonesty. He finally sent Den- 
ver a challenge, which was accepted, Denver, as the challenged party, 
choosing rifles, and the distance thirty paces. At sunrise AugTist 2, 
1852, the combatants met on the ground, and in the toss for choice of 
position Denver won, and placed his back toward the rising sun. Ex- 
Mayor Teschemacher was Gilbert's second and V. E. Geiger was Den- 
ver's, while Dr. Wake Briarly was surgeon. The first fire resulted 
in the bullets of each striking the ground in front of the other. At 
the second shot Gilbert was shot in the bowels and fell into the arms 
of his friend, dying without a struggle. His body was carried to the 
Oak Grove House. Gilbert was born in Troy, N. Y., and worked him- 
self up from the printer's case to a seat in congress. He came to 
California with Stevenson's regiment in 1847, having previously been 
associate editor on the Albany Argus, though at the time of his death 
he was only thirty years of age. Early in 1849 he combined the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 323 

California Star and the old Calif ornian, from which sprung the Alia 
^California. He was a delegate to the first constitutional convention, 
and the first man from the Pacific coast to take a seat in congress! 
His body was taken to the residence of J. H. Nevett in Sacramento, 
and impressive funeral services held by Rev. 0. C. Wheeler at the 
First Baptist church, the procession being headed by a company of 
cavalry under command of Captain Fry. The body was taken to San 
Francisco, and final services held at Rev. T. Dwight Hunt's church, 
every newspaper editor and reporter in San Francisco attending the 
funeral. 

Antelope is a village on the Southern Pacific railway. In 1876 
a large brick warehouse was built by J. F. Cross, costing $3000. The 
first store was started in 1877 by the Antelope Business Association, 
and the second by R. Astile in 1879 in the hotel building. The post- 
office was established in 1877, Joel Gardner being postmaster. For 
many years it has been a shipping place for hayand grain into the 
mountains, and of late fruit and almond raising is increasing in that 
section. Arcade is a way station on the Southern Pacific." Within 
the past three years the Western Pacific railway and the Northern 
Electric railway have been built through the township and have estab- 
lished some waj^ stations. 

COSUMNES TOWNSHIP 

Cosumnes township originally embraced parts of Dry Creek and 
San Joaquin townships. Its present boundaries were established by 
the board of supervisors in 1856, and the villages of Cosumnes, Mich- 
igan Bar, Sebastopol, Live Oak and Buckeye are within its limits. 

Michigan Bar was so named because the first settlers were from 
Michigan. Much mining has been done in Cosumnes township, gold 
having been discovered there in 1849, and it was probably discovered 
by the two Michigan men who founded the place. This was the 
largest mining camp in the district, and the first claims were only 
allowed to l^e sixteen feet. Wlien hydraulic mining began the miners 
made their own rules. In the fall of 1851 the miners began working 
the gulches, hauling the dirt in carts to the river. This was the first 
dry mining done in this locality. In the summer most of the mining 
was done on the river and bars. The Knightsomer ditch in 1851 (the 
first built), and the Davidson ditch, built in 1854, were both on the 
north side of the river. In 1858 hydraulic mining began, and some 
two hundred to three hundred acres were washed off to the depth, 
sometimes, of twenty feet, the district l)eing one of the best for placer 
mining in California. At one time Michigan Bar had from one thou- 
sand to fifteen hundred population, some estimating it as high as two 
thousand, and in the '50s it ]io]led as high as five hundred votes. There 
are not more than fifty voters now. 

A toll bridge, Imilt in 1853 by Samuel Putnam, was bought by the 



324 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

count}' in 1879 and made free. A new iron bridge, 362 feet in length 
and costing $3300, was built in 1887. The Michigan Bar pottery 
works were built in 1859 by J. W. Orr, who discovered what was 
thought to be the best bank of clay for pottery in the state. 

A man named Prothero was the first settler, and brought his 
family of four sons and two daughters with him. Larkin Lamb and 
wife settled there in 1851. 

Gold was discovered at Cook's Bar (named after a man named 
Dennis Cook, who settled there in 1849) about the same time as at 
Michigan Bar, and quite a large town, with a large hotel, stores and 
saloons and five hundred population sprang up, but practically ceased 
to exist in 1860. 

Sebastopol, a mining town, sprang up in 1854. The place was so 
named by the miners, the Crimean war then being in progress. During 
the lively times three hundred to four hundred ounces of gold dust 
were sold here weekly, but the town dwindled down to four houses by 
1859. Katesville, another mining town, was established in 1854 and 
deserted in 1862. 

Live Oak was also established in 1854, and for several years gold 
to the amount of $2000 to $3000 was sold there weekly. Wells, Fargo 
& Co. had an office there from 1858 to 1861, and the Hamilton line of 
stages ran through Live Oak on their way from Mokelumne Hill to 
Sacramento. There were three stores, two hotels and other business 
houses, but the place went down in 1861. Among the early settlers 
were B. R. Robinson, Henry Lancaster, W. S. Crayton, Thomas Olive, 
J. C. Dunn, Patrick Gaffney, John Gaffney, George Freeman, R. D. 
Reed, Alfred Ball and V. Perry. George McKinstry came to the state 
in 1847, and opened a store and trading post on the Cosumnes river 
in 1849. He owned a part of what was known as the Sacayac grant 
(later called the Pratt grant) on the Cosumnes river, and sold the 
ranch and store to Emanuel Pratt, who ran it till 1855, when he closed 
out the business. J. 0. Sherwood settled on the south side of the 
Cosumnes in 1850. Jacob A. Hutchinson, Sr., crossed the plains in 
1846, and settled on the Cosumnes river in 1849. He soon started on 
a prospecting trip to the northern mines, and was never heard of 
again. James Pollock came to the state in 1846 with his family, and 
settled on the Cosumnes in 1853. He claimed that his daughter, Mary, 
was the first white child born in the state, but the claim is disputed. 

Jared Sheldon, the owner of the Sheldon grant, in 1851 bought a 
piece of land half a mile above where McCabe's bridge was afterwards 
built. He built a costly dam and dug a race three-quarters of a mile 
long, the dam being built of square timbers, tied together with oak 
ties, and filled in with rocks, sixteen feet high. The miners learned 
of his intention and protested, on the ground that it would overflow 
their claims, but he disregarded their protest, and completed the dam. 
When the water began to reach the claims several meetings were 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 325 

held, both sides being represented. Sheldon built a fort on a point of 
rocks which commanded the dam, placed a cannon npon it, and em- 
ployed a number of men to defend it. July 12, 1851, however, the 
fort was surprised and taken, Sheldon being absent. He was sent for 
to come and let the water off, and arrived soon after with a dozen 
men, but refused to let the water off, and the miners made an in- 
effectual attempt to l)low up the dam. When it failed, one of the 
miners, of whom there were about a hundred present, seized an ax, 
and calling on the others to protect 'him, walked to the edge of the 
dam and began chopping. There is a dispute as to who fired the first 
shot, one account stating that Sheldon ordered one of his men to shoot 
the miner who was chopping the dam, and that this man and another 
fired at him, whereupon the miners fired at the Sheldon party, killing 
Sheldon, and Johnson and Cody, the two men who fired. The only 
man injured on the miners' side was the man on the dam, who was 
slightly wounded. The dam was opened and the water let out, and it 
was entirely swept away by the high water of 1851-52. 

Jordan H. Lowry settled at Michigan Bar in 1854, and lived there 
for many years. There were plenty of hotels in the township between 
1850 and 1862. The Public House, built at Coats' Ferry, closed in 
1858, and another hotel, built by Coats, on the other side of the river, 
was closed in 1857. The Hamilton House, on the Sacramento and 
Dry Town road, near the river, was burned in 1853, and never re- 
built. The Gold Spring House., on the Gold Spring ranch, was built 
in 1849 and closed in 1853. The Mountain House was built in 1850 
by James Gordon, whose wife gave birth to twins the same year, the 
first twins born in the township. The Wilbur hotel, built i3y Y. S. 
Wilbur in 1850, and sold to Larkin Laml) in 1851, was closed by him 
in 1858. The Ohio House, built by a company from Ohio, was sold in 
1&56 or 1857 to James Cummings, who changed its name to the Cum- 
mings House. It was located at Sebastopol and burned down in 1864 
and was never rebuilt. The Hamilton hotel was opened at Sebastopol 
by J. H. Hamilton in 1857. The Prairie Cottage, about a mile and a 
half above Sebastopol, on the lone road, was built in 1851 and closed 
in 1864. The Blue Tent House, on the Buckeye ranch, built in 1849 
by Sage & Co., closed as a hotel in 1870. The Niagara House was 
opened in 1849 on Willow Springs creek by Moore & Ball, and 
closed in 1856. Cook's Bar House, opened by Chenault & Hall, in 
1854, did a good business for several years, but closed in 1870. 

While there is some good agricultural land, in Cosumnes township 
and some successful hopyards along the river, most of the land is 
classed as mineral and is but little worked now, being largely devoted 
to grazing. The march of progress and the new methods of treating 
the land will probably in the near future result in turning it to fruit 
raising. 



326 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The first school in the township was opened in 1858, the whole 
township being inclnded in the district. 

DRY CEEEK TOWNSHIP 

Dry Creek township was originally inclnded in San Joaquin town- 
ship, but was set ot¥ by itself in August, 1853, all the land southeast 
of the Cosunmes river being set off. The boundaries were modified 
into their present form by tlie supervisors October 20, 1856. It is 
mostly included within the boundary line of the San Jon de los 
Mokelumne, or Chabolla grant. Dr. ^Y. L. Mclntyre came into this 
county in 1849, with his family, settling in Dry Creek township in 

1851. He built the first frame house in the township in April, 1851, 
near Gait. Mrs. Rosanna Mclntyre died at the residence of Ephraim 
Ray in Gait, February 20, 1889, in her seventy-ninth year. 

Calvin T. Briggs and John Burroughs had large herds of cattle 
on both sides of the river as early as 1850, and Burroughs returned to 
the east in 1857. Briggs built the second frame house in the town- 
ship in 1851, they having previously lived in an adobe house. Rev. 
N. Slater and family came in 1851 and engaged in stock-raising. He 
sold his five hundred acre farm in the Chabolla grant in 1869 and 
moved into Sacramento in 1876. 

Grant I. Taggart and the Ringgold brothers took up a claim in 

1852, but stayed only a few months. Taggart was afterwards clerk 
of the supreme court. Willis Wright purchased part of their claim 
in 1853. Thomas Armstrong came into possession of part of the Ring- 
gold place in 1852, and engaged in the dairy business. Dr. Russell 
came in 1850, engaging in the cattle business about four miles from 
Gait until his death in 1861. William H. Y^oung was among the early 
settlers. S. Fugitt and family settled on Dry creek in 1852 and 
kept a hotel for some years. Hiram Chase came in 1852. George 
Gray settled in the township in 1850, James Short in 1853, Andrew 
Whitaker in 1852 and John McFarland in 1851. Evan Evans came in 
1851, Henry D. Cantrell in 1853, Thomas McConnell in 1855, Thomas 
Lorin in 1851, George Need in 1852, Peter Planalp in 1852, H. Putney 
in 1853, Peter Williamson in 1852, David Davis in 1853, P. Green and 
wife in 1852 or 1853, Peter Riley in 1852, Samuel Wriston and 
Ephraim Ray in 1852. 

The first death in the township occurred February 14, 1851, and 
was that of a Mrs. Jackson, who was with her husband, visiting at 
Dr. Russell's house. There was only one white woman, Mrs. Mclntyre, 
present at the funeral, and most of those who attended it were In- 
dians; At the grave the Indians squatted around on the ground, mak- 
ing a strange jiicture. In 1853 a Fourth of July celebration was held 
at Mclntyre 's house. The settlers came from all over the county and 
many from San Joaquin county. A flag was made by four of the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 327 

ladies, the stripes being from a red window curtain and tlie blue field 
of a blue sliawl. 

The stock interests later gave way to grain, and much wheat was 
raised for years. There was little, if any, mineral in the township. 

The town of Gait was laid out by Obed Harvey and the Western 
Pacific Railroad Company in 1869, and the Gait House, an old hotel 
erected by S. Fugitt, was moved to the town. It was discontinued 
in 1872. 

Whitaker & Ray started their store in Gait in 1859, and amassed 
a fortune. The postoffice was established the same year, with John 
Brewster as the first postmaster. 

The First Congregational Church of Gait was established October 
13, 1877, Rev. William C. Stewart, pastor, and the first officers were 
James Ferguson and E. C. Morse, but religious- services had been 
held in the schoolhouse at irregular times by various denominations 
since 1869. In 1884 the church erected a fine building through the 
energy of Dr. Harvey and John McFarland. The Methodists in 1879 
took a schoolhouse built in 1872 and converted it into a church. The 
Christian Church was organized in 1887 or 1888. The Catholics laid 
the cornerstone of their church October 12, 1885, and it being the 
393rd anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, the 
church was named St. Christopher's Church. Rt. Rev. P. W. Riordan, 
Archbishop of San Francisco, officiated. 

Phoenix Lodge No. 259, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted in Gait Decem- 
ber 29, 1875, by Grand Master D. W. Welty. It now has ninety-two 
members. Gait Encampment No. 65, I. 0. 0. F., was organized May 
13, 1881. Rei Rebekah Lodge No. 132, I. 0. 0. F., was organized 
March 20, 1888, with forty-eight charter members. There are eighty- 
seven members at present. Gait Lodge, F. and A. M., was organized 
in the fall of 1882 with fifteen charter members and S. W. Palin as 
master. The Knights of Pythias were organized February 12, 1883. 
Gait Lodge No. 113, A. 0. U. W., was instituted June 21, 1879. Other 
organizations have been instituted from time to time. The Order of 
Chosen Friends was instituted in 1882; the Golden Shore Lodge in 
May, 1889 ; the Grand Army Post July 12, 1888, and the Order of the 
Iron Hall, an incorporated order, in 1889. 

Hicksville was named after "Uncle Billy Hicks," one of the oldest 
settlers in the township, who came in 1847 and began stock-raising. 
The postoffice was established at his place in 1854 and was transferred 
to the present site of Hicksville in 1857. There is now a postoffice at 
Arno on the Valensin place, at Arno station, the Hicksville postoffice, 
which was off the railroad, having been discontinued a number of 
years ago. At present there are a number of subdivisions being 
carved out of the large farms in the township, the principal ones of 
which are the Valensin Colonv and Herald. The Central California 



328 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

electric road runs through the township, and the colonies are on its 
line. 

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP 

Franklin township was formed out of the original Sutter township 
by the board of supervisors October 20, 1856. It lies between the 
Sacramento river, the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers, and Sutter 
township. The lands in this township are all either agricultural or 
marsh lands, the latter, where reclaimed, being very valuable for fruit, 
grain or vegetable raising, and much alfalfa is also produced on them. 
The agricultural lands have been mostly used for grain raising, being 
much of them adobe, with some sections of the red plains loam. 
There are also some vineyards among them. There is a chain of 
lakes running through the western part of the township and connect- 
ing with Snodgrass Slough. Along the river are some of the finest 
orchards to be found in the state, producing all kinds of fruit, berries, 
vegetables and alfalfa, which are carried to San Francisco and to Sac- 
ramento for shipment to the east. Almost every orchard has its river 
landing, where numerous fruit and produce boats ply daily through 
the fruit season. The titles were all procured from the United States, 
there being no Mexican or Spanish grants in the township. The 
largest business enterprise in the township is the brickyard on the 
river, owned by James 'Neil. 

Joseph Sims came to the state in 1847, with Stevenson's regiment, 
and is the youngest member living of the Sacramento Society of 
Pioneers. He settled in Franklin township in 1849, and has a valuable 
farm. J. B. Green came in 1849, J. C. Beach in 1850, Wm. H. Fry in 
1852, Joseph Green in 1851, Truman N. Fassett in 1852, George W. 
Hack in 1855, R. Kercheval in 1850, David T. Lufkin in 1850, Jacob 
Miller in 1853, John Reith in 1855, Solomon Runyon in 1850, Myron 
Smith in 1853, Adam Warner in 1853. Union House was established 
in 1852 by Amos Butler, and has a postoffice. The Six-mile House was 
built by a man named Prewitt in 1853-54. The Twelve-mile House was 
built in 1850 by a man named Hesser. 

Freeport, eight miles from Sacramento on the river, was the 
place from which the Freeport Railroad Company projected its road 
in 1862-63 to connect with the Sacramento Valley road, and enjoyed 
quite a shipping trade to the mines for several years. A. J. Bump 
built the first store in 1863, and the first hotel was started by E. Greer 
the same year. There was a population of from three hundred to 
four hundred people at that time, but now only a few people remain. 
It has a postoffice. Freeport Lodge No. 26, I. 0. G. T., was instituted 
in January, 1884, and built a lodge building. The order went down 
some years ago. 

Franklin, for many years known as Georgetown, has a postoffice, 
store, hotel and a number of residences, and was settled in 1856 by 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 329 

Andrew George. The solioolhouse was erected and rnn for two 3^ears 
as a high school, bnt al)andoned as sucli on account of the expense, 
Franklin Grange, P. of IL, was instituted January 9, 1874. 

Richland was started in 1860 as a landing, and had a large ware- 
house, a school, a Methodist church and a few residences. 

Courtland is a landing for all the steamers, and was established 
in 1870 by James V. Sims. It has a postoffice, telegraph and Wells- 
Fargo office, and a store. In December, 1879, a fire destroyed the 
part of it known as Chinatown, which was rebuilt. 

Onisbo, named after a chief of the Digger Indians there, was set- 
tled by A. Runyon in 1849. A postoffice was established in 1853, but 
was moved to Courtland in 1857. The schoolhouse, with the lodge 
room of Franklin Lodge No. 143, F. and A. M., overhead, was erected 
in 1860 at a cost of $2200. Franklin Lodge was instituted in 1861, 
with George A. Blakeslee as master. 

GEOEGIANA TOWNSHIP 

Georgiana township joins Franklin township on the south, and 
was set off from Sutter township, of which it was originally a part, 
by the court of sessions, August 14, 1854, commencing at a point about 
opposite to Steamboat Slough. On' October 20, 1856, the board of 
supervisors established Merritt Slough as the northeast corner. The 
township is composed almost entirely of what are generally known as 
the River islands, including part of Sutter island, almost all of Grand 
island, and all of Andrus, Tyler, Twitchell, Brannan, Sherman and 
Wood islands, and having about one hundred miles of levee. No richer 
land is to be found than that in this township, and the lands along the 
river and sloughs, when reclaimed, yield prodigiously. The orchards 
of all kinds of fruit keep a number of boats busy during the fruit 
season, and ship potatoes and vegetables to San Francisco and Sacra- 
mento all the year round. The land is being devoted extensively to 
the raising of asparagus and celery of late, yielding great profits. 
The stretch of land on the river from Freeport down, with its thirty- 
tive miles of orchards, has been famous for years, and the nine miles 
of river front on the Pearson reclamation district has excited mucli 
comment from press and public. It includes about nine thousand 
acres, and a splendid levee was constructed around it in 1878. The 
old levee gave way and it was flooded, many of the owners being 
ruined, and about four thousand acres fell into the hands of the San 
Francisco Sa^angs Union, which proceeded to reclaim it under the 
management of P. J. Von Loben Sels. Over $300,000 was spent in 
levees, pumping plant and other improvements. The land reclaimed 
has proved of marvelous productiveness for grain, potatoes, beans 
and other vegetables. 

Brannan island has about eight thousand acres, nearly all under 
cultivation. The levees and the residents have suffered greatly from 



330 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

floods in the years since the settlement in 1852, but the land is now 
protected by levees more scientifically constructed, and is very pro- 
ductive. 

Sherman island is the southernmost point of Sacramento county, 
and was first settled by Robert P. Beasley in 1855. It was. all re- 
claimed in 1873, and the land increased in value rapidly, the crops 
being good and everything prospering. The high water of 1878, how- 
ever, dispelled the rosy anticipations of the owners and brought dis- 
aster to them, destroying the levees and making a swamp of the island. 
At various times since then the levees have been rebuilt with the 
same result. Within the last few years, however, the levees have 
been raised and strengthened by huge dredgers, and are considered 
secure at present. A great drawback to the reclamation of the 
islands is due to the fact that they are of peat formation, and at 
various times the weight of the sand placed on them too close to the 
river has caused the levee to slide down into the river. Of late the 
levees have been set further back, with a long slope on the side next 
to the river, and as a result all the islands will be ultimately re- 
claimed. There are two wharves on the island, and Emmaton is a 
small place on the Sacramento river. 

Twitchell and Tyler islands have been great sufferers from floods, 
the former having been purchased by the Tide Land Reclamation 
Company in 1869 and reclaimed in 1870, only to be overwhelmed by 
the water. 

Andrus island was settled in 1852 by George Andrus, at the 
upper end. It contains about seven thousand acres and is all re- 
claimed. Isleton, forty-one miles from Sacramento, is at the lower 
end of this island. It was established by Josiah Pool in 1874, and has 
enjoyed i)rosperity for many years. The wharf was built in 1875. 
Formerly the principal industry w^as the raising of sugar beets, but 
it was finally discontinued. For some years a lodge of Good Tem- 
plars and a Grange of Patrons of Husbandry flourished here. 

Sutter island has been under process of reclamation for tnany 
years, and is now largely under cultivation. Walnut Grove was set- 
tled by John W. Sharp in the fall of 1851, and there has been a post- 
office there since 1855 or 1856. It is situated at the junction of Georg- 
iana Slough with the Sacramento river. It has a wharf at which the 
steamers stop going both ways, also a store, schoolhouse, a hotel and 
a hall. It is a point from which much produce is shipped. The grow- 
ing of asparagus and celery has expanded very fast within the past 
three or four years, and a large area of the splendid alluvial soil near 
the river is being devoted to it. 

LEE TOWNSHIP 

Lee township was formed October 20, 1856, by the board of super- 
visors and is bounded on the north by Granite township, on the east 



HISTOKY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 331 

by Natoma and Cosumues, on tlie south by Alabama and on the west 
by San Joaquin and Brighton townships. Of the original townships 
it contains part of what was San Joaquin township and a large por- 
tion of the original Cosumnes township. South of the Cosumnes river 
it includes part of the Hartnell grant, north of the Cosumnes and 
parallel to it is the Sheldon grant. About thirty-eight hundred acres 
of the Leidesdorff grant is in the northern part of the township. 
Along the Cosumnes river and Deer creek is the rich alluvial land, 
producing alfalfa and fruits. Back from the river is the red soil 
known as plains or agricultural land. On the high land iinicli of it is 
gravel and used principally for grazing. 

Approaching the Cosumnes river on the old Jackson road, as one 
reaches the brow of the hill, a beautiful green valley strikes the eye, 
and winds toward the south with the river. In the summer, when 
the hills are brown, it gives one beholding it for the first time a 
pleasurable surprise. One summer evening in 1840 William Daylor, 
who was in the employ of Captain Sutter, while on a cattle hunt, rode 
to the top of the hill which overlooks the valley of the Cosumnes. The 
valley at that time was thickly populated with Indians and as Daylor 
did not care to make too close an acquaintance with them, he did not 
descend into the valley, but went back to the fort. He reported what 
he had discovered to his friend, Jared Sheldon, who was at the time 
employed by Sutter as a carpenter. Sheldon, who was a naturalized 
citizen of Mexico, and had certain claims against the Mexican govern- 
ment for services in building the custom house at Monterey, saw^ his 
opjiortunity, and made an arrangement with Daylor, by which he 
(Sheldon), through his friend, E. P. Hartnell, who was then secretary 
of state and government interpreter for California under the Mexican 
government, should obtain a grant of the valley discovered by Daylor, 
in liquidation of his unsettled claim. Daylor was to settle with two 
or three companions on the grant, while Sheldon was to stock the 
ranch with cattle, and the two were to become equal partners in the 
land and cattle. 

Sheldon took the ])reliminary steps for securing the grant, and 
then purchased three hundred head of cattle of Dr. Marsh, of Marsh's 
landing (now Antioch), for which he was to pay in carpenter work, 
which he entered upon immediately, sending the cattle through the 
unknown country from Dr. Marsh's to the Cosumnes. They reached 
their destination safely, and the drovers found a corral for the cattle 
and a tent for the men, which had been provided by Daylor, assisted 
by Ned Robinson and a force of Indians. These Indians had been 
found to be docile, friendly, and willing to do anything for the whites 
in consideration of a yard of ''Manta" (unbleached muslin) and the 
game, deer, elk and antelope, which the latter provided, and which 
compensated the Indians for a week's work. With their aid a field 
of one hundred acres was inclosed with a ditch and planted with 



332 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

wheat, which was procured from Captain Sutter. During the first 
year the diet of the settlers was confined to venison, but after the 
cro]) was gathered boiled wlieat was added to their menu, which was 
unvaried until 1847. 

In the -meantime Sheldon and Daylor had found a fine site for a 
mill just below where McCh^acken's bridge was afterwards built, and 
in 1847 they constructed a dam and built a grist mill, which continued 
in successful operation until the stampede of 1848 that caused nearly 
everyone to forsake work and rush to the mines. After the discovery 
of gold in 1848 Sheldon, Daylor and McCoon, taking a number of the 
Indians, established a mining camp at a point where the Placerville 
road now crosses Weber creek, and remaining there until the autumn 
rains set in, they found the result of the summer's work gave to each 
partner $20,000." 

Daylor was married in the autumn of 1846 and Sheldon married 
in the spring of 1847, their wives being the daughters of Thomas 
Rhoads of San Joaquin county. Sheldon, desiring to add to his pos- 
sessions, bought a piece of land about four miles above his mill, and 
becoming involved in a quarrel with the miners aliove it, was killed, 
as narrated elsewhere, July 10, 1851. He was a native of Underhill, 
Vt., and came to California overland from New Mexico in 1832. 

William Daylor, a native of London, England, came to Sutter's 
Fort in 1840. He died of cholera at Daylor 's ranch October 30, 1850. 

Sebastian Kayser, born in the Austrian Tyrol, and for many years 
a trapi^er in the Rocky mountains, was half-owner of the Johnson 
ranch at Johnson's crossing on Bear creek, and was drowned in the 
Cosumnes river in January, 1850. 

Perry McCoon came to California about 1843 and was killed by a 
fall from his horse near Cook's bar in January, 1851. 

W. R. Grimshaw, a nati\'e of New York City, was a seafaring- 
man, and arrived at Monterey in June, 1848, in a coasting vessel. He 
came to Sutter's Fort in October, 1848, and November 15, 1849, he 
opened a store and Indian trading post in partnership with William 
Daylor at Daylor 's ranch. He died many years ago. 

W.' D. Wilson came to this state in 1848, and settled on the 
Cosumnes river, opposite Daylor 's ranch, and died in Santa Clara 
county in 3875. 

John R. T. Mahone was a soldier in Doniphan's regiment during 
the Mexican war. He married the widow of Jared Slieldon and set- 
tled at the vSlough House in 1852. He died a number of years ago. 

Wilson's Exchange hotel was built in 1850 by W. D. Wilson on 
the south side of the Cosumnes river. In 1851 he built a bridge across 
the Cosunmes at the same i)oiut, but it was swept away by the high 
water in 1852; he rebuilt it the same year, but it was again swept 
away in 1862, and was not rebuilt. The Slough House was built by 
Jared Sheldou iu 1850. nud he and his family occupied it as a resi- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 333 

dence until his death. The Slough House bridge across Deer creek 
was built by John Mahone in 1850. It was washed away in 1863, and 
rebuilt. In 1862 J. C. Austin built a wire bridge across the Cosumnes, 
located on half of division thirteen of the Hartnell grant. In 1868 
Austin sold it to James D. McCracken, ex-Governor Booth and Colonel 
James. It was generally known as the ''wire bridge," and in the 
later '80s became unsafe and the county replaced it with one that was 
longer and higher. 

In the spring of 1850 the justice of the peace at the Daylor ranch 
was an old fellow known as "Uncle Ben," but he did not hold the 
office long. A half-witted fellow had been caught driving off some 
tame American oxen and was brought before Uncle Ben for trial. 
The fellow was almost paralyzed with fear and declared loudly that 
he was innocent of any intent to steal, and that he had been' jiired 
to drive the oxen to Sacramento. When all was ready for the trial, 
the prisoner was missing and a party went in search of him. He was 
found a couple of hundred yards from the house, up to his neck 
in water and with his head under a bush, and was brought back, 
more frightened than ever. Being asked how he got away, he said 
that he had given the justice his purse with the gold dust in it and 
had been allowed to slip out the back way. The justice denied his 
story, but the prisoner described the purse and its contents, and on 
searching the justice the purse and contents were found as described. 
It was given to him and he was allowed to go, but the judge was tied 
up to one of the columns that supported the porch and given twenty- 
live lashes on his bare back with a lasso for a "cat-o '-nine-tails." an 
Indian officiating. He was then let loose and ordered to leave at 
once. He left. 

^ In 1850-51, the settlers in Cosumnes and San Joaquin townships, 
which at that time included Lee, had been greatly annoyed by horse 
and cattle thieves, until they determined to take the matter into 
their own hands and administer summary justice to offenders. A 
man named Orville Hamilton was accused in the early part of 1851 
of being accessory to horse stealing and a number of citizens assem- 
bled at his place and organized a court and proceeded to try him on 
the charge. Among the members of the court were Jared Sheldon, 
William Hicks, Charles Lewis, W. D. Wilson, S. P. Gage, Atwood, 
Tryce and Allmond. The prisoner was found guilty and sentenced to 
hang and a committee was appointed to carry out the sentence, but 
when they proceeded to carry oat their instructions they found that 
the prisoner had disappeared. This was communicated to the crowd 
and created great excitement, which was increased when they dis- 
covered a man wearing Hamilton's hat. He proved to be a merchant 
of Sacramento named Sage, an intimate friend and old schoolmate 
of ILamilton's in Connecticut. It was proposed to hang him in 
Hamilton's place, but cooler counsel prevailed, and he was ordered 



334 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tied lip and whipped. No oue appeared willing to undertake the 
job, until Sheldon exclaimed, "Some one has got to see to this thing," 
and he tied Sage to a tree and an Indian administered several lashes 
on his bare back with a lasso. He returned to Sacramento and 
employed C. A. Tweed to begin suit against Sheldon, Hicks and 
others, but was non-suited. 

By the time all tlie incidents related had taken place, it was dark 
and the settlers returned to their homes. Gage and Allmond lived 
in a cabin about a mile and a half below the Daylor ranch, on the 
south side of the river, where they were herding horses. When they 
returned home they were informed by a teamster, who had stopped 
at tlieir cabin, that two men were endeavoring to drive a herd of 
horses across a ford about half a mile below the cabin. As this was 
an unusual proceeding at that time of night, the three men went 
to the bank overlooking the ford and discovered that two thieves 
were endeavoring to drive off the horses Gage and Allmond were 
herding, l^'hey would have been successful, undoubtedly, if the horses 
had not been unwilling to leave their range after dark. The three 
men jumped down the liank, ]:»ulled the thieves off their horses, dis- 
armed them and inade them return to the cabin, where they gave 
them their supper. After supper, Gage left his com^^anions to guard 
the prisoners, while he started out to summon the neighbors to 
assemble and try the prisoners the next day. Hicks, Sheldon and 
Grimshaw were in bed when he arrived, and while he went to sum- 
mon others, they decided to attend to the matter at once. Accord- 
ingly, when Gage returned with some other neighbors, they all agreed 
on the subject. When they reached the cabin they found there wait- 
ing for tliem Jolni T. Rhoads, William B. Rhoads, John Parker 

and Ford, and it was decided to proceed to the trial at once. 

Sheldon was appointed to preside over the court, when it was found 
that there were not enough men present to form a regular jury. 
One of the party, however, spoke on the futility of regular trials in 
stopping the evil of liorse-stealing and said it was necessary to juake 
an example. He offered to be one of a party to pull on the rope 
to hang the prisoners and the others agreed. The horses, wliich had 
run into the corral, were examined to make sure there was no mis- 
take, and the prisoners were led out to a tree, lassos placed around 
their necks and they were informed that they had only half an hour 
to live. When tlie time elapsed, they were drawn up, left there all 
night and buried by the Indians in the morning. This summary dis- 
pensing of justice put an effectual stop to horse-stealing in the 
township. 

One of the earliest mob executions in the county outside of the 
city took place May 14, 1855, when William Tjomax was hung by a 
mob for the murder of Frederick Bohle, who was killed on the 7th. 
Bohle was a stockraiser and lived in a cabin about a inile above the 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 335 

old Daylor ranch. Some parties who went there to purchase cattle 
found him dead. He had been cut with a knife and chopped with 
an ax, the indications pointing to a desperate struggle. The alarm 
was given at Grimshaw's house, and Clrimshaw and Oliver Saunders 
went out and brought in the body. Lomax had been seen about the 
premises and he was arrested in Sacramento and taken out to the 
scene of the murder. He asked that the trial be postponed until he 
could produce a man named Van Trees, with whom he said he had 
passed the night previous to the murder, at a ranch on the American 
river. The people of Michigan Bar and Cook's Bar took possession 
of him, promising that they would bring him back when Van Trees 
came, wliicli they did. Van Trees corroborated the story of Lomax 
that he had been at his place, but added that when he departed he 
had stolen a mule. Lomax was convicted and hung on a tree in front 
of Grimshaw's place. 

MISSISSIPPI TOWNSHIP 

Mississippi township as it was originally established by the cuui't 
of sessions, February 24, 1851, included not only nearly all the present 
township, but also the whole of the present Granite township. Very 
few changes were made until the south line was established October 
20,1856, being made by the supervisors the Coloma road. At 
present it begins at the northeast corner of Center township; runs 
thence easterly along the northern boundary of the county to the 
American river; thence southerly and westerly along the American 
river to the eastern boundary of Center township ; thence north along 
the eastern boundary of Center township to the point of beginning. 
A large part of the land in the township is mineral, but the better 
part of the mining land has been worked out and the residents have 
turned their attention to agriculture and in later years to fruit. The 
North Fork Company's ditch runs through the township, affording 
facilities for irrigation throughout the year. The San Juan orant 
includes the greater part of the township, there being only about 
five thousand acres outside of its lines. The largest landholders a 
quarter of a century ago were Cox & Clark and S. C. Hastings. 

About twenty-five years ago the first subdivision of this grant 
was made and named Orange Vale. It was cut up into ten- acre 
tracts and quickly sold, a water right going with the land. About 
fifteen years ago the second subdivision was made and named Fair 
Oaks. Two years ago the Carmichael colony was purchased, it being 
the last portion of the Cox & Clark land, joining Fair Oaks on the 
east and the Haggin grant on the west. It was purchased by D. W. 
Carmichael, piped for irrigation and sold in ten acre tracts. The 
three tracts, with the San Juanita and Landis tracts, are ])iped for 
water, and the water right goes with the land. The Orange Vale 
and Fair Oaks colonies have been largely planted to oranges and 



336 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

other citrus fruits and have proved as well adapted to that culture as 
the most favored sections of Southern California. In fact they are 
more favored as, while in the south the orange crop is sometimes 
frozen, the oranges here have never yet suffered from frost, owing 
partly to the fact that they ripen and are marketed a month to six 
weeks earlier than in the south. The Carmichael colony land, which 
joins Fair Oaks, is especially adapted to oranges and olives. One or 
two other tracts to the north are also being subdivided, and in a 
few years Mississippi township will be one of the most productive 
citrus fruit centers in the state. 

Gold was discovered in Mississippi township, along the banks of 
the American river, in 1849, about the same time as at Mormon island 
and Negro Bar. Mining was prosecuted actively along the river for 
some years, until the bars were mined out. As gold was found also 
on the higher benches in paying quantities, a company was formed 
to bring water in a ditch from the north fork of the American near 
Auburn. This company brought water through a ditch twenty miles 
long, in 1855, and from that time till 1870, mining was prosecuted. 
Since then but little has been done, except by Portuguese and Chinese. 
The Alabama Bar was situated in the northeast corner of the town- 
ship, in the middle of the American river, and was located in 1850. 

In 1852 a company named the Alabama Bar Mining Company, 
(from the fact that most of the company were Alabamans) was 
formed. It was composed of twelve men, with John Smith as presi- 
dent, and Alfred Spinks, superintendent. They located the bar and 
began to work it, but were notified of the prior location. They re- 
tained possession, however, and l)ought out the prior claimants, wher- 
ever they could find them. The gold gave out in 1856, and the bar 
was abandoned. The company employed about sixty men during 
the summer, and it is estimated that they took out about $75,000. 

The Slate Bar was located just below the site of the state prison, 
on the opposite side of the river, but was never a large mining camp, 
as the mining, being what is known as crevice mining, did not offer 
the advantages that the other bars did. In 1850 James Smith started 
the first store at Slate Bar. 

The American River Ditch Company was incorporated November 
27,1854. They commenced work on the ditch in September, 1854, and 
it was completed to Big Gulch, near Ashland, the end of the main 
ditch, January 1, 1857. The first dam was built at Tamaroo Bar, 
twenty-four miles from Big Gulch. The portion from Big Gulch to 
Mississippi Bar runs through Orange Vale. .The first dam was taken 
out by flood in Marcli, 1855, the second dam, costing $5,000, in 1857, 
the third dam, costing $12,000, was destroyed by the flood of 1862, and 
the cost of rebuilding it was $29,000. It was taken out in 1871, rebuilt, 
and washed out in 1872 and the present one completed, January, 1876. 
The water is used now mostlv for irrigation. The Orange Vale 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 337 

Colonization Company has thirty-two hundred acres of land irrio-ated 
by it. 

The California Central Railroad Company built its road through 
this township, and another road was started, to run to Auburn, but 
never got farther than Wildwood station, ten miles out. The Central 
Pacific subsequently acquired both of these roads and took up the 
tracks. 

Ashland's original name was Big Gulch, and in 1857 it was 
changed to Russville, in honor of Colonel Russ. It was also called 
Bowlesville, sometimes, after an old resident named Bowles, who had, 
or claimed to have, a title to the land. It was christened Ashland 
m 1860. In early times there were a large number of cabins and a 
few saloons, but no hotels. Colonel Russ was for a time the central 
figure around which affairs in Ashland revolved. The following 
extract from the Folsom Telegraph of August 12, 1864, will perhaps 
prove interesting. ''In 1857 or 1858 the name of the village was 
changed from Big Gulch to Russville, in honor of Colonel Russ, whose 
advent was an era in the history of this quiet place. The Colonel 
was a man of remarkable traits in more respects than one. Being 
a speculative genius, he induced a number of San Francisco capitalists 
to form a company for the purpose of mining the quartz rock for the 
gold it never had contained, and granite for building, and for these 
purposes a splendid and costly mill was erected. Machinerv for dress- 
ing the granite was imported from the east. For some time the 
Colonel endeavored to plane granite, but his machine failed to reduce 
the obdurate rock to the necessary form and shape and it was cast 
aside. Then tons of quartz were crushed, but unfortunatelv for the 
•Colonel and the stockholders, the mill failed to produce the 'color,' 
for the very good reason that the color was not in the quartz. 
During this period the Colonel erected a neat cottage on the summit 
of the highest hill in the neighborhood, which was" crowned with a 
flagstaff. 

"The Colonel, turning his attention to politics, was elected justice 
of the peace of Mississippi township. Whenever a case was' to be 
tried, up went the 'Stars and Stripes' on the flagstaff, and the Colonel 
mounted the seat of justice, which was about six feet high. There 
the Colonel sat, invested himself with the majesty of the law, and dis- 
pensed justice according to a code of his own; the statutes were of 
no use to him. From his court there was no appeal, and anv one 
mentioning an appeal in that court was liable to be immediately fined 
for contempt. The Colonel's term expired, the quartz companv ex- 
ploded, and granite would not work, the Colonel's cash ran out', and 
he departed from Russville. Shortly after the callage was christened 
Ashland, and the only monument now remaining near Ashland of the 
Colonel's genius and enterprise is a mining shaft two hundred and 



338 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

fifty feet deep, sunk to find the bed roek, wliicli some of those inter- 
ested in the company succeeded in doing, though not in the shaft." 

The first mill run by water power in the county of Sacramento 
was built by James Smith, a native of Denmark, in 1851, and was 
a sawmill. In 1852 he built a small gristmill, being his own carpenter 
and millwright, and when the mill was completed he became his own 
miller. In 1854 Edward Stockton of Sacramento, observing the great 
possibilities of water power, purchased a half interest in the mill and 
power. The mill was enlarged to three run of stone, with a capacity 
of one hundred barrels a day, which established a profitable business, 
and in 1861 the mill, then owned by Coover & Stockton, was enlarged 
to nine run of stone, the tail race being five hundred feet long, equal 
in effect to four thousand horse power. The floods in December, 1861, 
damaged the mill and power to the extent of $12,000, and the third 
flood, in January, 1862, carried away the three buildings comprising 
the mill. Stockton afterwards entered into partnership with Carroll 
& Mowe of Sacramento, and a mill was erected fifteen feet higher and 
two Imndred and fifty feet farther from the river. It was sixty by 
eighty, . four stories high and contained nine run of stone, with a 
capacity of seven hundred barrels of flour daily. It was built of gran- 
ite and cost $140,000. Stockton built a spur track to the mills, but in 
1867 they were destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. The ruins remain 
to this day. 

Quarries of a very superior quality of granite have been operated 
successfully since 1856. The pioneer in this industry was Griffith 
Griffiths. The blue granite for the earlier buildings in Sacramento 
was from Folsom, at the state prison quarry, while the lighter-colored 
granite was from Rocklin. 

NATOMA TOWNSHIP 

Natoma was one of the nine original townships established by 
the court of sessions, February 24, 1851. It included all the present 
township and a part of the present township of Cosumnes. In August, 
1853, the court of sessions divided the township into two parts, ali 
that portion south of the Coloma road being called Prairie township. 
The present boundaries were established by the board of supervisors 
October 20, 1856, beginning at the southeast corner of Granite town- 
ship and running along its eastern line to the northern boundary of 
the county; thence along the northern and eastern boundaries of the 
county to the center line of township 8 north, of range 8 east, of Mount 
Diablo base and meridian; thence west on the center line of said 
township, to the eastern boundary of Lee township, and thence north 
and along the line of that township to the place of beginning. The 
township is mainly devoted to agriculture and dairying, though there 
are still a few mining claims that are worked to some extent, The 
southern part is devoted to dairying and grain growing, wheat and bar- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 339 

ley being the principal grains. The northern part raises hay and 
grain. 

The tirst prominent settlement, outside of Mormon island, began 
in 1852. Before that time there were settlers located along the public 
roads, who kept public houses. Among the first settlers who began 
farming were Jacob Broder, who came in 1852; his brother, Oswald; 
Samuel Ricker and family; Charles Shead, John McComber, Charles 
Bishop and George Peacock, all of whom settled in the vicinity of 
Mormon island. William Jarvis and family opened the Valley House 
in the fall of 1852, on the Coloma and Sacramento road. Peter Hous- 
ton settled on a ranch on the Coloma road in 1852, and his brother 
joined him in 1854. Peter returned to the east in 1857. E. B. Town- 
send settled near Mormon island in 1852, and engaged in dairying 
and butchering. R. K. Berry settled in the northwest part of the town- 
ship in 1852, and died in 1859. Dr. Morse settled in 1852 on the 
ranch afterwards owned by Charles W. Porter. H. E. Barton and 
brother came about the same time. Joseph Woodward settled in the 
township in 1853 on the Illinois ranch, now known as the Gould farm. 
John Wielde settled near Mormon island in 1851; W. H. Williams 
on section five in 1852; Joseph Wall in 1850. Wall subsequently lo- 
cated Wall Diggings. Joseph AVilson came in 1853. Others were Van 
Triece, Ingersoll, J. Caples, J. D. Duval, W. J. Milgate, G. K. Nye, 
William Sales, Charles Saul, A. W. Topper, A. H. Thomasou and 
Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson. A.' J. Lester came in 1850 and his brother 
George settled in the southern part of the township in 1852. A. G. 
Kinsey came in 1849, as did A. P. Catlin, who resided there till 1856. 

In the spring of 1852 two Mormons, one of whom was Wilforcl 
Woodruff, when on their way from Sutter's Mill to the fort, found 
themselves, near sunset, at the spot known as Willow Springs, in this 
county. Concluding to camp, they shot a deer and went to the nearest 
point on the American river where they could procure water and feed 
for their horses. They descended the blutf to a flat covered with 
underl)rush, and cooked and ate their supper. As it was not yet dark, 
one of them said : ' ' They are taking out gold above us on the river. 
Let us see if we can find some here." They took a tin pan, scraped 
off some of the top soil, and panning out the dirt, obtained a fine pros- 
pect. They went to the fort the next day and informed Sam Brannan, 
of the firm of C. C. Smith & Co., who traded goods for hides, tallow 
and wheat at their trading post. Brannan was at that time the spir- 
itual guide and director of the Mormons of the New Helvetia and 
other districts of the state. He went to where they found the gold, 
set up a preemption claim, and demanded one-third of all the gold 
taken from the bar. So long as the Mormons were largely in the 
majority among the miners, this royalty was exacted religiously, but 
as unbelievers flocked in they resisted Brannan 's claim and he was 
compelled to give up the collection of royalty. He had, however. 



840 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

accumulated several thousand dollars, with whicli he formed a partner- 
ship with Melius, Howard «& Co., of San Francisco, and this laid the 
foundation for his large fortune. The place was named Mormon 
island. As the news of the discovery spread, miners flocked in from 
all quarters, till, in 1853, the town had a population of about twenty- 
five hundred ])eople, nine Imndred of whom were voters. The first 
hotel was called tlie Bhie Tent, and was opened by S. R. Caldwell 
soon after the island hegnu to be populated; was moved to another 
part of the town and cliri stoned the Caldwell House in 1852, and was 
discontinued in 1854. Sam Brannan opened the first store in 1848; 
sold to James Queen, he to Captain Pool, and he in turn to Dewitt C. 
Stanford (a brother of Governor Stanford), who died in Australia 
while on a business trip. J. P. Markham opened a hotel and store 
in 1850, and closed it in 1854. 

Two stage lines running to Mormon island were established in 
1850, one being from Sacramento to Coloma, and the other from 
Sacramento to the island. They were both taken off in 1856, and at 
the same time a line was started from Folsom to Coloma, running 
through Mormon island. The postoffice was opened in 1851, with 
J. W. Shaw as postmaster. Dallas & Kneass opened the Miner's 
hotel in 1851, and it was burned in 1856 and never rebuilt. The Man- 
sion House was kept by Thomas Stephenson from 1853 to 1856, and 
then closed. In 1856 a fire destroyed the southwest portion of the 
town, which was never rebuilt. At one time there were four hotels, 
three dry-goods and five general stores, Adams & Co.'s Express office, 
carpenter sho]), butcher shop, bakery, livery stable and seven saloons 
in Mormon island. A school was opened in 1851, and there is now a 
good school building there. 

The principal bridge in the township is known as the Mormon 
island bridge. The first one was built by J. W. Shaw in 1851. It 
was a wooden bridge and was Washed away by high water in 1854. 
, He built a wire suspension bridge the next summer, which was washed 
away in the flood of 1862, and was rebuilt by Shaw. A few years ago 
this was replaced by a higher and more costly one by the super- 
visors of this and Eldorado counties. The first ball in the county was 
given at Mormon island in the "jolly old days of 1849," and a humor- 
ous account of it was given in the Record-Union of June 21, 1873. 
Many public houses existed on the roads in the township, regarding 
which no data have been secured. The Smith Exchange was built on 
the Sacramento and Coloma road near Mormon island, by a man of 
that name, in 1853, and was the largest public house in the township 
at that time. He sold out in the fall of 1855 to Cox & Hamilton, who 
sold to "William Jarvis in 1858. He sold to a man named Lee. It was 
discontinued for a year, when Freeman McComber bought it and 
fitted it up, and it was finally closed in 1864. The Union Tavern was 
probably opened as early as 1850, by Mr. Turle, and closed in 1855. 



flISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 341 

The Half-way House was built by Briggs & Hoffman in 1852 sold in 
a year to one Martin, who sold in turn to John E. Butler. ' 

SAN JOAQUIN TOWNSHIP 

San Joaquin was one of the original townships and included Dry 
Creek and parts of Alabama, Franklin, Brighton and Lee townships 
Dry Creek township was set off in 1853, and October 20 1856 the 
supervisors established the boundaries of San Joaquin as they 'now 
exist. It joins Brighton township on the north, runs east to the range 
line between ranges 6 and 7 east of Mount Diablo meridian, south to 
the Cosumnes river, west to the eastern boundarv of Franklin ^own- 
ship, then along the eastern boundarv of Franklin to the poin^^ of 
beginning. With the exception of the land in the southern portion 
included in the Hartnell grant, amounting to about ten thousand 
acres, the title to the land in the township is from the United States, 
and all the land is agricultural. There was considerable timber in the 
township when it was first settled, but it has been cut off, the old 
Graham grove, now used as a picnic ground, being about 'the only 
timber of any amount in the township. 

The earliest settler in the township was Martin Murphv, Jr., who 
settled with his wife on the Cosumnes in 1844. The farm is now owned 
by Thomas McConnell, whose house stands within a few rods of where 
Murphy lived. Murphy died in 1854, and his wife returned to Ireland. 
Edward Perrin and family settled on part of the McConnell place in 
1849. The Wilder Brothers, Asa, Benjamin and John, came to the 
township in 1849, and engaged in stockraising. Asa and John died in 
the '60s, and Benjamin died a number of years ago. He married one 
of the Donner girls, a member of the ill-fated Donner party. She is 
still living. T. Keno, one of the Donner relief party, came to the state 
in 1846, and afterwards took up a claim on the Cosumnes river, remov- 
ing to Stockton many years later. Gabriel Gunn settled in 1850 on the 
ranch since owned by Abram Woodward ; John Whittick settled in the 
township in 1850; David P. Crook in 1851; P. Hull and familv in 1851; 
Enoch Madder settled on the Wilder ranch, about three miles north- 
west of Elk Grove; Jacob Marshall and family came in 1852. and 
located on the river, and Jacob Swigert and familv settled on the 
adjoining place in 1853. Albin Clark settled on the' Upper Stockton 
road, near old Elk Grove, in 1850, and was one of the first men to 
raise grain in the township. He also engaged in stockraising, prin- 
cipally horses and hogs. Johnson Little came in 1852 and settled near 
him. Eobert Parrott opened a hotel in 1852 on a farm adjoining Old 
Elk Grove, ran it for five or six years and then went to the mines. 
Norman I. Stewart came in 1852, and settled in 1854 near Elk Grove. 
He died a few years ago. G. Harvey Kerr settled near Elk Grove 
station in January, 1854, and became a prominent fruit grower and 
manufacturer. He reported that very little land was cultivated at 



22 



342 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

that time, the most of it being along the Cosumnes river. It was sup- 
posed that wheat could not be successfully grown, but time proved that 
theory to be an error. Mr. Kerr died a number of years ago. 

The site of old Elk Grove was originally on the Graham place, 
but it was subsequently moved to Buckner ranch, about a mile north. 
James Hall and family came to California in 1850, and opened a hotel 
on the original site of old Elk Grove, and gave it its name, having 
lived in Missouri in a town of the same name. He died in Vallejo in 
1876. Major James B. Buckner built a hotel in 1850, called the Buck- 
ner Hotel. He sold it to Phineas Woodward, who ran it for some 
time and sold it to Mrs. Erwin, widow of Jared Erwiu. She kept it 
for three years and sold it to Nicholas Christophel. The original old 
Elk Grove hotel burned down in 1857. Buckner and Woodward both 
returned east. This was the first postoffice established in the town- 
ship, James Buckner, postmaster. James Hall was the first justice 
of the peace. 

Elk Grove is a thriving town of seven or eight hundred inhabi- 
tants, on the line of the Southern Pacific railroad, and in the midst of 
a rich country, sixteen miles from Sacramento. In 1876 Julius Ever- 
son conceived the idea that it would make a good business center. 
Through his efforts the Elk Grove Building Company was incor]3or- 
ated and put up a store building, which was occupied in August of that 
year by Chittenden & Everson, with a large stock of merchandise. 
They reported their sales for the first sixteen months at $52,000. 
There are two hotels, the Railroad hotel, built by Morrow H. Davis 
in 1876, now the Toronto hotel, and the Elk Grove hotel, erected the 
same year l)y the Building company. J. N. Andrews had the first 
store, which was in the depot building, he being the agent of the Cen- 
tral Pacific railroad. H. S. Hill built the Elk Grove Flouring mills 
in 1876. A hardware and tin store was opened by A. J. Longenecker 
in 1877, and a meat market, a furniture factory, two drug stores, a 
harness sho)), n warehouse and other businesses followed in the course 
of time. 

The Elk Grove District Methodist Episcopal Church was erected 
in 1876, the church having been organized in 1858 or 1859 by A. M. 
Hurlburt. 

The Elk Grove Presbyterian Church was organized February 12, 
1876, but services had been held in 1856 in the schoolhouse near old 
Elk Grove by Rev. J. C. Herron, and in the present Elk Grove school - 
house in 1875 and 1876 by Rev. J. S. McDonald. The church cost 
$2750, and Rev. William H. Talmage was the first pastor, from 1874 
to 1879, George H. Kerr being the first ruling elder. 

Elk Grove Lodge No. 173, F. and A. M., was instituted at old 
Elk Grove, Augiist 6, 1864, the first meetings being held at the house 
of O. S. Freeman. The charter members were: A. S. Ferris, James 
B. Hogle, A. J. Painter, 0. S. Freeman, G. W. Cha])lin, Thomas Mc- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 343 

Connell, B. F. Weathers and W. B. Sullivan. About 1878 the lodge 
built a fine brick structure at Elk Grove, the lower story bein.o- used 
for a store. Elk Grove Lodge No. 274, I. 0. 0. F., was organized 
May 2, 1878, with Henry Hill, noble grand. Elk Grove Rebekah Lodge 
No. 136, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted May 2, 1888, with fifty-nine charter 
members. It has eighteen charter members still in the order and num- 
bers one hundred and fourteen members. Elk Grove Lodge No. 110, 
A. 0. U. W., was established June 16, 1879, but was discontinued. 
Elk Grove Lodge No. 449, I. 0. G. T., was organized November 9, 1872. 
The lodge was suffered to lapse many years ago. Elk Grove Parlor 
No. 41, N. S. G. W., was organized in September, 1884, with W. J. 
Elder president. 

Florin is a small town on the Southern Pacific railroad, about 
eight miles from Sacramento, and on the dividing line between 
Brighton and San Joaquin townships. The name was given to the 
locality in 1864, by Judge E. B. Crocker, on account of the great 
number of wild flowers which grow in the vicinity, and was given to 
the town when it was founded in 1875, the railroad station and post- 
office being built there in that year. F. Sugden was the first postmaster 
and Johnson & Sugden opened the first store in 1875, being succeeded 
by Fred Sugden in October, 1879. The schoolhouse was built in 1877, 
and the only hotel opened by Leonard Goddard in 1875. There is a 
Methodist and a Presbyterian church in the town. The soil around 
Florin for several miles in length and width overlies a hardpan, and 
necessitates irrigation, and it is one of the great strawberry growing 
centers of the state. There are also many vineyards of table grapes, 
the Tokay and other varieties always bringing top prices in the east. 

Florin Lodge No. 364, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted July 12, 1890, 
with the following officers and six charter members: Jasper H. Coolev, 
P. G. ; David Reese, N. G. ; Charles L. Buell, V. G. ; Charles S. Patton, 
Con.; James Tootell, Warden; E. F. French, Chaplain; L. M. Lands- 
borough, Sec; George H. Jones, Treas. The total membership at 
present is seventy-five. Florin Rebekah Lodge No. 20, I. 0. 0. F., 
was instituted February 14, 1895, with fifty-three charter members. 
There are now one hundred and twenty- four members. Florin Grange 
No. 130, P. of H., was established December 17, 1874, with Caleb 
Arnold, master. 

Sheldon never existed as a town, a blacksmith shop, saloon, and 
two or three houses being its extent in its palmy days. It was a 
** deserted village" for many years, but since the Central California 
Traction electric road runs near it, a colony has been started close 
to it. 

McConnell's station is on the Southern Pacific road, four miles 
below Elk Grove, there being only a depot for passengers there. 

The first school district in San Joaquin township was established 
in 1883, and included nearly all of Dry Creek township, as well as 



344 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

San Joaquin, it being all known at that time as San Joaquin town- 
ship. The first teacher for the term of 1853 and 1854 was a Mr. 
Sullivan, and Harry Kerr taught the second term, in 1854-55. The 
first school in Sacramento county, outside of the city, was taught by 
a Mr. O'Brien, at the house of Martin Murphy. 

SUTTEK TOWNSHIP 

The original boundaries of Sutter township as established in 1851 
included a large portion of the county, being as follows: Beginning 
at the southwest corner of Sacramento City, and thence running east 
along the southern line of said city to the southeast corner thereof; 
thence easterly to the road from Brighton to Dajdor's ranch; thence 
along said road in a southeasterly direction three miles; thence in 
a southerly and southeasterly direction to the intersection of the Co- 
sumnes and San Joaquin rivers, excluding all ranches and settlements 
on the Cosumnes river; thence down the San Joaquin river to its 
junction with the Sacramento river ; thence along said river or western 
boundary of the county to the beginning. 

As the Cosumnes empties into the Mokelumne, and not into the 
San Joaquin, it is to be supposed that at that early day it was thought 
that the lower part of the Mokelumne was the Cosumnes, and was 
therefore so called. 

August 14, 1854, Georgiana township was set oif from the southern 
portion, and October 20, 1856, the supervisors established new bound- 
aries for Sutter township, making the boundary south of the city the 
Sacramento river as far as the line between townships 7 and 8 north, 
thence along said line to the southeast corner of section 33, and south- 
east corner of section 34, in township 8 north, range 5 east, and thence 
north and through the center of township 8 north, range 5 east, to 
the American river, and down the American river to the city limits, 
and then to the place of beginning. 

In 1909 the supervisors carved Riverside township out of the 
portion of Sutter township joining the city on its southern boundary. 
The two townships are situated so directly around the city that their 
history is interwoven with its history and a part of it. The history 
of Sutterville in the early days has already been given, and its decay 
depicted. The suburban district recently annexed to Sacramento city, 
comprising Oak Park, Highland Park, a good sized slice from River- 
side township. East Sacramento and a large area of land running 
nearly to Brighton, has greatly curtailed the area of Sutter township 
and left it practically composed of farms, without any towns or vil- 
lages within its limits. A large portion of it is in reclamation districts 
and the remainder is what is known as plains land. The value of land 
holdings has greatly increased within the past ten years. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 345 



RIVERSIDE TOWNSHIP 

Riverside township was carved out of tlie portion of Sutter town- 
ship adjoining the city on the south, and the slice taken from it by 
annexation leaves it a very unimportant unit in the township system 
of the county. 

Various interesting spots in the vicinit}' of Sacramento in the 
early days have fallen into decay, and have either vanished or are 
only remnants of their former splendor. Smith's Gardens is one 
of these. In December, 1849, A. P. Smith purchased from John A. 
Sutter fifty acres of land on the south bank of the American river, 
about three miles from Sacramento, He immediately began to im- 
prove it. At the time of its purchase the ground was considered 
high, and the only timber on it was the oaks and cottonwoods on the 
bank of the American. He commenced by raising vegetables, and 
at the same time planted such trees and seeds as he could procure. 
As fast as he was able, he imported choice varieties of fruit and 
shade trees, ornamental shrul)bery and plants. He laid out the 
grounds with two miles of walks, and filled in the entire length 
of them with shells brought from San Francisco, By digging down 
through the debris on the place a few feet, these shells can still be 
found. 

He laid out four acres into a flower garden, planting it with 
rare plants and flowers, and planted the rest of the place with all 
sorts of fruit trees, and it is stated that at the height of its glory, 
there were over one thousand varieties growing on the place. There 
was a drive through and about the grounds, and a winding avenue, 
nearly a mile in length, and shaded by trees on each side, ran up 
to his residence. Having discovered that irrigation was necessary, 
Mr. Smith imported a Worthington pump that would throw three 
hundred gallons a minute, and was capable of irrigating a place of 
three times the size. He laid down pipes and put in hydrants all 
over the place, at such intervals that it could all be watered by at- 
taching a hose. 

But he was doomed to loss and disappointment. The flood of 
1861 and 1862 flooded the place. The American river cut into the 
southern bank, washed away five hundred feet of the gardens, swept 
away the family residence, and covered the place with a deposit of 
sand and sediment from one to six feet deep. Smith estimated that 
his loss by the destruction of his beautiful place was $100,000. In 
1862, when the new system for construction of levees was adopted, 
he made strenuous efforts to get his place included in the system, 
but failed to do so, and repeated floods have completed the destruc- 
tion of the gardens since then. 

The Tivoli House was situated near where the Southern Pacific 
crosses the American river and was in its day a great place of re- 
sort. It was a pioneer place, where the Helvetia Rifle Club, the 



346 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Turners, the Sharpshooters, and others used to hold their shoots 
and festivals, but its glory departed long since, and it has fallen 
into decay. 

East Park, now known as McKinley Park, and owned by the city 
of Sacramento and used as a children's plaj^ground^ was prior to 
that owned h>- private parties. It contains about thirty acres and is 
a popular i)lace. Until tlie recent annexation of the suburbs, it was 
just outside of the city. 

The Riverside Hotel and Turnpike company procured the pas- 
sage of an act by the legishiture in 1872, making a toll road Prom 
the southern limits of the city to their hotel, about four miles be- 
low. The franchise expired many years ago, and the Riverside road 
became a very ]iopular place for driving. 

GRANITE TOWNSHIP 

This townslii]) was created by the board of supervisors on Oc- 
tober 20, 1856. It was at first included within the boundaries of 
Mississippi township, of which it lies southeast. Nearly all the land 
in the township was included in the Leidesdorff grant, which was 
given to Leidesdorff by Governor Micheltorena in 1844. James I. 
Folsom bought the interest of the heirs of Leidesdorff, and through 
his executors, secured the confirmation of the grant in 1855. The 
grant runs from the Sutter grant up the American river, which is 
its northern boundary, the southern boundary running nearly parallel 
with the river at four or five miles distance. The land in the grant 
was mostly taken up by squatters, who were later compelled to buy 
the title to their possessions, or else vacate the land. 

Tlie land in tlie township is mostly mineral and the placers along 
the river and in the vicinity of Folsom were among the richest in 
the state, many millions being taken from them in the early days, 
both by ])rc»spectors and by hydraulic mining. At present the gold 
dredge has invaded the township, and not only extracts the gold 
from the bars and ])anks of the river, but the big corporations liave 
purchased thousands of acres of the land adjacent to the river, 
and are changing it from fertile vineyards and orchards to vast 
heaps of cobblestones. The Natoma Water and Mining Company 
early acquired water rights on the American river some distance 
above Folsom, and acquired a large amount of land, some of which 
they leased for mining, and the rest of which they planted to vdnes 
and trees. The great Natoma vineyard, at one time the largest in 
the world, with two thousand acres of vines in one body, shipped 
many carloads of grapes annually, and manufactured a large amount 
of wine and 1)randy. '^Fhe jn'0})erty has been purchased by the dredg- 
ing company and is being transformed rapidly into rock piles. This 
vineyard was irrigated by a canal sixteen miles long, dug in 1851 from 
the south fork of the American, above Salmon Falls. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 347 

Negro Bar is properly a part of the history of Folsom, being 
the scene of mining before the latter place started, and there was 
a large mining camp at the Bar previously. A most interesting ac- 
count of its early settlement was kindly furnished to the author by 
Hon. W. A. Anderson, who resided at Folsom in the early days. Mr. 
Anderson writes as follows: 

"A few memories of the town of Folsom might interest the 
present generation. The first settlement of that locality was at 
Negro Bar, which was between the present site of Folsom and the 
American river. In 18-49 some negroes began to mine there, and 
from that circumstance the Bar took its name. Their success at 
mining caused a flocking of miners from all quarters, and in 1851 
there were over seven hundred people there. Large quantities of 
gold have been taken out of the Bar. Ex-Supervisor James L. Mere- 
dith opened the first hotel and store, both in the same building, at 
the Bar, in April, 1850. William A. Davidson opened the second 
store, but shortly afterward sold out to A. A. Durfee and brother, 
A few months later Rowley & Richardson opened the third store, 
and these were the ])rincipal business houses until Folsom was lo- 
cated. The site of Negro Bar has been l)uried under sixty feet of 
cobbles and debris. At that time the American river was sixty 
feet l)eneatli the present flow of the river. 

"Folsom was laid out in 1855 by Theodore D. Judah, R. Chenery 
and Samuel C. Bruce, for Capt. Joseph L. Folsom. Town lots were 
sold January 17, 1856, at public auction in Sacramento by Col. J. B. 
Starr, auctioneer. All of the lots were disposed of at that sale, 
and the town grew rapidly. February 22, 1856, the Sacramento Val- 
ley railroad, the pioneer road of this state, was completed to Fol- 
som and opened, and free excursion trains were run there from Sac- 
ramento. At the opening of the road there were about one thousand 
people present at Folsom, including Governor J. Neely Johnson, 
Su])reme Justices Murray and Terry, Henry S. Foote (ex-governor 
of Mississippi), and many other prominent men; also Mrs. T. D. 
Judah, Mrs. E. N. Robinson, Mrs. L. L. Robinson and the wives of 
the other visitors. The guests were wined and dined, and s]^eeches 
were made by State Senator Wilson Flint, Col. J. C. Zabriskie. 
Governors Foote and Johnson, Capt. (later General) William T. 
Sherman, — one of the central characters of the Civil War, — and C. 
K. Garrison, president of the railroad company. A great ball was 
given in the evening, in a building erected expressly for that pur- 
pose, of dimensions thirty feet wide by nearly one hundred long. The 
floor managers were Judge A. C. Monson, H. P. Wakelee, Ferris 
Forman and George T. Bromley. The Sacramento guests started 
home on a special train at five o'clock in the morning. George T. 
Bromlev was the first conductor on the road. Hartford Anderson 



348 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

was the contractor who constructed the railroad from Alder Creek 
to Folsom. 

"In 1857 a road was projected to run from Folsom to Marys- 
ville, by a company called the California Central, and of which Col. 
Charles L. Wilson, now of Nord, was the owner. In 1861 trains ran 
from Folsom to Lincoln. Afterwards the road was absorbed by the 
Central Pacific Company, and the track between Folsom and Kose- 
ville was torn up. That portion of the road from Eoseville to Lin- 
coln is now a part of the California and Oregon overland road. 

"During the mining era, Folsom was one of the most prosperous 
towns in the state, and was the distributing point for all the mining 
towns, including Washoe and Virginia City. After the decadence 
of mining, the town had a severe relapse, and a few years ago was 
visited by a very destructive fire. The burned district has, however, 
been rebuilt, and substantial bricks have taken the place of the former 
wooden structures. Of late years the town and surrounding country 
has entered on an era of substantial prosperity. In the line of 
fruit and grape raising the lands about Folsom are equal to any in 
the state, and near there is one of the most extensive vineyards in 
the world. Colonel Folsom, the projector of the town, died at the 
Mission San Jose, in Alameda county, July 19, 1855. 

"When Folsom was located, in addition to the first named, sev- 
eral other large stores opened, Bradley & Seymour, J. & J. Spruance. 
S. Hanak, D. Woldenberg, M. Levy. A. D. Patterson opened the early 
hotel, a fashionable resort, known as Patterson's Hotel. Patterson 
was one of the early sheriffs of the county. Daniel Wellington, the 
proprietor of the stage line over the mountains, also established a 
large hotel called the Central hotel. Chris 'Ecklon conducted the 
first meat market. The Grcniite Journal, a lively newspaper, was the 
first paper, published by Dr. L. Bradley, and Sam Seabough was its 
editor. Later came Mooneyes Express, and the Folsom Telegraph, 
P. J. Hopper, editor. The Telegraph still survives. 

"A. A. Durfee built the first theatre, called 'Durfee's Theatre,' 
and some of the earliest actors held the boards. The famous Arte- 
mus Ward (Charles P. Browne) delivered the first lecture in this 
part of the state, in Durfee 's Theatre, — 'The Babes in the Wood' 
being his subject. 

"J. H. Burnham, Alfred Spinks, M. M. Drew, sheriff, United 
States marshal and member of the board of equalization, Hartford 
Anderson, John darken, P. J. O'Neil, P. J. Hopper, editor and as- 
semblyman, B. N. Bugliey, later sheriff and tax collector, B. C. 
Quigley, John Shaw, A. G. Kinsey, li. A. Thora]:>son, W. W. Dresser, 
William Timson, Charles Jolly, Jesse Crouch, supervisor, Mrs. Foster, 
mother of James Donnelly, our present supervisor, and many others 
were early residents of the old town of Folsom. Among some of 
the most prominent citi/ons of Folsom in its earlv historv were A. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 349 

P. Catlin, who was honored as assemblyman, state senator and supe- 
rior judge; Dr. A. C. Donaldson, C. T. H. Palmer, banker and agent 
for the Wells, Fargo Company; E. R. Sill, the famous poet, and later 
one of the professors of the University of California, who was at 
that time the cashier for Palmer's bank; Edward Stockton, who built 
the great flour mill which was swept away in the flood of 1861; C. 
G. W. French, later assembhanan and chief justice of Arizona; S. S. 
Montague, later chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany; Freeman McComber, public administrator, and H. B. Wad- 
dilove, agent of the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company; John 
McComber, Francis Clark, a wealthy mining man; W. A. Anderson, 
county auditor, assemblyman, assistant adjutant-general, super ^dsor 
of census, city attorney and police judge; Dr. B. F. Bates; E. R. 
Levy, merchant; E. D. Shirland, county clerk; Benjamin "Welch; C. 
J. Turner (now a resident of this city) ; Dr. Joseph Powell, later 
assemblyman; John and Joseph Kinney, agents Sacramento Valley 
Railroad Company; John E. Benton, assembhnman and state sena- 
tor; W. C. Crossett, J. C. Kinkead, who first tried the experiment of 
raising tobacco at the town of Folsom. The late Jacob Hyman was 
a dry-goods clerk in those days; later he became a wealthy mer- 
chant. 

''In the late '50s there was the Folsom Institute, a large brick 
structure on the hill above the town, noted as one of the first edu- 
cational colleges in the state, and which was patronized by students 
from all parts of the coast. Rev. S. V. Blakesley was the principal. 
Many of the students from this institute became famous in the state. 

"In the halcyon days of Folsom it was not uncommon for twenty 
or thirty, eight or ten-mule teams to leave daily with freight, des- 
tined over the mountains. Six or eight stages daily left the depot 
in the morning, with passengers for the Virginia and Washoe mines. 
The famous Pony Express started over the continent from Folsom 
in the early war times. D. H. Taft had a beautiful garden just be- 
low the town, where the first strawberries were grown; also some 
of the finest peaches, grapes and other fruits were produced. Noth- 
ing now remains of this jilot but a mass of mining debris. 

"Just above Folsom is Robbers' Ravine, which was the ren- 
dezvous of the desperate gang known as Tom Bell's gang, and the 
Bill Scott gang. They were the terror of Northern California. Ben 
Bugbey, then a constable, and officer Dan Gay of Sacramento, en- 
countered this band, and after a fierce battle, captured Bill Scott and 
several others. They were convicted and died in prison. Ben Bug- 
bey is with us yet to recount the story. In later years the branch 
state prison was established here; also the great electric plant. This 
can scarcely be called early history. 

"It was a novel sight in the early days to see the miners coming 
into town with their sacks of gold each Saturdav afternoon, and go- 



350 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ing to the banking house of C. T. H. Pahner & Company, to exchange 
their dust for coin. Those sturdy miners were not of the class 
sometimes pictured by romance writers, and drunkenness or riotous 
conduct was exceedingly rare. They would make their purchase of 
'grub' and then return to their cabins ready for the next week's 
cleanup. 

"One of the first wire suspension bridges constructed in this 
state was by A. G. Kinsey and H. A. Thompson across the Ameri- 
can river just above the town, to enable traffic to be held with the 
mining towns and camps north and east. 

"At the commencement of the Rebellion in 1861, one of the first 
companies was organized in the town of Folsom, by M. M. Drew and 
P. H. vSililey; it was enrolled with E. D. Shirland as captain, and 
enlisted into the United States service for duty on the southern bor- 
der, and did service in Arizona and New Mexico as the First Cali- 
fornia C^avalry. All tlie members were Folsomites, and Folsom was 
intensely loyal to the Union. 

"Upon the completion of the Sacramento Valley railroad in 
185G, the machine sho])s of the road were established at Folsom, 
and a full force of mechanics employed, including our old time friends, 
G. J. Turner and Benjamin Welch, both foremen." 

The Folsom Water Power Company succeeded the Natoma 
Water and Mining C^om])any. The latter had made two contracts 
with the state to build a dam across the American where the Folsom 
state prison now stands, the company agreeing to build the dam, 
the state to furnish convict labor to do the work, in return for land 
deeded to the state, and for a part of the water power, for use at 
the ])rison. Some disagreements arose, and after litigation, the com- 
pany al)andoned the work, leaving the state without power to com])el 
the company to complete the dam. The property and water rights 
were then transferred to the Folsom Water Power Company. The 
first work on the dam w^as done in the fall of 1866, but it was dis- 
continued when the dam was completed to low water mark in the 
river, and was not resumed again until 1888, when Captain Aull, war- 
den of the prison, induced Governor Waterman to take it up again, and 
it was finished about two years afterwards, as well as the canal 
leading down by the jirison to the powerhouse at present owned by the 
Pacific Gas and Electric Company. In the meantime the state had 
r'eceived under its contract with the Folsom Water company four 
hundred eighty-three acres of land on which the state prison, farm and 
the state game farm now stand, at a cost of eleven thousand days' 
work of convict labor. The dam when finished was ninety feet high 
from the l)ed of the river and recently an efficient fish ladder has been 
constructed at the side of it, the former one having jiroved use- 
less. The canal leads the water to the ])owerhouse, the water ]iower 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 351 

generating all tlie electric and other power used for lightino- the 
grounds and for other purposes. "^ 

Coner's flouring mill was built in 1866 on the corner of Wool 
street, and closed in two years, B. N. Bugbey purchasing it for a 
wme cellar and renting the upper floor to the societies of Folsom 
It was burned in 1871. The Natoma Mills were built by Edward 
Stockton m June, 1866, and discontinued later. The first brewery in 
Folsom was built by Chris Heiler in 1857, and destroyed bv fire 
m 1868. In 1872 Peter Yager erected a brewery on the foundation 
of a large store destroyed by the destructive fire of 1870 It was 
burned in the fire of 1886. 

The railroad bridge across the American river was built in 1858 
on the line of the California Central railroad. It was ninetv-two 
feet above the water, with a span of two hundred sixteen feet and 
cost $100,000. It was the only bridge left on the American river 
after the flood of 1862, its superior height saving it. It was con- 
demned in 1866, having sunk in the center and become unsafe. In 
1854 a wooden bridge was built across the American, but was washed 
away by high water a few years later. 

Thompson & Kinsey obtained a charter in 1861 for building a 
bridge across the American river at Folsom. It was a wire suspen- 
sion bridge, but the flood of 1862 carried it awav on Januarv 10th. 
and the rebuilding of it was begun in March. ' C. L. Ecklon pur- 
chased the bridge and franchise in 1871. It was condemned and an- 
other was constructed in 1893. 

Folsom suffered greatly from fires at various times. May 8, 
1866, a fire burned "Whiskey Row" and a numlier of buildings on 
Sutter and Decatur streets, including the office of the Folsom ^Tele- 
graph. The Hotel de France and other buildings were burned August 
31, 1866. The Folsom Theatre was burned June 27, 1871, and in" the 
same year fire destroyed Patterson's Hotel, all of Chinatown and a 
part of Addison's lumber yard. May 6, 1872, a fire which broke out 
in Smith, Campl^ell & Jolly's store, destroyed all the block except 
the Folsom Telegraph office, the loss being about $130,000. August 
13, 1886, a fire broke out, destroying all the business propertv except 
three buildings, a loss of about $150,000. 

The Folsom Hook and Ladder Comi)any was organized March 
3, 1857. The first officers were: H. B. Waddilove, foi^eman; Charles 
Plannet, first assistant foreman; Frank Wheeler, second assistant; 
J. M. Arbuckle, secretary; H. D. Rowley, treasurer. The company 
owns its own hall. Young America, No. 1, was organized in Sep- 
tember, 1861, and l^ought a hand engine costing $1800, but the en- 
thusiasm died out, and it disl)anded in 1863. 

The first public school in Folsom was established in 1857. tlie 
first teacher being I. M. Sibley. The first trustees were : E. P. Wil- 
lard. Dr. S. Palmer and J. S. Meredith. A school had, however, pre- 



352 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

vioiisly been taiii>"lit at Prairie City. 

Natoma Lodge No. 64, F. and A, M., was organized in October^ 
1854, at Mormon island. It was chartered in 1855, and removed to 
Folsom. The first officers were: M. Wallace, W. M. ; L. Bates, 
S. W. ; A. 0. Carr, J. W. The other charter members were: A. 
Spinks, G. W. Corey, S. Logan, H. A. Holcomb, D. McCall, B. H. 
Conroy, J. H. Berry, W. Sheldon, C. S. Bogar, W. K. Spencer, D. 
M. K. Campbell, J. Clark and M, Hatch. The records of the lodge 
were destroyed by the fire of 1871. Granite Lodge No. 62, I. 0. 0. F., 
was organized September 19, 1856, at the residence of Eli Nicholls, 
by David Kendall, D. D. G. M., assisted by C. C. Hayden, Samuel 
Cross, W. B. H. Dodson, George I. N. Monell, G. K. Van Heusen 
and George Nelson. The first officers were: J. E. Clark, N. G. ; 
A. Mears, V. G.; W. A. McClure, Rec. Sec; H. A. Hill, Treas. The 
other charter members were : S. F. Marquis, A. W. Beals, B. Kos- 
minsky, L. Sampson, J. Crumberger, G. B. Hornish and E. A. Turner. 
Folsom Encampment No. 24, I, 0. 0. F., was organized June 28, 
1864. Fedora Rebekah Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., was established February 
16, 1891, with fifty-five charter members, and the number of mem- 
bers at present is one hundred eighteen. Excelsior Council, 0. C. 
F., was organized February 20, 1882. Folsom Lodge No. 109, A. 
0. U. W., was established June 6, 1879. Granite Parlor No. 83, N. 
S. G. W., was organized April 9, 1886. Social Lodge No. 54, Order 
of the Golden Shore, was established February 18, 1889. The Young 
Men's Institute No. 69 was instituted in January, 1888. 

The first church services held in Folsom were held in Hook and 
Ladder Company's hall in 1856, by the Rev. Dr. Llatch, an Episcopal 
minister of Sacramento. About this time Father Quinn, of the Cath- 
olic Church, held services at the house of P. J. O'Neill, about two 
miles from Folsom. St. John's Church (Catholic) was organized in 
1856, and the church structure was erected in 1857, the church society 
in the meantime holding its meetings in the darken. College, Rev. 
Father Quinn pastor. Trinity Church (Episcopal) was organized 
July 18, 1862, and the church building was erected the same 3^ear at 
the cost of about $4000 for a fine frame structure. The Congrega- 
tional Church was organized in 1860, and erected a brick building 
the same year. J. E. Benton was its first pastor. It ceased to exist 
many years ago. 

Prairie City was located about two miles south of Folsom, on 
Alder creek, and mining began there in 1853, on the completion of 
the Natoma Water ditch. The miners flocked in, stores, hotels and 
residences were built, and it became the business town for a number 
of the surrounding mining camps. Early in 1854, the town num- 
bered over a thousand persons, and the miners were making from 
five to twenty dollars a day. The town began to die out in 1860, 
nnd all traces of it have long since vanished. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 353 

Willow Springs Hill diggings were mined as early as 1851 and 
it is said that millions were taken out from these diggino-s Texas 
Hill, Rhodes' Diggings, Beam's Bar, and other camps vTelded well 
lor a time. 

The state prison is abont a mile and a half east of Folsom on 
the American river. The site was selected in preference to Rock- 
Im, m 1868, on account of the water power available. Through delays 
of the contractors it was not finished ready for occupancy until 1880 
It IS built entirely of granite, as are the officers' houses and all other 
buildings, the rock being quarried on the grounds. There is a rock- 
crusher on the grounds, where the granite is crushed for road metal 
supplying material for macadamizing the county roads and the streets 
of Sacramento. The prison was built to accommodate six hundred 
and fifty prisoners, but additions have been built and there are now 
about eighteen hundred prisoners confined there. The sanitary con- 
ditions are excellent. 

ORIGIN OF NAMES 

Elk Grove was so named because of a number of elk horns found 
ma grove of timber, near which in 1850 James Hall established his 
hotel and painted on its sign an elk's head. The name of Florin was 
given to that locality by the late Judge E. B. Crocker about ]864 
Ihe choice of that name was due to the great quantitv of wild flowers 
to be seen m the fields. When the town was started in 1875 it re- 
ceived the same name. Folsom was named for J. L. Folsom wlio 
died July 19, 1855. 

There is some romance connected with the naming of Forest 
City in Sierra county, and it may not be amiss to mention in this 
connection the history of the name. The first store at the forks of 
Oregon creek was built by Samuel Hammond and was called Yomana 
store, from the bluff above the town, which was called by that name 
meaning - Sacred Hill." In 1853 a meeting was held by the citizens 
for the purpose of selecting a name for the village. There was a tie 
vote for Forks of Oregon and Yomana. The matter was compromised 
by agreeing to call the town after the first woman settler. The first 
lady resident was Mary Davis, wife of a baker. After her advent 
the town was called indiscriminately Forks of Oregon and Marietta 
Davis soon sold out to a man named Captain Moonev, whose wife's 
name was Forest. Mrs. Mooney was a woman of education and con- 
tributed several articles to the Marysville paper. The articles were 
dated from Forest City. The editor did not know the location of 
that place, but published the correspondence as it was sent in and 
thus the name was used for the first time. Mrs. Moonev afterwards 
called into consultation several of the leading citizens and succeeded 
m having the place formally named in her honor. 

The name of Gait was suggested for that town when it was laid 



354 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

out. John McFarland, who suggested the name to Judge E. B. 
Crocker, and who had come from Canada, desired to name the place 
after the town of Gait in Upper Canada, where he had served his 
apprenticeship. The Canadian village had been named in honor of 
a Mr. Gait. The valley of lone was named before the town was 
started and owes its title to Thomas Brown, a lover of books, who 
selected the name after one of the characters in the Last Days of 
Pompeii by Bulwer Lytton. The town was first called Bedbug, then 
Freezeout and finally lone. 

Natoma is an Indian name signifying Clear Water. The name 
was given in 1850 to the Mormon island postoffice on the suggestion 
of the late Judge A. P. Catlin. Afterwards the township was given 
the same name. Sutterville was named after Gen. John A. Sutter. 
Andrus island was named after George Andrus, who died there in 
1852. Rancho del Paso means Ranch of the Pass and is often al- 
luded to as the Norris grant, Samuel Norris having formerly owned 
the land. The American river was given that name by a company of 
western trappers who lived near its banks for a number of years 
between 1822 and 1830. Hicksville was named after William Hicks, 
an early settler. The Mokelumne river derives its name from a 
powerful tribe of Indians, the Mokelhos, who inhabited its lower 
banks and the adjacent territory. The Spaniards called it Rio de 
los Moquelemnos. The Cosumnes river was named from the Cosum- 
nes tribe. Mormon island was named from the Mormons who settled 
there. Rentier was named after Hon. Joseph Routier. The Sacra- 
mento river was first named Jesus Maria by Lieutenant Moraga 
and the Feather was named by him the Sacramento, but later the 
names were changed to their present form. 

LEVEES 

Previous to the flood of 1850 there had been no attempt at pro- 
tecting the city by levees, owing to a wide divergence of o])inion 
among the citizens, many of whom, coming from the East, had had 
no experience with floods and could not be convinced of the danger. 
But the flood of 1850 effected a sudden conversion in many of these 
and they became ardent su])porters of a levee plan. Surveyors were 
employed as the waters receded, to survey lines and locate a levee. 
On the morning of January 29, 1850, a meeting of citizens was called 
at the office of Priest, Lee & Co., to provide means to protect the city. 
Barton Lee was appointed chairman and J. L. L. F. Warren, secre- 
tarj^ Committees were appointed to lay out the work, and at a 
second meeting, on February 2nd, estimates were presented and the 
city council instructed the city engineer to prepare plans and esti- 
mates for the work. Four commissioners. Barton Lee and H. Big- 
low from the city and T. A. Warren and Colonel Smith from the 
council were appointed to a(^t with the engineer in locating the levee. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 355 

The engineer made an estimate of one hundred sixty-one thousand 
cubic yards of earthwork, but the levee was not located on the lines 
laid out by him. On April 29th, the citizens voted to raise by tax 
$250,000 for constructing a levee, only fifteen voting against it. The 
levee was built during the year from the high ground near Sutter- 
ville west to the east bank of the Sacramento, thence northerly along 
the bank of the river to the mouth of the American and then east- 
erly along that river to high ground, about two and one-half miles. 
It was three feet high, six feet on top and twelve feet wide at the 
base, being much wider directly in front of the city. 

But this was found entirely inadequate for protection in 1852. 
It was severely criticized by the Union of March 8th, and on the 
lOtli the mayor recommended to the council the building of a levee on 
I street to Sixth, thence along the high ground to abreast of Sut- 
ter's Fort, and thence to the "Eidge." This was done, and the 
people felt secure once more. But on the night of December 19, 
1852, a break occurred between Stewart's house on the American, 
and "the Eidge." It widened to eighty feet and the city was once 
more inundated. The water again entered the city January 2, 1853, 
but did little damage. July 29, 1853, an ordinance was jDassed ap- 
propriating $50,000 for raising and strengthening the levee, the 
work to be paid for in "levee scrip," bearing interest at two per 
cent per month. This levee ran "from the intersection of the levee 
on the Sacramento river and I street; thence following the line of 
levee as built, down I street to Sixth; thence north along Sixth to 
the bank of the slough; thence along the slough northeasterly to A 
street; thence easterly, along A street to Thirty-first; thence south- 
erly, inside of the slough (Burns) to E street; thence along E street 
to the river; thence along Front street to the beginning." No pro- 
vision was made in the $50,000 appropriation for the levee down E 
street and along Burns' Slough, this being voted afterwards by the 
citizens as a loan. Up to January 1, 1854, the sum expended for 
levee was about $600,000. 

In November, 1860, the levee at Eabel's tannery was strengthened 
by building a new piece of levee and a wing dam to turn the cur- 
rent away, but all precautions proved to be useless, for in March, 
1861, the American river rose suddenly, carried away the wing dam, 
and seriously damaged the levee, but did not enter the city. December 
9, 1861, the Thirty-first street levee broke near Burns' Slough, and 
broke again two weeks later, but was rebuilt. January 9, 1862, the 
American rose again, piling up the water at Eabel's tannery two feet 
higher than at any other part of the channel. It overflowed the 
levee and caused a large crevasse. A subscription of $50,000 was 
raised to close the break, and a new levee was built inside the old 
one. But this gave way on February 22nd, a crevasse eight hundred 
feet wide being washed out. This was repaired and in the spring 



356 lilSTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and samnier of 1862 the wliole system of levees was strengthened, 
raised and put in good condition. 

The project of turning the American river so that it would flow 
into the Sacramento river some miles below the city, as proposed by 
Mr. Zueblin and Mr, Robinson and brought into notice again lately, 
is not a new one, having been advanced by engineers in 1862. 

In 1861, owing to the previous floods which had devastated the 
city, the matter of ])rovidiug levees for its jDrotection became a live 
issue, and the state board of swamp land commissioners was formed, 
the city of Sacramento being included within the limits of swamp land 
district No. 2. B. F. Leet was appointed by the board engineer of 
the district. Pie made a report recommending that the levee for the 
protecting of his district should commence at Brighton on the Ameri- 
can river, following the river down to the Sacramento city levee, and 
following the line of the levee down the Sacramento to Y street and 
thence down the east bank of the river. All of this levee above the 
city and in it was certified to the city levee commission, and C. C. 
Tracy was appointed the engineer to finish the job. From data se- 
cured b}" them during the flood of January 10, 1862, the engineers 
arrived at the conclusion that, as the reclamation of the valleys pro- 
gressed, thus contracting the area through which the water brought 
down by the two rivers must flow, it would be necessary to raise the 
levees each year, and that eventually Sacramento would find itself in 
the same position in which Marysville is today — that of discharging 
the flood waters on a level with the tops of the houses. An alterna- 
tive proposition was presented by cutting a large canal from the bend 
of the American river at Brighton to the low ground in the vicinity 
of Freeport, turning the American into the canal, and thus relieving 
Sacramento from the continual menace of the flood waters. This 
solution of the question has never been attempted, but is at present 
being seriously discussed. 

April 9, 1862, the legislature created a board of city levee com- 
missioners, to consist of five members, and pending the regular elec- 
tion, named H. T. Holmes, Charles Crocker, William F. Knox, Charles 
H. Swift and Francis Tukey to act until the election should be held. 
In 1878 the citizens voted to build a levee from Front and Y streets, 
along the old line of the American river to the northern boundary of 
the city and thence to Brighton, on the line of the Central Pacific, 
to the embankment of the Sacramento Valley road. The cross levee 
of the railroad on R street was the only protection of the city on the 
south until the Y street levee was built, in December of that year. As 
all the breaks of the levees in the early years except one had been 
from the flood waters of the American river, this danger was minim- 
ized by turning the course of the American river. This was done in 
J868, by cutting a canal from a point just below the railroad bridge 
over the American, through a point of land, by which the channel of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 357 

the river was changed and the stream was made to empty into the 
Sacramento about a mile north of its old mouth. The current was thus 
thrown away from the levee, and the intervening gTound has grown 
up to willows, thus rendering the north levee secure. The sharp 
bend which flung the river current against the levee at Twenty-eighth 
street, at Rabel's tannery, and which the engineers reported in the 
floods of 1861 and 1862, piled the water up two feet higher than it was 
below the bend, has been filled in with sand and detritus, a spur levee 
having been built by property owners to deflect the current. 

Some years ago the Southern Pacific Company proposed to the 
city trustees that, if given the privilege of storing their extra cars 
on the levee north of the city, they would widen it and keep it in 
repair, and the offer was accepted. Since that time the levee has 
been greatly widened and strengthened, and is considered almost, if 
not quite, impregnable to the waters. This levee has been repeatedly 
raised since 1867, when the American river rose to the greatest height 
known till that time, and might have inundated the city again, if the 
railroad embankment to the bridge, which at that time was solid, and 
obstructed the free course of the water, had not given way, and re- 
lieved the situation. A number of years ago the Y street levee was 
raised several feet and widened, after the Lovdal break had convinced 
the city authorities that the safety of the city would be conserved 
thereby. 

For many years our levees have been considered as securing the 
absolute safety of the city, as in times of flood the levees on the Yolo 
side generally gave way or else the levees below the city yielded, as 
in the case of the Lovdal break and the Edwards break. But during 
the past year the levee on the Yolo side above the city has been greatly 
raised and strengthened by the Vallejo Northern Electric Company, 
while the reclamation work being done by the Natomas Consolidated 
Company will still further contract the carrying capacity of the 
American and Sacramento rivers in flood times. This increases the 
danger to the city levees from a great and sudden rise of the rivers 
in an unusual rainy season. In view of this fact, the idea of the 
engineers in 1862 has been revived and is being seriously discussed, 
as a means of relieving the situation, and various plans are proposed. 
Perhaps the most feasible and permanent solution of the question 
would be that suggested in the report of the United States reclama- 
tion and irrigation surveys, that a series of immense storage reser- 
voirs could be constructed on the torrential streams tributary to the 
Sacramento river, impounding the flood waters and conserving them 
for summer use in irrigating the valley lands, instead of allowing 
them to run to waste to the sea, inflicting sometimes immense damage 
to the dwellers of the lowlands. 



358 mSTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

THE FUNDED DEBT 

An act was passed in 1872 by tlie legislature providing for a 
board of commissioners of the funded debt sinking fund of the city. 
In 1858 the city and county government liad been consolidated and 
the supervisors given authority to fund all "legal debts and liabil- 
ities" against the city and issue new six per cent bonds for them. 
TTnder the stress of flood and fire and other causes a heavy bonded 
debt had been incurred. The general opinion held that much of the 
debt was with.out authority of law and could not be classed as legal 
obligations. Under the act of 1872 the supervisors not only funded 
the debts that were considered legal, but also all of the old bonds 
presented, which were held to be illegal. Great opposition was aroused 
to the paying of bonds so funded. In 1864 a law had been passed 
authorizing the city trustees to levy a special tax of one-half per 
cent to raise a sinking fund for the purchase of the bonds at a rate 
of not more than thirty cents on a dollar, but the tax rate already 
was so high that no action was taken. In 1872 a law was passed 
restraining the commissioners from paying more than thirty-five cents 
on the dollar for any of the bonds, which had not for ten years sold 
above that price, but generally at about twenty cents. In 1880 on 
the 1st of January the debt was, in round numbers, with accrued in- 
terest on the bonds, $2,414,000. After much litigation a compromise 
was made during the administration of William Land as mayor, and 
the debt was refunded for $1,500,000. 

CHAPTER XXXIV 
CAPITAL AND CAPITOL 

California's history contains one peculiar feature. It never 
passed through the territorial stage deemed necessary for the other 
states previous to their admission. The United States took possession 
of it when war was declared against Mexico, outwitting and outman- 
euvering the English, who were preparing to seize it. From that 
time until its admission as a state it was under the rule of a military 
governor. June 3, 1849, Gen. B. Riley, the military governor of the 
state, issued from Monterey a proclamation for the holding of an 
election on August 1st of that year to elect delegates to a general 
convention and for the filling of several necessary offices. At this 
election delegates were chosen to the constitutional convention, which 
met at Monterey September 3, 1849, prepared a constitution that was 
submitted to the people and ratified by them on November 13th of the 
same year. At the same election an entire state and legislative ticket 
was elected, as well as two representatives to congress. The legislative 
assembly of San Francisco and a ]irovisional government meeting at 
San Jose had both recommended the calling of such a convention in 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 359 

order that some plan of government might be evolved that would put 
an end to the chaotic condition of affairs existing. General Riley had 
the wisdom to recognize the desires of the people, as thus expressed, 
and issued his proclamation instead of asserting his authority to 
govern. 

The senators and assemblymen-elect met December 15, 1849, at 
San Jose, and on December 30th the state government of California 
was established and Governor Peter H. Burnett was inaugurated as 
the first governor of the state of California. Soon afterwards William 
M. Gwin and John C. Fremont were elected the first United States 
senators from the state. There had never been a territorial form of 
government, California had never been admitted to the Union. Not- 
withstanding these facts, the people had elected a state government 
and United States senators and representatives, who immediately 
started for Washington, to work for the admission of their state to 
the Union. The unparalleled audacity of California's pioneers broke 
all precedent of routine as to statehood admission and showed that 
they were the stuff of which men born to rule are made. It mattered 
little to them what legal objection there might be to their action, nor 
that congress had passed no bill for her admission, and might never 
pass one. California had declared herself a state, and not only that, 
but a free state, and had sent her representatives to Washington to 
notify congress to hurry up and admit her. And her audacity won 
out, too. Such an achievement is worthy of more than one page in 
any history relating to California, and her sons and daughters should 
see to it that the brilliant achievement of their sires is not forgotten. 

As soon as Governor Burnett was inaugurated, General Riley, 
with rare judgment, issued a remarkable proclamation, as follows : 
"To the People of California : 

"A new executive having been elected and installed in office, in 
accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the state, the 
undersigned hereby resigns his powers as governor of California. In 
thus dissolving his official connection with the people of this country, 
he would tender to them his heartfelt thanks for their many kind at- 
tentions, and for the uniform support which they have given to the 
measures of his administration. The principal object of all his wishes 
is now accomplished — the people have a government of their own 
choice, and one which, under the favor of Divine Providence, will se- 
cure their own prosperity and happiness, and the permanent welfare 
of the new state. 

"Given at San Jose, this 20th day of December, A. D., 1849. 

"B. Riley, 
"Brevet Brig. Gen., U. S. A., and Governor of California. 
"By the Governor: W. H. Halleck, 
"Brevet Captain and Secretary of State." 



360 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The constitutional convention fixed tlie seat of state government 
at San Jose. Tlie lirst legislature therefore met there on December 
15th following. Finding the accommodations there too limited, how- 
ever, it accepted the proposition of Gen. M. G. Vallejo to remove the 
capital to his place. They met there January 5, 1852, but found 
themselves in a worse plight than at San Jose, as the general had 
undertaken more than he could accomplish, and was behind with his 
contract to furnish a building for the session. Sacramento then be- 
stirred itself, and indorsed the court of sessions in its action in offer- 
ing the use of the courthouse to the legislature. That body accepted 
the offer January 12, 1852, and lost no time, arriving here the next 
day on the steamer Empire. The city put on gala attire and the citi- 
zens welcomed the members with a grand ball, at which the tickets 
were sold for twenty dollars. 

During the session the contest for the honor of being the state 
capital grew hotter and hotter between the rival claimants, and all 
sorts of legal technicalities were put in use to influence the selection 
of a location. The state records had been at San Jose, the place 
selected as the seat of government by the constitutional convention, 
and doubts were entertained by many as to the legality of removing 
them to Vallejo, there being no safe place there for keeping them, and 
also as to whether they could be removed to Sacramento, which had 
not yet been declared the capital. 

On April 30, 1852, the legislature passed a bill declaring the seat 
of government to be at Vallejo, and ordering the governor to remove 
the state records to that place. General Vallejo then procured a can- 
cellation of his contract, and the legislature, after meeting in Vallejo 
in January, 1853, soon adjourned to Benicia, declaring it to be the 
capital. It met there again January 2, 1854, when. Governor Bigler 
submitted to it a communication from the mayor and council of Sacra- 
mento, tendering to the state the free use of the courthouse, witli its 
safe, vaults, etc., together with a deed for the block of land between 
I and J, Ninth and Tenth streets. On the 9th of February, Senator 
A. P. Catlin introduced a bill in the senate providing for the fixing 
of the permanent seat of government at Sacramento, and accepting 
the block of land, which was passed. The legislature then adjourned 
to this city, where the citizens received the members and state officers 
with an enthusiastic demonstration. 

The legislature met in the new courthouse March 1, 1854. But 
its troubles were not all settled yet. On the 24th of the month it 
passed a law compelling the supreme court to hold its sessions here, 
but that body retaliated by holding the opinion that San Jose was the 
constitutional and legal capital, and refused to come. Subsequently, 
however, a change of judges of the supreme court effected a decision 
that Sacramento was the legal capital. In accordance with that deci- 
sion, all sessions of the legislature since 1854, with the exception of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 361 

that in the year of the great flood, 1862, have been held in Sacramento, 
On April 11, 1893, a few days before the adjournment of the leg- 
islature, the Evening Bee published an article making some grave 
charges against the personal character and conduct of some of the 
legislators, and thanking God that the legislature was about to ad- 
journ. The edition became known as the "Thank God" edition. The 
members of the legislature took umbrage at the article, and claiming 
that it was an insult to the whole body, hastily formulated a resolu- 
tion authorizing the people of the state to vote on the removal of the 
capital to San Jose, and rushed it through the same evening, many 
members regarding it as a joke on Sacramento. The result created 
great excitement in the city, and an indignation meeting called at 
the courthouse denounced the Bee and assured the legislature that the 
article did not represent the sentiments of the community. The next 
day the board of trade ordered a boycott on the Bee for injuring the 
interests of the city. The Bee stuck by its guns and offered to prove 
its charges, but the legislature adjourned witliout rescinding the reso- 
lution. The incident occasioned much bitter feeling, but in the end 
was beneficial to Sacramento, for the citizens, while admitting that 
the removal of the capital would be a blow to their civic pride, re- 
sented the slurring taunt that its retention here was a financial neces- 
sity to the city, and inaugurated and carried to completion a number 
of public improvements that were the initiation of the united work 
of the community in making Sacramento one of the most beautiful 
cities in the state. While the vote of the people, if the matter had 
been referred to them, would have been against the removal, the 
issue was not made, for in April, 1894, the supreme court decided 
that the resolution of the legislature was unconstitutional. 

In 1907 a number of members of the legislature took umbrage 
at Sacramento, and a constitutional amendment was adopted, re7uov- 
ing the seat of government from Sacramento to Berkeley, as a pun- 
ishment to the former city. It was submitted to the people of the 
state at the election in November, 1908, and was defeated by so de- 
cisive a majority that it is not likely another of similar import will 
ever be introduced again. 

In April, 1856, the legislature provided for the issue of bonds 
amounting to $800,000 for the erection of a Capitol building on the 
plaza between Ninth and Tenth, I and J streets, which had been 
deeded to the state by the city for that purpose. The board of com- 
missioners appointed to superintend the building approved the plans 
of Reuben Clark for the structure, awarded the contract to Joseph 
Mongues for $200,000, and broke ground for the building on Decem- 
ber 4th. On the 15th of the month, however, the commissioners re- 
fused to issue the bonds, because the supreme court had decided that 
the state had no authority to contract so large a debt. The contractor 
brought suit to com]:)el the fulfillment of the contract, but he was 



362 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

beaten, and work was stopped and never resumed on the building. 
The block was deeded back to the city and has been filled and con- 
^'erted into a beautiful park. 

The project for building the Capitol rested until 1860, when the 
four blocks comprised between L and N, Tenth and Twelfth steets, 
containing 11.90 acres, was donated to the state by the city of Sacra- 
mento. A number of years later the six blocks lying between L and 
N, Twelfth and Fifteenth streets were purchased by the state for 
$100,000, so that the Capitol Park now extends between L and N, from 
Tenth to Fifteenth streets, with a total area of 33.05 acres, including 
the streets between those boundaries. It is by all odds the finest 
Capitol Park in the United States, and is the admiration of all vis- 
itors to the city. The grounds are planted with trees of more than 
four hundred varieties, it is stated, and rare shrubs and trees from 
all over the world are to be found there. 

The legislature in 1860 appropriated $500,000 for a Capitol 
building, and the plans of M. F. Butler were adopted, and Michael 
Fennell of San Francisco secured the contract for furnishing the 
material and constructing the basement for $80,000. The cornerstone 
was laid with imposing Masonic ceremonies on May 15, 1861. Fen- 
nell had abandoned the contract on May 1st, and it was afterwards 
let to G. W. Blake and P. E. Conner, who in turn, having suffered 
some losses during the great flood, abandoned their contract. The 
work was then turned over to the commissioners, who worried along 
for several years because the various legislatures could not agree on 
the amount of appropriations that should be made for the work. Fin- 
ally in 1867 it was decided to finish the first story only with granite, 
and construct the rest of the building with l)rick, which was done, and 
the building was hurried to its completion. The brick is of excellent 
([uality, however, and the work was done in the best manner. The 
building is modeled largely on the National Capitol at Washington, 
and is much admired for its stately proportions. The building was 
completed according to the original plans as amended, which left the 
attic and basement unfinished, in 1874. It was occupied first by the 
governor and the otlier state officers November 26, 1869. The supreme 
court met for the first time in the building December 3, 1869, and the 
legislature took formal possession of it December 6th of that year. 
The Sacramentans celebrated the occasion by firing a salute and a 
general display of flags. The cost of its construction was $2,600,000. 

As stated, the basement and attic remained unfinished, but as the 
state grew, it became painfully apparent to the legislature and the 
state officers that tlie building was too small, or rather that the fin- 
ished portion of it was too small to accommodate the demand for 
space. Accordingly, in 1906-07-08, during the administrations of Gov- 
ernors Pardee and Gillett, the State Capitol Commission, com]iosed of 
the governor, secretary of state and the state treasurer, expended 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 363 

$372,925, appropriated by the legislature for that purpose, in remod- 
eling the building, raising the roof and finishing the basement and attic, 
so that at present there are rooms sufficient. The building has been 
made as near fireproof as possible, the only woodwork remaining being 
the doors and windows, and some floors which are laid over brick and 
cement. The total cost of the Capitol as repaired was $2,972,925. and 
competent architects state that it could not be built now for less 
than $5,000,000. 

The architecture of the structure is of the florid Eoman-Corinthian 
style. It faces west and is of four stories and basement. Its length 
is three hundred and twenty feet and its greatest depth one hundred 
and sixty-four feet, and it covers 52,480 square feet. The rotunda, 
on the first floor, is 168.07 feet in circumference, and the ball on top of 
the dome is 247 feet higher than the street at the junction of Tenth 
and M streets. 

A description of the Capitol could not be complete without men- 
tion of the beautiful group of statuary in the center of the rotunda, 
facing the entrance. It is the work of the famous American sculptor, 
Larkin Goldsmith Mead, and was bought by Darius Ogden Mills, one 
of the earliest bankers of Sacramento, for $30,000 in gold, and donated 
by him to the state of California. It represents Queen Isabella of 
Spain seated on her throne, while Columbus kneels beside her, holding 
a globe, with which he explains his theory of sailing westward around 
the earth to reach India. It represents the moment when, according 
to the historian Prescott, the queen, convinced by the navigator's argu- 
ments, exclaims, "I will assume the undertaidng on behalf of the 
crown of Castile, and will pledge my jewels to defray the expenses 
of it, if the funds in the treasury shall be found inadequate." The 
writer once overheard a citizen explaining to a visitor that the group 
represented Columbus offering the world to the queen, which, after 
all, was not far from the mark. 

The beautification of the park with trees and shrul)bery began 
about 1869, at the time the building was occupied, and has continued 
ever since. Duriug Governor Booth's term of office a Governor's 
mansion was completed in the northeast corner of the park, but as 
Governor Booth was living in single blessedness at the time, he never 
occupied it, and for various reasons his successors followed his ex- 
ample, so that several years afterwards it was converted into a state 
printing office and is still in use for that purpose. The printing for 
the legislative sessions, the state school text books, the various official 
reports and all the other work of the state in that line is done there, 
but the building will jH'obably be torn down before many years. The 
new pavilion of the State Agricultural Society was erected on the 
block in the southeast corner of the park a number of years ago, but 
becoming unsafe, was torn down about three years ago and removed 
to Agricultural Park, beyond the county hospital. 



364 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

A feature of the Capitol Park is the Grand Army plat, between 
Twelfth and Thirteenth streets. It is the only plat of the kind in 
existence, and is eared for partly by the Grand Army Posts and the 
Ladies of the Grand Army. It is thickly planted with trees from 
various battlefields of the Civil war, all tagged with the names of the 
localities from which they came, and the exercises on Decoration 
(Memorial) Day are generally held beneath the shade of the historic 
trees. 

GOVERNOKS 

Sacramento has had her full share of the governors of the state 
chosen from among her citizens. The rival of San Francisco in her 
earliest days, being the objective point of emigrants who were seek- 
ing wealth from the placers, she attracted immediately the most active 
and able men, who tarried at the city on the bay only long enough 
to secure passage to Sacramento. For this reason the capital city 
was well known among pioneers and wielded a large influence in 
politics as in commerce and in affairs connected with the mining in- 
dustry. The first governor of the new state, Peter II. Burnett, elected 
in November, 1849, had formerly acted as agent for General Sutter. 
John McDougal, who succeeded him, was another early resident of 
Sacramento. John Bigler, also an early resident of Sacramento, was 
elected governor in 1851 and died in this city in 1871. In 1855 he 
was succeeded as governor by J. Neely Johnson of Sacramento. 
Milton S. Latham became governor in 1859, resigning in 1860 to become 
United States Senator. Leland Stanford became governor in 1862. 
Newton Booth of this city was chosen governor in 1871, and died in 
Sacramento in 1892. Finally, our present governor, Hiram W. Johnson, 
born in Sacramento, has resided here during the greater part of his 
life, and belongs to a prominent family of the capital city. 

CHAPTER XXXV 
THE MILITARY 

Before California became a state the militia liad been provided 
for. April 10, 1850, the first legislature passed an act providing for 
the organization of the state militia into four divisions and eight 
brigades. The First Division was to consist of Sacramento, Trinity, 
Shasta, Butte, Yuba, Sutter and Eldorado. The legislature reserved 
the right to elect the generals. The next day that body met in joint 
convention and elected major-generals as follows: Thomas J. Green, 
John E. Brackett, David F. Douglass and Joshua H. Bean. It also 
elected as brigadier-generals, J. H. Eastland, A. M. Winn, Robert 

Sem])le, McDonald, John E. Addison, D. P. Baldwin, Thomas 

H. Bowen and J. M. Covarruluas. May 1, 1852, another law was 
passed organizing the militia into seven districts, and the Seventh 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 365 

District was composed of Sacramento, Placer, Sutter and Eldorado 
count.es. Apnl 25 1855, an act was passed creating six divisions and 

A.1 T '#M . ^t ^""'1 ' ^''^'''''' ^^^ ^^"^P^^^d «f Sacramento, 
Amador, Eldorado, Placer, Nevada and Sierra. The First Brigade of 

m' rTJ'r'^ ^as composed of Sacramento, Amador and Eldorado. 
May 9^ 1861, another act regarding the militia was passed, but it did 
^^l^-^J<^\^^^^^mento as regarded its brigade position. April n 
1862 the law passed organized the militia into one division and six 
brigades. It made the Fourth Brigade comprise the counties of Sac- 
ramento, lolo, Sutter, Eldorado, Amador, Placer, Nevada, Yuba and 
Sierra. April 12, 1866, Alpine county was added to the Fourth 
Brigade. 

In August, 1862, James Collins was appointed brigadier-general 
commandmg the Fourth Brigade, and was commissioned on the 30th' 
He died m Nevada City July 18, 1864, and Josiah Howell was ap- 
pointed to succeed him, receiving his commission Julv 25 1864- he 
resigned November 14, 1874. W. L. Campbell was appointed to' the 
position December 1, 1874, and received his commission on the .ame 
w'\ ^^f^J,^^^^ November 19, 1875. Governor Pacheco apj^ointed 
Wentworth T. Crowell to succeed him November 27, 1875 but the 
Democratic senate refused to confirm him, and he held the office onlv 
until his successor was appointed. His successor was J G Martine 
who was appomted to the command April 4, 1876, and resigned on 
April 8th. His resis-nation was caused by a severe attack on^him bv 
some of the newspapers in the district. Crowell continued in the 
office until March 3, 1877, when he resigned. 

ivr ^' r^/n ^Tf"" ^^"^ appointed March 3, 1877, and commissioned on 
March oth. He resigned November 4, 1878, and T. J Clunie was 
appointed by Governor Irwin December 30, 1878, to fill the vacancv 
but the Republican senate did not confirm him. John F Sheehan 
was appointed January 15, 1880, commissioned on the 17th, and re- 
signed m May, 1882. Lewellyn Tozer was appointed Mav 19 'l882 but 
the subsequent Democratic senate refused to confirm him.' John T 
Carey was commissioned Februarv 10, 1883. 

^^a^^K.^TS' ^''^''''^''^ ^^ Infantry, N. G. C, was organized in 
1864, with E R. Hamilton as colonel; B. Eilerman, lieutenant-colonel, 
and James Adams, major. The regiment was reorganized in Decem- 
ber, 1865, when L. L. Baker was elected colonel, and the remaining 
otticers continued in the same positions. August 22, 1866, Hamilton 
was^ again elected colonel; James Adams, lieutenant-colonel, and John 
^ . Mieehan, major. In pursuance of special order No. 44, issued Julv 
8, 1868, the regiment was mustered out of service and the coiii],anies 
were ordered to remain unattached until further orders. 

The Fourth Regiment was reorganized under special order No 7 
dated February 7, 1872, and in March following, C. V. Kelloog was 
elected colonel; B. Eilerman, lieutenant-colonel, and H. F 'Pao-e 



366 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

major. Kellogg and Eilernian resigned in July, 1874, and W. T. 
Cromwell was elected colonel, and IT. W. Tliain, lieutenant-colonel. 
This regiment was disbanded and nnistered out of service March 31, 
1877. It was immediately reorganized as the First Battalion of In- 
fantry, and T'homas J. Clunie was elected the commander. He was 
subsequently succeeded by Creed Haymond, and when the latter re- 
signed, he was succeeded by T. W. Sheehan. When Sheehan became 
brigadier-general, J. W. Guthrie was commissioned colonel. 

The militia did not monopolize all the military glory and fame. 
From the early days volunteer companies had been formed, and many 
names well known in the early and subsequent history of the city 
were found upon their rolls. 

The Sutter Rifle Corps was organized June 27, 1852, with ?>. D. 
Fry, captain; M. D. Corse, first lieutenant; John L. Brown, second 
lieutenant, and W. Bryerly, third lieutenant. The company was noted 
especially for its liberality on all public and private occasions. In 
1853, it paid $1200 for choice of the first seat at Catherine Hayes' 
concert, and presented the ticket to General Sutter. Those were the 
days when men's hands were open to their friends, and their purses 
also. M. D. Corse, the first lieutenant, afterwards became captain of 
the company, and also held other offices in the city. In 1857 he re- 
turned to the east, and his name as "General Corse" finally adorned 
the list of Sheridan's prisoners in 1865. 

AVhen the governor in 1856 called on the militia for duty against 
the vigilance committee in San Francisco, the Sutter Rifles met on 
June 4th, and voted to respond to the governor's call. E. E. Eyre was 
at that time lieutenant-commanding; H. S. Foushee, second lieutenant, 
and John C. Keenan, orderly sergeant. The company disbanded soon 
after, but reorganized in 1875, with E. E. Eyre, captain; Charles J. 
Torbert, first lieutenant; Joseph H. Vigo, second lieutenant; W. R. 
Covey, brevet second lieutenant. The company showed little vigor, how- 
ever, and soon died. 

The Sacramento Guards, Light Infantry, organized August 11, 
1855, with Henry Meredith as captain; D. S. Woodward, first lieuten- 
ant; R. W. Wilcox, second lieutenant; John ilrnold, brevet second 
lieutenant ; Josiah Howell, ensign ; L. L. Baker, orderly sergeant. 
December 17, 1855, Baker was elected captain. Among the subsequent 
officers were D. A. McMerritt, L. Powers, Isaac Lohman and C. H. 
Cummings. The company numbered forty-five. During the excite- 
ment in 1856 over the vigilance committee, the governor issued a 
proclamation calling out the militia of the state to suppress the dis- 
turbance. The Sacramento Guards met June 4, 1856, and disbanded, 
turning their ai-ms over to the custody of the Sutter Rifles. They re- 
organized at once, however, as the Independent City Guards, and by 
the end of the year they were fully equipped. This was the only com- 
pany in Sacramento in 1858. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 367 

The Young Men's Pioneer Guard was organized in 1856, and was 
composed of the leading young men of the city. John Talbot was its 
captain; R. Simons, first lieutenant; Samuel Richardson, second lieu-, 
tenant; Charles Sinclair, third lieutenant; Oliver H. Worden, ensign; 
John Foley, first sergeant. 

The Sacramento Cadets organized May 17, 1856, with Edwin A. 
Sherman, captain; C. H. Watson, first lieutenant; George J. Prentice, 
second lieutenant. 

The Independent (Sacramento) City Guard was reorganized under 
the state law on June 28, 1858, with L. L. Baker, captain; Josiah 
Howell, first lieutenant; L. Powers, second lieutenant; I. Lohman, 
brevet second lieutenant. Among the subsequent officers we find the 
names of S. P. Ford, Benjamin Peart, Joseph I. Friend, Henry Starr, 
W. H. Ratenberry, C. L. Bird, L. B. Vanderburg. Among the 
privates were C. H. Cummings, H. S. Crocker, D. Gillis, P. J. Hopper 
and J. H. Lewis. This company during the Civil war furnished sev- 
eral officers and some thirty men to the United States army. 

The Sacramento Hussars was a German company of cavalry 
organized August 14, 1859, and reorganized June 11, 1863, and at- 
tached to the state militia. They were honorably discharged from 
the National Guard August 21, 1874, and continued for some time as 
an independent organization. At first there were only twenty-six 
members, and the first officers were: Fred Werner, captain; Charles 
Heinrich, first lieutenant; F. X. Ebner, senior second lieutenant; 
Joseph Marzen, junior second lieutenant. Among the other early mem- 
bers were : L. Steudeman, A. Heilbron, E. Kraus, Charles Sellinger, A. 
Neubauer, D. Weinian, N. Arentz, C. Iser, G. Uhl, S. Gerber, John 
Batcher, M. Wetzel, James H. Groth, George Schroth, J. Korn, Julius 
Gregory, A. Menke, M. Miller, A. Hennery, Andrew Ross, John B. 
Kohl and Jacob Meister. 

Granite Guard was organized at Folsom May 27, 1861, with fifty- 
eight men, and F. S. Mumford as captain. 

The W^ashington Rifles were organized May 27, 1861, under the 
militia laws of the state, with eighty-one members, and they immedi- 
ately tendered their services to the governor, who accepted them, and 
they were mustered into the service of the United States. Their cap- 
tain was Thomas I. Roberts; first lieutenant, W. A, Thompson; second 
lieutenant, J. S. Hunter ; brevet second lieutenant, W. L. Ustick. Cor- 
nelius V. Kellogg and Henry Kline were also officers subsequently. 

The Sacramento Rangers, cavalry, were organized August 27, 
1861, and were mustered into the service of the United States with 
sixty-two members. D. A. McMerritt was captain ; J. M. Ropes, first 
lieutenant; A. W. Starr, second lieutenant. 

E. D. Shirland raised a troop of cavalry, known as Shirlaud's 
Cavalry, recruiting them principally around Folsom. They were inus- 
tered into the service of the United States and arrived in Sacramento 



368 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

by rail, seventy-five in number, September 5, 1861. Here they were 
joined by about forty recruits from this city, and proceeded to San 
Francisco on the steamer Antelope. The citizens of Folsom raised 
$513 in two hours for the use of the company. 

The National Guard was organized October 7, 1862, with officers 
as follows: L. L. Baker, captain; D. W. Welty, first lieutenant; W. 
H. B. Morrill, senior second lieutenant; Prescott Robinson, junior 
second lieutenant. The sergeants were: John Talbot, John Foley, R. 
H. Daley, Paschal ( 'oggins and M. L. Templeton. Among the privates 
of this company were a number of men well known throughout the 
state, such as Newton Booth, M. M. Estee, Justin Gates, S. S. Holl^ 
.lames McClatchy, Alex Badlam and Sylvester Try on. 

The Sacramento Sharp Shooters organized June 6, 1863, with E. 
R. Hamilton as captain ; Thomas V. Cummings, first lieutenant ; W. M. 
Siddons, senior second lieutenant. Chris Weisel, J. A. Conboie and 
E. H. Heacock were the sergeants. This company numbered in its 
ranks as privates, L. Booth, E. M. Fry, A. Flohr, J. T. Glover, S. S. 
Holl, Israel Luce, J. H. McKune, Robert Robinson, Perrin Stanton, 
0. H. Tubbs and G. K. Van Heusen, all prominent men of Sacra- 
mento. The company was nmstered out in 1886. 

The Turner Rifles organized June 22, 1863, with forty-four mem- 
bers. Their captain was Charles Wolleb; A. Geisel, first lieutenant; 
L. Lotthammer, senior second lieutenant; A. Nessel, junior second 
lieutenant. Among the privates we find the names of John Bellmer, 
A. Heilbron, Charles Pommer, C. Weil, C. Kleinsorge, L. B. Mohr 
and C. Weisel. 

The Walnut Grove Union Guard was organized at Walnut Grove 
in August, 1863, and for several years continued as part of the 
National Guard. 

The Baker Guard was composed of over fifty young men, most of 
them under twenty-one years of age, and was organized September 15, 
1863. W. T. Crowell was its captain; James Clunie, first lieutenant; 
D. K. Zumwalt, second lieutenant; Samuel Carlisle, third lieutenant. 
This company was consolidated with Company D, National Guard, in 
June, 1866. 

The Sacramento Light Artillery, unattached, was organized Sep- 
tember 24, 1864, with Edgar Mills as captain; Wjninan McMitchell, 
first lieutenant; W. M. Siddons, senior second lieutenant; D. W. Earl, 
junior second lieutenant. A. J. Senatz was prominent in the organ- 
ization, and S. S. Montague, Joseph Davis and J. L. Atwood were 
among the subsequent captains. 

The First Battalion, Light Artillery, was organized in Septem- 
ber, 1866, with Edgar Mills as major; L. E. Crane, first lieutenant 
and adjutant; Paul Morrill, first lieutenant and quartermaster; W. R. 
Cluness, assistant sergeant. 

The Emmet Guards was organized March 19, 1864, with Jolm 
P'oley as captain; F. A. Moran, first lieutenant; John F. Sheehan, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 369 

senior second lieutenant; John S. Barrett, junior second lieutenant. 
The other officers were: T. W. Sheehan, Owen Farrell and M. Mc- 
Manus. The company was mustered out of the state service June 
11, 1872. 

The Sacramento Zouaves was an independent colored company, 
which was in existence for several years. 

Company G, Sarsfield Guards, was organized in 1870, with 
William H. Ashton, Jr., captain; Charles Brady, first lieutenant; 
Thomas Nolan, second lieutenant. 

Troop B, cavalry, was originally organized in 1864, and was then 
known as the Sacramento Light Artillery. Its full official designation 
was Company A (Sacramento Light Artillery), First Battalion of 
Artillery, Fourth Brigade, National Guard of California. The ma- 
terial of which it was formed included many of the prominent men in 
the city, as will be seen by the list of those who signed the petition 
to Judge Clark for the formation of the company. The list is as 
follows: Paul Morrill, Edgar Mills, George Rowland, James Mc-. 
Clatchy, H. W. Bragg, George S. Evans, W. S. Mesick, 0. D. Lam- 
bard, W. M. Mitchell, Isaac Lohman, William M. Harmon, R. W. 
Lewis, A. Lamott, M. M. Estee, William M. Lyon, C. C. Barnes, Robert 
Hamilton, Benjamin Peart, E. H. Heacock, S. S. Holl, James Carolan, 
J. B. Sanderson, George W. Chesley, L. Wilsev, J. H. Carroll, H. 
G. Smith, D. W. Earl, A. D. Whitney, C. N. Higgins, Robert Ander- 
son, M. M. Spaulding, F. E. Mitchell, N. L. Drew, George Inglis, 
William M. Hoag, R. T. Brown, Charles Miller, John McNeill, L C. 
Aikles, James McCleary, George E. Duden, Prescott Robinson, C. P. 
Huntington, Charles H. Creed, W. H. Taylor, William L. Ustick, J. 
H. McKune, Henry Ramsey, John S. Miller, Joseph T. Glover, A. C. 
Bidwell, L. H. Foote, R. I. Graham, Samuel Cross, J. W. Reeves, Jus- 
tin Gates, L. S. Taylor, E. D. Wheatley, S. W. Butler, J. M. Avery, 
W. C. Felch, A. Briggs, Alex. Badlam, H. E. Cook, D. P. Coon, George 
Oulton, Theo. J. Mifliken. Richard Dale, H. F. Holmes, A. H. Ault, 
Charles A. Peake, Albert Leonard, Thomas Ross, J. T. Griffitts, 
William E. Wise, Thomas C. Jones, George Cox, Thomas Brown, J. T. 
Brownell, I. Bailey, Charles Roberts, J. Davis, E. B. Mott, A. S. 
Bender, P. Stanton, Ben. C. Butler, P. Franklin, Joseph Bremer, 
Leland Stanford, William M. Siddons, John P. Hoyt, Frederick Gibbs, 
C. C. Knox, A. G. Richardson, T. M. Hubbard, S. E. Ladd, B. Cahoon, 
Paul Morrill, Jr., S. S. Montague, T. W. Ruce, L. Rotchford, Samuel 
Cross, E. A. Rockwell, E. M. Howison. 

The officers were Edgar Mills, captain; Wyman McMitchell, first 
lieutenant; Wm. M. Siddons, senior second lieutenant; D. W. Earl, 
junior second lieutenant. March 19, 1880, the Sacramento Light Artil- 
lery, the City Guard, Nevada Light Guard, Placerville City Guard, the 
Yuba Light Guard and the Sarsfield Guard were organized into a 
Tegiment known as the First Artillery Regiment, Fourth Brigade, 



370 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

N. G. C. Shortly afterwards the Sacramento Light Artillery became 
known as Light Battery B, First iirtillery Regiment. July 1, 1893, it 
was detached from the regiment and designated as Battery B, Light 
Artillery, unattached. July 23, 1895, it was changed into a troop of 
cavalry, incorporated in August, 1895, with Troops A, C and D, 
cavalry, as the First Squadron of Cavalry. In July, 1908, the squad- 
ron was discontinued, and the troop became known again as "Troop 
B, Cavalry," and is so known today. 

The Eighlli Infantry regiment was organized October 31, 1890, 
and the First Artillery, March 19, 1880. The Eighth Infantry and the 
First Artillery were consolidated December 9, 1895, forming the 
Second Regiment of Infantry, N. G. C. Company A, Second Infantry, 
was mustered out in the same year. 

Company E, Second Infantry, of this city was organized Novem- 
ber 26, 1883, with Henry I. Seymour, now colonel, as captain. Com- 
pany G of this city, and of the same regiment, was organized July 29, 
1870, with Thomas B. Hall, now deceased, as captain. These two 
companies have existed ever since, up to 1911, when Company E was 
mustered out, but has since been reorganized. 

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC 

The greatest patriotic order that ever was instituted was organ- 
ized in Sacramento early in its existence, and has numbered three 
Posts and two Relief Corps and one Circle of the Ladies of the Grand 
Army, auxiliary thereto, all of which, except one Post, are still in 
existence and in flourishing condition. 

Sumner Post No. 3 was instituted November 25, 1867, with the 
following charter members: G. W. Bowie, Thomas J. Blakeney, 
George S. Evans, D. A. DeMerritt, W. L. Campbell, E. Engham, John 
F. Sheehan, E. S. Granger, W. C. Guirey, R. H. Harris, J. V. Gilbert, 
N. S. Hawley, R. W. Towne and J. G. Garrison, the charter being 
signed by John G. Miller, department commander, and James Coey, 
assistant adjutant-general. The first officers were: W. S. Campbell, 
commander; W. C. Guirey, Jr., vice commander, and J. F. Sheehan, 
adjutant. The Post is still in a healthy condition, and numbers over 
seventy members. 

Warren Post No. 54 was instituted August 4, 1883, with the fol- 
lowing charter members: W. A. Houghton, Charles Reihn, C. W. 
Wallace, J. B. Pierpont, Fred Dustman, J. N. Moore, M. J. Smith, Dan 
Meagher, E. C. Jordan, M. Wood, N. Hamm, J. H. Carrington, Dr. C. 
F. Pinkham, N. T. Gould, W. W. Fuller, W. W. Meyer, T. J. Kiernan, 
S. S. B. Brigham, W. C. Gnet, Charles Ludwig, J. H. Marsh, W. M. 
Wilbur, H. Yuhre, Charles Foster, A. Richardson, E. P. Snyder, J. S. 
Easterbrooke, A, T. Browsher, George Vogelgesang, A. W. Sefton, J. 
J. Trarbach, J. T. Bartlett and S. McKearney. It is still in existence, 
and numbers over fifty members. Fair Oaks Post No. 120 was organ- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 371 

ized in May, 1886, and after continuing a number of years surrendered 
its charter. 

Sumner Relief Corps No. 11, auxiliary to Sumner Post, was or- 
ganized in March, 1884, and is still prosperous. 

Fair Oaks Relief Corps No. 13 was organized in May, 1884, as 
auxiliary of Fair Oaks Post, and is still in existence, although the 
Post has been discontinued for several years. 

Clara Barton Circle No. 11, Ladies of the G. A. R., was organized 
May 26, 1886, and is in a prosperous condition. 

SPANISH WAR VETEEANS 

J. Holland Laidler Camp No. 5, Department of California, United 
Spanish War Veterans, was chartered under National Encampment, 
Spanish- American War Veterans, April 18, 1904, as No. 286. (Subse- 
quently the general organization was amalgamated with other kindred 
associations, and became United Spanish War Veterans.) 

Chartered under United Spanish War Veterans, January 17, 1905, 
effective April 18, 1904, with the following charter members: 0. J. 
Addison, J. Alexander, 0. W. Anderson, F. F. Atkinson, W. D. Bes- 
sey, F. W. Birchmore, 0. J. Boden, D. C. Bush, F. F. Canon, *John 
Cooke, F. W. Coyne, W. R. Coyne, M. J. Cunningham, *0. N. Faulk- 
ner, A. P. Gadbois, J. W. Gray, *Fred Gunter, *W. F. Hayden, J. H. 
Hayes, J. E. Hicks, W. J. Hanna, D. 0. Hildebrand, E. C. Hunt, S. W. 
Kay, Rube Lee, S. W. Leitch, C. Lucey, F. L. Martin, C. D. McDermit, 
*J. G. Merle, J. M. Milliken, L. C. Moore, Haywood Reed, J. F. Sher- 
burn, W. 0. Smith, H. E. Speas, H. G. Teasdale, C. H. Weden, W. I. 
Woodman, Mark Wormer. 

The first executive officers of the camp were : Commander, S. W. 
Kay; adjutant, J. Alexander; quartermaster, 0. W. Anderson. 

J. Holland Laidler, in honor of whose memory this camp was 
named, was connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company's 
hospital in Sacramento prior to the commencement of the war be- 
tween the United States and Spain. At the outbreak of hostilities (or 
when the opportunity presented itself) he joined the Hospital Corps, 
United States army, and was killed in action during the Philippine 
insurrection, April 24, 1899, at Quinqua, Philippine Islands. He was 
born in Elko, Houston county, Ga., July 11, 1876. There is a movement 
on foot at present for erecting a monument to his memory in one of the 
city parks. 

Admiral Robley D. Evans Camp No. 33, Department of Cali- 
fornia, United Spanish War Veterans, was organized through the 
efforts of Colonel F. F. Canon, assisted by a few other veterans. It 
was mustered in August 14, 1908, by Department Commander M. M. 
Moulton (now Past Department Commander) at the armory of Com- 

*Deceased,. 



372 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

pauy Fi, Second Inl'aiitry, National Guard of California, which was 
located at that time iu tlie old pavilion, Sixth and M streets. 

The charter members were G. A. Bahran, W. T. Hildebrand, C. 
C. Craver, W. H. Phillips, C. E. Connolly, Charles J. Stephens, B. W. 
Gardner, Johannes Gienger, F. F. Canon, T. H. McDaniel, F. C. 
Childs, E. Storror, James Fricke, G. W. Waldron, F. W. Barber, F. E. 
Kimple, H. C. C^arvell, F. W. Strachauer, F. E. Elliott, Fred Shrader 
and Herbert Gray. The first executive officers of the camp were: 
Commander, F. F. Elliott; adjutant, F. F. Canon; quartermaster, B. 
W. Gardner. 

The camp was named in honor of the noted admiral of the United 
States navy, "Fighting Bob" Evans. About the time of organization 
Admiral Evans had just completed his trip around the world. Again, 
the naming of the camp was appropriate, for during the Spanish- 
American war he had taken a very prominent part, being in command 
of the U. S. S. Iowa, off Santiago, and taking an active part in the 
naval engagement which resulted in the destruction of Cervera's 
fleet, July 3^ 1898. 

Cynthia E. Moore Auxiliary, United Spanish War Veterans, auxil- 
iary to Camps J. Holland Laidler No. 5 and Admiral R. D. Evans No. 
33, was instituted in Elks' hall, Sacramento, January 15, 1909, with 
thirty-five charter members. The name Cynthia E. Moore was chosen 
because Cynthia E. Moore (born November 9, 1873, and a graduate of 
St. Luke's hospital, San Francisco) was a nurse in the United States 
army service who served from November 14, 1898, to September 30, 

1900. She was honorably discharged because of illness, was cared for 
at the general hospital at the Presidio of San Francisco, died May 11, 

1901, and was buried in that city. 

The presidents have been: Gertrude Gould Speas, first, January 
15, 1909, to January 4, 1910; Alice Milliken, second, January 4, 1910, 
to January 17, 1911; Sarah Thompson, third, January 17, 1911, to 
January 5, 1912 ; Anna Gardner, fourth, now serving. 

The first set of officers were: Gertrude Gould Speas, president; 
Alice Milliken, senior vice president; Ada Hildebrand, junior vice 
president; I. May Sydeham, chaplain; Addie Kelly, secretary; Mary 
Kimple, treasurer; Mamie Kay, conductor; Lillian Lee, guard. 

The history of Cynthia E. Moore Auxiliary since its admission 
into the organization has been one of prosperity and success. Its 
members have ever striven for advancement and to place the auxiliary 
upon a high plane. The personnel of its membership is commendable 
and their work an example. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 373 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The first fire department in Sacramento was organized in 1850. 
On April 4tli of that year the first fire of any considerable extent oc- 
curred on Front street, between J and K, eight or ten buildings being 
destroyed, with their contents, within thirty minutes of the time it 
started. The loss was stated at $100,000. A fire department was im- 
mediately organized. On November 9th following another fire oc- 
curred, destroying the New York, Eagle, St. Francis and the Galena 
hotels, the Home of the Badger, Rowe's provision store and other 
buildings. On August 13, 1851, the Tehama theater was burned. 

The greatest fire of the early days occurred November 2, 1852, 
when fully seven-eighths of the city was destroyed and several lives 
were supposed to be lost. This was the most widespread and disas- 
trous fire in the history of the city, and the total amount of loss was 
estimated at $10,000,000. Although it was a frame building, the Con- 
gregational church on Sixth street was the only one out of the many 
churches that was saved. The efforts of the citizens managed to keep 
the conflagration from extending east of Ninth street and north of I 
street. The fact that a strong wind was blowing when the fire started 
was undoubtedly the cause of its becoming so general. 

The second general conflagration in the city's history occurred on 
the afternoon of July 13, 1854. It started in a small frame building 
in the rear of Newcome's furniture store, near the center of the block 
between J and K, Third and Fourth streets. This time it was 
caused by the upsetting of a spirit lamp used for heating a glue-pot. 
It reached the Sacramento hotel almost immediately, and in a very 
short time the blaze was tremendous. The day was very hot, the 
thermometer standing at one hundred degrees in the shade. The fire- 
men turned out in force, but the furious element would not be denied, 
and in spite of the heroic efforts of the members of the department 
and the citizens, it destroyed successively the Oriental hotel, the Amer- 
ican House, the old courthouse, the New England House, the State 
House, Congregational church, the Sewanne House, Crescent City 
hotel and Number 4's engine house. By good luck the waterworks 
had just been put into operation, and but for their efficiency the 
loss would have been much greater. 

Governor Bigler had been working from the beginning of the 
conflagration wherever help had been needed, and when the State 
Capitol was threatened, he asked a number of bystanders to aid him 
in saving the furniture. They demurred to doing so on the ground 
that the state could better afford to lose its property than private 
parties could. Pointing to a full-length portrait of Washington that 
hung on the southern wall. Governor Bigler said: "See! there is the 



374 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

portrait of the father of your country; will you permit it to be de- 
stroyed?" His appeal was successful, and they made a general rush 
and saved the picture. 

The Golden Eagle hotel, a substantial brick building, finally 
checked the fire until it could be controlled. The news of the fire hav- 
ing reached San Francisco, the Monumental Engine Company of that 
city made an earnest effort to reach Sacramento in time to be of as- 
sistanc(\ but was unal)le to arrive until the next morning, when they 
were cordially thanked by the citizens for their generous attempt. 

The next imi)ortant fire that occurred was on July 3, 1855, which 
burned over the whole triangle betM^een the levee, I and Sixth streets, 
but as the buildings were mainly old shacks occupied by Chinese, the 
loss was not heavy. Several fires, each occasioning a loss of from 
$10,000 to ^20,000, occurred in the following nineteen years. 

About 5:30 o'clock A. M. on September 15, 1874, the Capital 
Woolen mills caught fire and were destroyed, causing a loss of from 
$75,000 to $100,000. The mills were soon rebuilt. November 21, 1886, 
they were burned again, and were not rebuilt. 

January 9, 1875, a fire started in the afternoon in the lamp room 
of the Western hotel and spread rapidly to the whole building. By 
desperate efforts the fire department, which was promptly on hand, 
managed to confine it to the hotel building, which was totally de- 
stroyed, and three lives wjere lost, two of the ill fated victims being 
compositors in the Vuinu office. The financial loss was estimated at 
about $100,000. 

The honor of having organized the first fire company in the state 
belongs to Sacramento. February 5, 1850, the first steps were taken 
toward the organization of Mutual Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. 
The following officers were elected: Demas Strong, foreman; J, S. 
Fowler, first assistant ; M. D. Eyre, second assistant ; T. A . Warbass, 
treasurer; H. G. Langley, secretary; J. 0. Derb}^ steward. The com- 
pany turned out to. the fire of April 4, 1850, using a fire engine be- 
longing to Lewis & Bailey. They continued in active service until 
October 30, 1859, when they disbanded by mutual consent, turning over 
their a]3paratus to the fire department. They had twenty-six mem- 
bers when they disbanded, and had occupied the same building with 
Confidence Engine Company No. 1. 

Alert Hook and Ladder Company No. 2 was organized September 
27, 1852, electing Thomas W. Noyes, foreman; Charles W. Cook, as- 
sistant foreman; Alexander C. Folger, secretary; W. B. H. Dodson, 
trustee; John L. Polhemus and Joseph F. Cloutman, delegates. Their 
building was a two-story brick one, located on Eighth street, between 
J and K. Both this company and the Mutual received an outfit of hooks 
and ladders in 1853. In 1860 the Alert had twenty-nine members, and 
M. McManus w^as their foreman. 

On March 6, 1851, Confidence Engine Company No. 1 was organ- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 375 

ized witli W. S. Eakins, foreman; William D. Hunt, first assistant; 
John J. Balentine, second assistant; H. E. Urner, secretary; Leander 
Culver, treasurer. It was housed in a two-story building on the east 
side of Third street, between I and J. It maintained its organization 
until the introduction of the paid fire department, when it numbered 
sixty-five members. 

Protection Engine Company No. 2 was organized March 22, 
1851, electing AVilliam Arents, foreman; Francis R. Folger, assistant; 
H. Burdick, secretary. It had sixty-five members and its house was 
erected on the west side of Eighth street, between J and K, after- 
wards for many years known as Exempt Firemen's Hall, and torn 
down in 1911 to give jolace to a new building. 

Sacramento Engine Company No. 3 was organized March 27, 
1851, by electing J. R. Beard, foreman ; H. J. Beams,- assistant fore- 
man; F. McGilvery, secretary; J. C. Freeman, assistant secretary; 
it had erected for it two years later a fine house on the west side 
of Second street, between K and L, and in 1860 the company num- 
bered fifty-nine members. The building is now occupied by No. 1, of 
the paid fire department. 

Eureka Engine Company No. 4 was organized August 15, 1853, 
electing W. H. Jones, foreman; John H. Burgess, assistant; Jacob 
Greenbaum, secretary; H. P. Osborn, treasurer. They occupied a 
two-story brick, the present Corporation house, on Fifth street, be- 
tween J. and K, and numbered sixty-five members in 1860. 

Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 5 was organized July 21, 

1854, officers being as follows: H. Policy, foreman; James Calwyn, 
first assistant; P. Holland, second assistant; John F. Hall, secretary; 
John C. Keenan, treasurer. The company numbered fifty-eight mem- 
bers, and its Iniilding was a two-story brick on the east side of Fourth 
street, between K and L. 

Young America No. 6 was organized by the residents of the Third 
ward June 21, 1855, with Robert Robinson, foreman ; E. Kimball, first 
assistant; Sylvester Marshall, second assistant; Anson Perry, secre- 
tary; Charles S. White, treasurer. Its house was a two-story brick, 
located on Tenth street, between I and J, and is at present used by a 
company of the paid fire department for No. 2. 

Tehama Hose Company No. 1 was the first hose company iu this 
citv. It was organized April 21, 1853, but disbanded November 24, 

1855. "^ ■ 

Neptune Hose Company was an independent com])any organized 
October 6, 1856, with C. T. Ingham, president; P. Holland, foreman; 
Thomas Bartlett, assistant foreman; A. P. Norton, treasurer; Alex- 
ander Badlam, secretary. The company had considerable trouble in 
being admitted into the department, and a l)uilding was erected for it 
on the north side of I street, fronting on Fourth street. It liad a 
membership of twenty-five. 



376 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Broderic'k Engine Company No. 7 was organized June 1, 1860, by 
electing Matthias Ault, foreman; R. B. Bishop, first assistant; Ber- 
nard Riley, second assistant; D. 0. Brown, secretary, and W. S. Hig- 
gins, treasurer. Its membership was sixty-five. The company was 
named after United States Senator David Broderick, and was faithful 
in its attendance at fires, but was not admitted into the department, 
and was disbanded immediately after the flood of 1861. It occupied a 
one and one-half story building at the corner of Third and R streets. 
The building was removed a number of years ago and converted into 
a residence, and the engine, hose, etc., reverted to the department. 

Several other companies of less note and continuance were organ- 
ized during the period of the volunteer department, and did good work 
when necessity required, but their names have passed from recollec- 
tion. The fire-fighters of the old volunteer days were men of daring; 
men who were in the ranks for the love of the game and the protec- 
tion of their own property and that of others. Many of them had 
been members of similar organizations in the east, and brought to 
their work here the experience gained in former fields. 

The following were chief engineers of the volunteer fire depart- 
ment during its continuance from January 25, 1851, to August, 1872, 
their terms of office being one year : Hiram Arentz, David McDowell, 
R. M. Folger, I. M. Hubbard, J. H. Houseman, J. B. Blanchard, Henry 
Polley, Hiram Arentz, Joseph S. Friend, George H. Brickman, R. J. 
Graham, Hugh Kelly, George Schmeizer, David C. Wilson, John Don- 
ellan, "W. Gillan, Frank Johnson, A. H. Hapeman, William D. Far- 
rell, George Schmeizer; Houseman and Kelly resigned, Blanchard, 
first assistant, succeeding the former, and Schmeizer the latter. 

As was usual in the days of volunteer fire departments there was 
great rivalry between the ditferent companies, and many incidents oc- 
curred, humorous and otherwise, that would make interesting reading 
if their history had been preserved. There were tournaments, races, 
balls, presentation of banners and prizes and various other features. 
At one time much complaint was made against the companies, in the 
papers, being caused by these rivalries. It was charged that some 
of their members laid plans for getting ahead of the members of 
other companies by ringing false alarms, having warned enough mem- 
bers of their own companies sufficiently to enable them to have their 
apparatus ready and get to the scene of the supposed fire before their 
rivals could do so, thereby gaining credit through the papers of being 
the most active in the performance of their duties. The rivalry be- 
tween the volunteer companies often became so keen that bad blood 
was engendered and fights were common. Spanners, wrenches, any 
available weapons, were applied forcibly to heads, arms and shoulders, 
without regard to their proper use, and sanguinary encounters oc- 
curred on many occasions. One of the most notable and fiercest oc- 
curred at the burning of the first building erected for the Jefferson 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 377 

primary school. Two of the comiDanies between which there existed a 
strong feeling of antagonism, met at a wooden bridge that spanned 
a little slough near the school. Each was determined to beat the 
other, and they arrived simnltaneonsly at the bridge. It was too nar- 
row for both to cross at the same time and, in consequence, one engine 
struck the railing, smashing it, and being precipitated into the slough. 
In a moment the fray was started, spanners and other weapons used 
freely and the fiercest fight in the history of the department was on, 
the combatants paying no more attention to the fire, which was burning 
fiercely. Several were seriously injured, and carried the marks of 
the combat to their graves. The men who comprised the volunteer 
department were fearless and aggressive, energetic and ready to 
court opposition, all of which qualities were valuable in fighting fire, 
and which found a vent in other directions. 

PAID FIRE DEPARTMENT 

A paid fire department for the city was established by the legis- 
lature April 1, 1872, and the volunteer department was superseded. 
A board of three commissioners was established, the first members to 
be appointed by the governor, and their successors to be elected by 
the people, one being elected each year, at the regular city election. 
The city was authorized by the act to issue bonds for $50,000, payable 
twenty years after date, with interest at eight per cent per annum. 
The first commissioners, appointees of the governor, were Sylvester 
Tryon, George Rowland and W. C. Felch, the latter being elected 
president of the board. Two engine companies and a hook and ladder 
company were organized the ensuing fall. 

Engine Company No. 1 was organized September 15, 1872, and 
Henry Burnham was made foreman and 0. Collier, engineer. There 
were twelve other men, but only the engineer, foreman and drivers were 
permanently employed. The engine-house is situated on Second street, 
between K and L. 

Engine Company No. 2 was organized at the same time as No. 
1, with J. W. Thompson as foreman and E. H. Williams as engineer. 
The engine-house is on Tenth street, between I and J. 

Engine Company No. 3 was organized and placed in service on 
April 1, 1888. The engine-house is on Nineteenth street, between L 
and M, where Hose Company No. 1, organized June 11, 1884, had 
previously been located, and had disbanded. 

The chief engineers of the paid fire department since its organiza- 
tion have been— William B. Hunt, 1872-74; William H. H. Lee, 1874-76; 
Henrv Burnham, 1876-78 ; William H. H. Lee, four months, 1878 ; Cor- 
nelius Sullivan, 1878-87; M. O'Meara, 1887-90; H. A. Guthrie, 1890- 
1910; Charles Anderson, 1910. 

In 1887 O'Meara was elected chief engineer by the board of fire 
commissioners at a private meeting and Sullivan and his friends held 



378 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

that the election was illegal. Both parties claimed the office and both 
gave orders at fires. The situation became embarrassing, the matter 
having been taken into court, and the commissioners finally called 
in H, A, Guthrie, who was at the time foreman of No. 1, and asked 
him to take the position of acting chief engineer. He demurred at 
first, but consented, and on Octol)er 13th he was appointed acting 
chief engineer. On October 21st he was appointed assistant chief 
engineer. About three months afterwards the courts decided in favor 
of O'Meara. In 1890 O'Meara left the city suddenly and Guthrie was 
ajjpointed chief engineer on September 29th, to succeed him. Janu- 
ary 22, 1894, when the new charter for the city went into effect, he 
was re-elected chief engineer and continued to hold the position until 
August 1, 1910, when he requested to be relieved and tendered his 
resignation, retiring of his own volition and being placed on the 
pension list. He had been a member of the old volunteer depart- 
ment, becoming a member of Alert No. 2, while yet only a boy, and 
previously had been torch bearer of Protection No. 2. He was pre- 
sented with his certificate by Alert No. 2, January 29, 1872, and 
became a member of Hook and Ladder No, 1, in the paid fire depart- 
ment. During his term of service as chief engineer he brought the 
department up to a high degree of efficiency and by his aggressive 
energy and insistency with the trustees was able to introduce many 
improvements, such as chemical engines, extension ladders, etc., into 
the department. Chief Engineer Anderson, who succeeded him, has 
already ])roven to the authorities that no mistake was made by them 
when they chose him as Guthrie's successor, and that his handling 
of his force and methods of controlling fires are thoroughly efficient 
and up to date. During his incumbency the annexation of Oak Park 
and other suburbs has been accomplished, and the erection of one or 
more engine and other houses for the use of the department and the 
protection of the outlying districts is being planned and carried into 
execution. 

Station No. 4 on Twenty-sixth street, between L and M, was 
installed and i^ut in service March 1, 1902, at a cost of $12,800, and 
the apparatus cost $5,550. Station No. 5 was put in service in 
June, 1911, at a cost of about $11,000, with apparatus costing $5,550. 
Two other lots were purchased in 1907, for stations, one on Twenty- 
second, between S and T, and the other on Twentieth, between C and 
D. These will he utilized before long. The department is thoroughly 
equipped with chemical engines, the latest one installed being an 
auto chemical; also with up-to-date steamers, hook-and-1 adder trucks 
with extension ladders and a water tower, besides an ample su]iply of 
first-class hosecarts and hose. The annexation of the suburbs will 
necessitate the building in the near future, of stations in Oak Park 
and other localities. Oak Park has already a volunteer fire company. 
The Board of Underwriters has stated that no citv in the state has 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 379 

a better equipped lire department, or a more efficient force of firemen. 
The city trustees are alive to the fact that the better equipped 
and more efficient the department is, the better the protection afforded 
to the property of taxj^ayers, and the more reasonable the rates of 
insurance. Fo)' this reason they have, of late, been more liberal in 
their appropriations for the })urcliase of apparatus to keep up with 
the growth of the city and its needs. The erection of six and eight- 
story buildings has become quite common within the past three years, 
and in view of that fact, the board, in January, 1912, purchased an 
auto hook-and-ladder truck, with an eighty-five-foot extension ladder, 
of the latest and most approved pattern, at a cost of $6,300. The next 
thing in contemplation is the purchase in the near future, of a water 
tower. With this, the department would be more up-to-date and 
better equipped than anj-^ in the state, except San Francisco and Los 
Angeles. 

The most disastrous conflagration of later years occurred on 
Saturday morning, January 31, 1903, when the fine department store 
of Weinstock, Lubin & Co., at Fourth and K streets, running through 
to L street, was discovered to be on fire. The iron doors in the rear 
of the K street part were locked and could not be opened by the 
fireman until after the flames had gained such headway that they 
could not be controlled. They swept across the bridge connecting 
the annex, and the inflammable contents soon made the whole store 
a seething furnace. At dayln'eak only the walls were left standing, 
the loss being over three-quarters of a million. The firm moved to 
the Old Pavilion on M street and in twenty-four hours was doing 
business again with a limited stock. Within a year they were 
housed again in their })resent handsome building. 

EXEMPT FIEEMEN 

The first Exempt Il'iremen's Association was organized on August 
14, 1865. Twenty-two members were present at the meeting on that 
day and the following were chosen as officers : George Rowland, 
president; J. H. Houseman, vice-president; J. J. Smith, secretary; 
J. F. Crawford, treasurer. In 1871, when this association was abol- 
ished, it had only sixty-five memliers. - It was a charitable associa- 
tion, but its charities were neither compulsory nor systematic. The 
fund was under the control of the board of delegates, which had 
been incorporated June 10, 1868, and in the treasury was about 
$38,000, in 1872, which was turned over to the new association which 
was formed at that time. 

The latter, which went out of existence a few years ago, was 
organized under an act of the legislature, approved in April, 1872, 
it having been instituted December 4, 1872. The first officers elected 
were: W. L. Herndon, president; A. H. Cummings, first vice-presi- 
dent; Joseph Davis, second vice-president; George A. Putnam, treas- 



380 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

urer ; also a board of trustees of the general fund and one of trustees 
of the charitable fund. 

Although in 1871 the old association had only sixty-five members 
when it was dissolved, the new one began business in 1872, with 
three hundred and twenty-four members, and many others joined 
it later on. Its objects were social, and fraternal aid and pecuniary 
benefit. The pecuniary benefit given was eight dollars per week in 
case of disability, ten dollars a month to widows of deceased mem- 
bers in case they were in need of it, and one hundred dollars for 
funeral expenses. Besides this, all the friendly aid the association 
could bestow in case of sickness or distress was cheerfully given. 
These benefits were not given to a member, however, if his distress 
was the result of gross dissipation. By death and removals the 
number of members was gradually reduced to one hundred and fifty- 
one in 1890, and finally to sixty-seven in 1901, when the association 
wound up its affairs. 

By the act which created the paid fire department of the city, it 
was provided that the Exempt Firemen's Association should have 
the privilege of selecting one of the old engine-houses of the volun- 
teer department for its use. The old engine-house on the north side 
of the alley, on Eighth street, between J and K, was accordingly chosen 
and the property was put up at auction, it l)eing necessary that it 
be sold to avoid complication of the title. No one would bid on 
it against the Exempt Firemen, of course, and the sum it brought 
was $100. The building was remodeled and a liall built for their 
use, while the lower story was fitted up for stores, which brought 
a good rent. When the association wound up its affairs the property 
was sold and has been demolished to make way for a fine modern 
building. The change made in it by the Exempts cost about $7000, 
and it was occui)ied by them for the first time July 12, 1875. Thus 
landmark after landmark of the old days is passing away, and like 
the Pioneers, tlie Exempts still living have dwindled away to a mere 
handful and soon only the memory of them will remain to us, 

John F. Dreman, who was a member of No. 1, in the old volunteer 
department, and turned out in parade with it in 1851, and who was 
afterwards a member of No. 3, and of Neptune Hose Company, was 
the last president of the Exempts, and is the proud possessor of 
a handsome badge pi-esented to him when they disbanded. Mr. 
Dreman, who was for many years a member of the city board of edu- 
cation, and served also as a supervisor of the county, is still living, 
at the age of eighty-three, at the time of this writing. James Coff- 
roth, a brilliant hiwyer of a generation ago, was the first member of 
the Exempts who died, and William L. Herndon was their first 
president. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 381 

CHAPTEE XXXVII 
EARLY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 

A history of this city would not be complete without at least a 
partial list of the pioneer business men and business houses, in addi- 
tion to those already named in a former chapter. 

The early historians state that in May, 1849, there were about 
thirty buildings occupied by stores and that on June 26th there 
were one hundred houses in the city. In the advertisements in the 
Placer Times we find those of the following business and professional 
men : 

Whittlock & Gibson, auction and commission. 

Burnett & Eogers (Peter H. and John P.), exchange brokers and 
agents for the collection of debts. Mr. Burnett afterwards became 
governor of California. 

Drs. L. P. and S. S. Crane, physicians and druggists. 

Dr. G. B. Zabriskie, physician. 

Orlando McKnight, proprietor of the American House and Res- 
taurant. 

Murray & Lappens. 

Pickett & Co. 

Saget & Co. 

T. McDowell & Co., auction and commission. 

Gillespie, Gerald & Co., wholesale and retail grocers, provisions 
and mining goods. 

Braunan & Co., (Samuel Brannan, William Stout, and Melius, 
Howard & Co.) general merchandise. In August, 1849, Brannan was 
again alone. He died at Escondido, San Diego county. May 5, 1889. 

Dr. B. Bryant, a graduate of the Botanico Medical College of 
Memphis, drugs and medicines. He also established a hospital in 
August, 1849, on L street. 

Dr. W. H. Anson, "late surgeon of the U. S. Army," opened an 
office in August, 1849, '^opposite Prof. Sheppard's store." 

John Codlin, butcher and provision merchant. 

IT. P. Merrifield, auction and real estate. 

James C. Zabriskie, law, conveyancing and surveying. 

Morse, Dunning & Co. (Charles E. G. Morse, of St. Louis, Mo., and 
John Dunning, of New York), provisions. 

J. P. Rittenhouse & Co. (Thomas C. D. Olmstead and W. E. Keyes). 

Peyton, Comet & McCarver. 

Dr. F. M. Rodrigues, from New Orleans. 

B. E. Watson, groceries. 

Dr. M. B. Angie. 

Massett & Brewster (Stephen C. and Charles 0.), auction and 
commission. Massett later became a well known musical com])Oser 
and writer. 



382 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

A. Drinj, store at the Fort. 
Thomas A. Warbass, real estate. 

Robertson & Co. (G. M. R., Theodore Van Colt and Thomas 
King), meat market. 

Dr. W. G. Deal. 

Dr. Robert Wilson. 

G. G. & R. G. Cornell, meat market. 

Drs. McKenzie and Ames (J. M. and F. W.) 

James N. Harding, law and real estate. 

Elisha W. McKinstry, law. 

Jones, Prett}Tnan, Barroll & Co. (Dr. W. G. Deal), commission, 
real estate and drugs. Afterwards Prettyman, Barroll & Gwynn. 

Charles Lindley, law and commissioner of deeds. 

Bailey, Morrison & Co., merchants. 

Pearson and Baker (James P. and W. A. B.), real estate. 

Plume, Truman & Co. 

Cardwell, Brown & Co. (H. C. C, E. L. Brown, John Harris and 
John F. Fowler), afterwards Harris, Brown & Co. 

Drs. J. L. Wydown and T. J. White. 

J. B. Starr & Co. (H. L. Barney), auction. 

McNulty & Co. (A. G. Hedrick), hardware. 

Dr. Benjamin R. Carman bought Mr. Deal's interest in the Mar- 
tin & Deal hospital at the Fort, in December, 1849. 

Dr. Hardenstein, homeopathic physician. 

Barney, Brewster & Co. (B. B. Barney, R. E. Brewster, Fred 
Ogden, J. H. Blossom and J. P. Hurley), afterward Barney, Blos- 
som & Co. 

Suydam, Fletcher & Co. (John Suydam, Warren Fletcher and J. 
E. Galloway), then Suydam & Galloway, auction and commission. 

Drs. Stanbury and J. W. H. Stettinius, associated with Charles E. 
Abbott, bought the hospital of Dr. Craigan and Mr. Abell at the Fort, 
during the winter of 1849-50. 

Dr. S. P. Thomas. 

B. P. Hastings & Co., exchange brokers, bankers and commission 
merchants. 

James Tait & Co., general merchandise. 

C. F. McClure & Co. (P. R. Slater). 
Covilland, Fajard & Co., general merchandise. 

Meconniken & Co. (E. Meconniken, A. Hadley and James A. 
Myer), auction and commission. 

William Montgomery, auction and commission, groceries, etc. 

Andrew J. Binney, civil engineer and surveyor. 

Fowler & Frye, proprietors of the City hotel. 

E. M. Haves, jeweler. 

Offutt, Wales & Co. (M. H. Offutt, C. P. Wales, Jacob P. Dunn 
and George Dunn), auction and commission. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 383 

Hensley, Redding & Co. (Samuel J. Hensley, Pierson B. Redding 
and Jacob R. Snyder), general merchants. Dissolved partnership 
February 10, 1850. 

Middlebrook & Christy (Charles M. and John M. C). 

Steele & Grummun (Seymour G. S. and Calet G.). 

William R. Prince & Co., sheet iron, zinc, miners' supplies, etc. 

Demas Strong, dry goods. Mr. Strong was a brother of W. R. 
Strong, afterwards a prominent citizen and merchant of Sacramento. 
He was still living in the east some years ago. 

M. G. Leonard & Co. (Sheldon, Kibbe and Almy), groceries and 
miners' supplies. 

Gillespie & Monson (Eugenio G. and Alonzo M.), land agents. 

L. Bartlett, Jr., bank and real estate. 

E. D. Byne & Co., dry goods. 

G. M. Robertson, commission agent and real estate broker. 

Henley, McKnight & Co. (S. C. Hastings), bank. 

Dr. Bryarly, partner of Dr. Deal. 

Wetzlar & Co. (Gustavus W., Julius Wetzlar, Benjamin Fenner, 
Cornelius Schermerhorn and Francis Stratton). Some of these sold 
out afterward to John A. Sutter, Jr., and C. Brandes. 

A. P. Petit, contractor and builder. 

Dr. C. Morrill and C. F. Whittier, drugs. 

Joseph Clough, real estate. 

John H. Dickerson, civil engineer and surveyor. 

Moran & Clark. 

J. Neely Johnson, lawyer, afterward elected governor by the 
American party. 

Bailey, Morrison & Co. (Major B., John C. and E. M. Haves). 

Smith, Keith S: Co. (J. E. S., Matthew K. and Henry M.'Spotts- 
wood). 

Lewis & Bailey (John H. L. and John T. B.), general commis- 
sion and merchandise. 

Warbass & Co. (Thomas A. Warbass, William S. Heyl and John 
F. Morse), bankers and real estate. 

Barton Lee, successor to Priest, Lee & Co. 

G. B. Stevens, wholesale auction and commission. 

Chenery & Hubbard, proprietors of the Globe hotel. 

Ferris Forman, law. 

Hoope & L'Amoreaux, general merchants. 

G. H. Johnson, dagaierreotype artist. 

John H. Spies, notions. 

Burnell, Stout & Co., wholesale auction and commission. 

Spalding & McKinney (Volney S., M. D. and Joseph McKinney), 
saloon. 

A. M. Winn, agent for Sutter. 

Dr. T. B. Kruse. 



384 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

J. D. B. Stilluian, M. D., left in 1862. 
L. A. Birclsall, M. D. 

J. A. Wadswortli, M. D., from Providence, R. I., had the K 
Street hospital. 

Boyd & Davis, real estate, later removed to San Francisco and 
became wealthy. 

Earl, Mcintosh & Co., forwarding, later of San Francisco. 
John Hatch, jeweler, resided in Sacramento until his death. 
Simmons, Hutchinson & Co., general merchandise. Simmons dealt 
also in real estate. 

J. L. F. Warren established the store now owned by Baker & 
Hamilton. He went to San Francisco afterwards and for many years 
published an agricultural paper there. 

D. 0. Mills was a dealer in gold dust and founded the bank that 
bears his name. He went to New York many years ago to reside^ 
and there his death occurred. 

Brown, Henry & Co., wholesale clothing. 

James Lee kept the "Stinking Tent," the largest gambling estab- 
lishment for a time. Z. Hubbard soon after started a large, neat 
gambling tent. 

James Bininger built the first hotel in Sacramento. 
James King of William, who engaged in various occupations, was 
killed in San Francisco by Casey, precipitating the formation and 
action of the Vigilance committee there in 1856. 

Dr. Charles H. Craigan, from Washington, D. C, in 1849 estab- 
lished a hospital at the Fort, at which the rates for board and treat- 
ment ranged from $16 to $50 per day. 

H. Arents & Co., general merchandise. 

Burge & Ratcliffe (Robert K. and William M.), manufacturers of 
iron doors and shutters. 

M. T. McClellan, specuhitor in gold and silver; "coin exchanged 
for dust, at $15 per ounce." 

Sagat and Southard (L. T. and Charles C), general merchandise 
and miners' supplies. 

Marshall & Santory, general merchandise. 

Von Pfister & Vaughan (Edward and William), general merchan- 
dise. 

H. A. Schoolcraft, real estate and magistrate. 

Drs. William M. Carpenter and T. L. Chapman. 

Dr. T. M. Ames, at Sutterville. 

Nevett & Co., hardware; Youraans was the "Co." 

C. C. Sackett, notary public and conveyancer. 

R. Chenery, flour. 

George H. Pettibone, ]^roprietor of the El Dorado House. 

Yates Ferguson, general store. 

Haines, Webster & Co., hotel. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 385 

Bichard Berry, auction. 

Barton & Grimm, real estate. 

Watson & Bem, hardware. 

C. P. Huntington & Co., hardware. 

J. B. Blanchard & Co., hardware. 

Bowstead & Woods, iron and brass foundry. 

Other firms were: Wesley Merritt, Moran & Clark, H E Eob- 
mson & Co., George H. Johnson, Thompson & Taylor, Cochran, Peifer 
bamuel Gregg, S. C. Bruce, Montgomery & Co., Captain Gallup, A. 
C. Latson, John Van Houghton, Ames & McKenzie, Jesse Haycock 
Deai-bower Caswell, Ingalls & Co., Hanna, Jennings & Co., Captain 
JNortham, Geise & Son, J. J. Burge, Hardenbergh & Co, Morrill & 
Hamlm Coats & Rivett, Cheeks, Pinkard, Prince, Scranton & Smith, 
T. S. Mitchell & Co., Reynolds & Co, P. B. Cornwall, Paul, White & 
Co., etc. There were also a number of express companies and sta^e 
lines. * 

As the town grew apace business increased. The big fire how- 
ever, made many changes in the firms. The principal grocers in 1850 
and succeeding years were as follows : 

Pomeroy & Peebles were the most extensive in their operations. 
Their place was familiarly spoken of as the Missouri store. 

Haynes & Co. were almost exclusively an importing house. 

Bullard, Figg & Co. did a large business. Mr. Figg, for many 
years before his death, dealt in salt; his son, E. J. Figg, continued 
the business until a few years ago. 

Cavert & Hill, whose store was on Front street, where McCreary's 
mill stood in later years, also did a large business. 

Forshee, Booth & Co. did a very large business, and the members 
of the firm were John Forshee, Lucius A. Booth and Job F. Dye. The 
latter came to California as early as 1840. Booth removed to Pied- 
mont a number of years ago. 

E. D. and W. F. Kennedy were Philadelphia men who enjoyed 
good i^atronage, liecame wealthy in the grocerv trade and then re- 
turned to Philadelphia. 

J. W. Foard & Co. (George Cadwalader being the ^'Co.") was 
another pioneer firm. Mr. Cadwalader became a prominent lawyer 
here. Both he and the senior member of the firm died years ago. 

W. T. Grissim & Co. (Snyder), have both passed awav. 

Curry & Co. and P. J. Brown & Co. were both burned out in the 
great fire of 1852, but re-established themselves, finallv going out of 
business in 1855. 

The Lady Adams Company (to which Mebius & Drescher are the 
successors) was named after the ship that brought the members of 
the company and their cargo of goods to the coast, and was one of 
the oldest firms in Sacramento. 

Stanford Bros., three brothers of Leland Stanford, were not 



386 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

burned out in the big fire of 1852, although their building was not as 
fireproof as many others that were consumed. All of the other build- 
ings in the block were burned. 

Hermance & Burton were burned out in 1852 and never resumed 
business. 

J. H. Trowbridge & Co. and Carroll & Stearin soon after the fire 
succeeded the old house of Birdsall & Co., and took the name of Scud- 
der, Carroll & Co. 

Taylor & Van Sickle had a large business patronage before the 
fire, but after that Van Sickle dropped out of the business. 

Louis Sloss, who later became head of the Alaska Fur Company, 
was a very successful trader here up to 1854. 

Chamberlain & Patrick, another successful firm, engaged in busi- 
ness on the Plaza. Chamberlain afterwards entered the banking 
house of D. 0. Mills & Co., Vith which he remained in active employ- 
ment until nearly ninety years of age ; he died a number of years ago. 
Dr. Patrick has been dead for many years. 

AVilcoxson & Co. closed their business in 1852 after a successful 
career, and became large landholders in the valley. The members 
of the firm have been dead for a number of years. 

Maddux & Co., who came here from Arkansas in the early daj^s, 
built the Maddux block at Third and K streets. 

Mills & Co. (James and D. 0. Mills) were in the grocery business 
until about 1851, when they retired. The latter established the bank 
which bears his name, finally" removed to New York and there died. 

Buslmell & Co. was another of the few lucky firms that were not 
burned out in the big fire of 1852. 

Sneath & Arnold in 1851 established the business to which Adams, 
McNeill & Co. succeeded and which in 1911 was bought out by Mebius 
and Drescher. John Arnold died in 1864. Sneath removed to San 
Francisco in the '60s,- and carried on a large dairy on the San Bruno 
road until his death. 

Fry, Hoopes & Co. founded the house that is now Lindley & Co. 
(J. D. Fry and Thomas Hoopes). Hoopes died years ago and Fry 
removed to San Francisco. 

Of Hopkins and Miller, the partners were Mark Hopkins and Ed. 
Miller. Hopkins died at Yuma March 29, 1878. Miller was with the 
Central Pacific Company for a number of years. 

Another large business firm was W. P. McCaull & Co. Moore 
moved to Louisville, Ky., and McCaull died here. 

Smith & Booth were the predecessors of Booth & Co. Charles 
Smith died in New York. Newton Booth, the other partner, was 
afterward senior member of the firm of Booth & Co., and became 
governor of California and United States senator. He died in this city 
Julv 14, 1892. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 387 

Hull & Loliman, another of the successful early firms, removed 
later to San Francisco and died there. 

Lindley, Booth & Co. (T. M. Lindley and L. A. Booth) began 
business in 1849. Booth retired from the firm in 1850, and after a 
while Lindley closed his business and went elsewhere. He became a 
member of the firm of Fry, Hoopes & Co. February 1, 1853, on the 
corner of Seventh and J streets. The firm name was changed to 
Lindley & Hoopes a year later, and in 1853 Mr. Lindley was in busi- 
ness alone. He took his son, D. A. Lindley, into partnership a num- 
ber of years ago, under the present firm name. Mr. Lindley, Sr., has 
been dead for some time. 

Besides these here named, there was a number of other grocery 
firms in the early days, among them being Birdsall & Co. ; Ahrents & 
Tolger; Meeker & Co. (S. H. and David Meeker) ; Burton & McCarty; 
Wood & Kenyon; Kramer & Quivey; Lovelancl & Co.; Kibbe, Almey 
& Co.; Thomas Bannister; Burton, Fish & Culver; Peter Slater, etc. 

G. Miller & Sons established artificial stone and cement works in 
1876 at Tenth and L streets. 

In 1849 Peter Kadell established the Sacramento brewery, now 
owned by Philip Schelcl. In 1850 Zins & Weber built a brewery at 
Twenty-ninth and J streets. In 1853 Louis Keseberg built one at 
Twenty-eighth and M streets. In 1853 Philip Yager started a brewery 
in Sam Brannan's old adobe store on K street, near Twenty-eighth, 
and another, the Tiger brewery, at Thirty-first and K streets. In 

1860 the St. Louis brewery was built at Sixth and G streets. Later 
the City brewery was erected at Twelfth and H streets. In 1858 the 
Pacific brewery was established at Ninth and P streets. In 1853 the 
Columbus brewer}^ at Fifteenth and K streets was established. In 

1861 the Sutterville brewery was built, and in 1869 the Capital brew- 
ery was opened. In 1878 the eight breweries running made 530,200 
gallons of beer. 

The Sacramento Valley Beet Sugar factory was established on 
the J street road in 1868, but was a failure and closed in 1876, as did 
the Ca]iital distillery, owned by the same company. 

The first boiler shop was started by Anderson & Corbett in 1853. 

In 1854 H. Webster opened a broom factory, and two years after- 
wards there were three. 

In 1858 there were seventy-nine wagon and carriage shops in Sac- 
ramento, employing 340 men and turning out $750,000 worth of 
vehicles. There were also five foundries. 



388 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 
BANKS AND BANKERS 

Sacramento today boasts of its banking institutions as second to 
none in the state in their growth and stability. Nowhere do the banks 
in (California stand higher in these respects or receive more favorable 
reports from the bank commissioner. The clearing house, established 
some years ago, does a yearly increasing amount of business, facilitat- 
ing the transactions of the l)auks materially. 

The bank of D. 0. Mills & Co., now the National Bank of D. 0. 
Mills & Co., was founded in 1850 by D. 0. Mills, who in 1855 took in 
as partners Edgar Mills and Henry Miller. D. 0. Mills, James Mills 
and Edgar Mills, three brothers, came to California in 1849, James 
dying soon after his arrival. D. 0. Mills had had some banking ex- 
perience in New York, but at first engaged in merchandising, in con- 
nection with his brother, W. 0. Mills, who remained in New York City. 
He soon turned his attention to banking, however, and accounts of 
many of his deals, as early as 1849, are still to be seen in the records 
of the bank, although the bank proper was not formally established 
until 1850. Among the relics preserved is a bill of exchange, the 
''third," signed by him and dated January 13, 1851. The original 
bank building was located on the south side of J street, about sixty 
feet from the corner of Third. It was a small, one-story frame build- 
ing with a stone front, and a picture of this was for a long time used 
on the checks of the bank; in fact, until 1865, when the bank was 
removed to its late location on the southwest corner of Second and 
J streets. Althougli it passed through one of the greatest conflagra- 
tions in the city, the same old regulator clock, bearing the date of 1850 
on its face, still ticks off the seconds as on the day when the bank was 
established, more than sixty years ago, and proving that the bank is 
the oldest institution of the kind in the state. 

The early business of the bank consisted mainly in selling ex- 
change on New York and buying gold dust. As compared with those 
of the express and other companies, the deposits in the bank were not 
large, but as one after another of the companies failed, their business 
naturally fell to the bank — a case of the survival of the fittest. In 
1855 the firm, as stated, consisted of D. 0. Mills, under the title of 
D. 0. Mills & Co., later he admitted Edgar Mills and Henry Miller as 
partners, and they so continued till July 19, 1874, when the bank in- 
corporated under the style of ''The National Gold Bank of D. 0. Mills 
& Co." In September, 1883, the word "Gold" was dropped, under a 
general law of congress. At present its capital and surplus amounts 
to $1,000,000. Its officers are: C. F. Dillman, president; W. T. Pentz 
and F. B. Anderson, vice-presidents; F. H. Pierce, cashier; T. D. Lit- 
tlefield and C. C. Cotter, assistant cashiers; directors: P. C. Drescher, 
H. Weinstock, William Schaw and Arthur E. Miller. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 389 

The new bank building was completed and the papers and money 
removed from the old bank on Second and J streets to the new one 
at Seventh and J, October 12, 1912, and in connection with the re- 
moval, Frank Miller, a former president of the bank, in a letter to 
the president, Charles F. Dillman, gave some interesting reminiscences. 
He states that Mr. Mills, previous to coming to California with a 
stock of flour in 1849, was cashier of a bank in Buffalo, N. Y. His 
office was on J street, near Third, and later he built a one-story brick 
building on the same spot. The firm name at that time was"^ Mills, 
Townsend & Co., but Townsend went out of the firm in 1857, and 
Edgar Mills and Henry Miller became partners, each taking one-third 
of the $100,000 capital. Three per cent per month was the current 
rate of interest in those days, and Mr. Mills' $50,000 capital swelled 
in the course of a dozen years to $3,000,000. By 1865, when Frank 
Miller entered the bank, it had decreased to two per cent, and later 
to eighteen per cent per annum and finally to twelve per cent. When 
fire swept the town Henry Miller spent the night on the levee with 
the books of the bank, and when the flood came the bank moved next 
door to the second floor of the Figg building. The pioneers' wives 
were heroic, and in the dark days of 1860, when Mr. Mills said to his 
wife: ''Shall we go back east?" she replied: ''No; we are both young, 
and California will be our home." 

In 1865 the filling in of J and K streets was begun, and in 
December of that year the bank was moved from J street between 
Second and Third to Second and J streets, which had been up to that 
time occupied by Wormser & Co., afterwards bankers in New York 
City. The vault was a large iron box which had been used by another 
bank, and which is now the lower vault at Second and J streets. Mr. 
Miller says that he and another bank employe put two trays of $20 
gold pieces into a clothes basket, put a copy of the Union over them 
and carried them down a few doors to the new bank. 

The new bank building is constructed of granite and steel, costing 
$250,000, on a lot costing $150,000, and the interior of the building is 
costly and beautifully furnished and fitted up, making it one of "the 
finest bank buildings on the coast. 

AVells. Fargo & Co. began business here in 1856 and have con- 
tinued business since that time, practically monopolizing the express 
business of the coast until 1911. Their office is now in the Forum 
building on Ninth street between K and L. 

The Capital Savings bank opened about 1870, at the southwest 
corner of Fourth and J streets. Julius Wetzler was president and 
R. C. Woolworth, secretarv. It withdrew from business Januarv 2, 
1880. 

The Odd Fellows' Savings bank was instituted in the '70s at the 
corner of Fourth and J streets, but met with disaster and went into 
liquidation September 23, 1878, having failed. 

25 



390 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

California National Bank : The California State bank was organ- 
ized March 31, 1882, and the following were the original stockholders: 
N. D. Rideout, Fred Cox, C. W. Clarke, Albert Gallatin, George C. 
Perkins, J. R. Watson, Leland Stanford, J. 0. B. Gunn, E. W. Hop- 
kins, A. Abbott, J. P. Brown, N. A. Rideout, A. N. Towne, W. R. S. 
Foye. The directors elected for the first year were: N. D. Rideout, 
president; Frederick Cox, vice-president; C. W. Clarke, J. R. Watson, 
Albert Gallatin; A. Abbott, cashier. The authorized capital was $500,- 
000, $100,000 of which was paid in at the time of the incorporation. 
The business of the bank was conducted at the southwest corner of 
Fourth and J streets until 1890, when the new building erected by the 
bank on the northwest corner of Fourth and J streets was completed 
and occupied. As the business increased the remaining $400,000 of the 
authorized capital was called for and paid in by the stockholders. The 
paid-up capital remained $500,000 until a few years ago, when it was 
decided to increase the capital to one million dollars to meet the re- 
quirements of the business of the bank. The additional stock was 
promptly subscribed and paid for and the i3aid-up capital of the bank 
has since stood at one million dollars. In January, 1907, the California 
State bank was nationalized under the name of the California National 
Bank of Sacramento. The directors of the bank at this date are: 
Fred J. Kiesel, G. A. White, W. E. Gerber, George W. Peltier, Fred 
W. Kiesel. The officers are: W. E. Gerber, president; George W. 
Peltier, vice-president ; Adolf Heilbron, vice-president ; Fred W. Kiesel, 
cashier; Egbert A. Brown, assistant cashier; J. I. Brunschwiler, as- 
sistant cashier. 

The Peoples Savings bank was organized by William Beckman, 
being incorporated May 23, 1879, with a capital of $500,000, and 
opened for business July 1, 1879, with a paid-up capital of $225,000. 
The first board of directors was composed of E. C. Atkinson, William 
Beckman, J. L. Huntoon, William Johnston, E. J. Croly, George N, 
Hayton, Samuel Gottleib and William R. Knights. William Beckman 
was elected president and manager, and John L. Huntoon was elected 
vice-president, which positions both of these gentlemen still hold today. 
The other officers were AVilliam F. Huntoon, secretary, and I. N. Hoag, 
bookkeeper. Both of these gentlemen have passed away, as have 
also the balance of the first board of directors. 

The first examination by the bank commissioners was made Decem- 
ber 8, 1879, when the total assets were found to be $324,175.45. The 
first dividend was declared December 31, 1879, at the rate of seven 
per cent per annum to stockholders and on ordinary deposits. 

In 1881 there were three banks in Sacramento: The National Gold 
Bank of D. 0. Mills & Co., with total resources of $2,166,330.99 ; the 
Sacramento bank, with total resources of $2,094,280.01, and the Peoples 
Savings bank, with total resources of $393,879.79. 

The bank was located, when it was opened, in what is known as 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 391 

the St. George building, on the corner of Fourth and J streets, and 
remained there for nearly thirty-two years, the bank being part owner 
of the building, but in 1910 it began the erection of a seven-story fire- 
proof building, class A, on the corner of Eighth and J streets, at a 
cost of $280,000. The building was occupied for the first time April 1, 
1911. The total assets of the bank May 1, 1912, were $4,286,000, and 
the paid-up capital and surplus amounted to $550,000. The bank al- 
ways has been conducted strictly as a savings bank, receiving deposits, 
paying dividends on the same and loaning money. It has been for- 
tunate in never having suffered one loss. The present directors are 
William Beckman, J. L. Huntoon, A. G. Folger, George W. Lorenz and 
J. J. Keegan, while the officers are as follows : William Beckman, 
president; J. L, Huntoon, vice-president; A. G. Folger, cashier, and 
J. E. Huntoon, assistant cashier. 

The Farmers and Mechanics Savings bank was organized as a 
savings bank in September, 1890, having for its sponsors Sol Eunyon, 
Dwight HoUister, Leland Stanford, Mrs. Jane Stanford, Eobert T. 
Devlin and others. The healthy growth of the bank has been greatly 
accelerated since July, 1910, when George W. Peltier and associates 
purchased a controlling interest. Immediately thereafter the site of 
the new building on Oak avenue and Eighth street, between J and K, 
was purchased and steps taken toward the erection of what is admit- 
tedly one of the most modern buildings in the city. An evidence of 
the far-reaching plans for the enlargement of the bank's business and 
prestige was seen in the increase of the capital to $350,000 and the 
association with the bank of many of Sacramento's best known citi- 
zens as shareholders. The board of directors was increased to nine- 
teen, only one or two of whom have their major interests outside of 
Sacramento county. The great majority are citizens who have done 
much to advance the cause of Sacramento in many different direc- 
tions and who may be depended upon to work with the officers of the 
institution to place it in the van of California's solid and enterprising 
banking concerns. The new list of directors includes George W. 
Peltier, E. M. Eichardson, Marshall Diggs, Judge Peter J. Shields, J. 
C. Coffing, W. F. Geary, Thomas J. Cox, Mahlon Williamson, E. A. 
Gammon, John L. White, Adolph Schnabel of Newcastle, J. L. Gillis, 
P. J. Harney, Henry Mitau, A. Van V. Phinney, W. F. Gormley, Philip 
Wolf, Jr., Bonus Lightner and J. H. Arnold. The officers are as fol- 
lows: George W. Peltier, president; E. M. Eichardson, first vice- 
president; P. J. Shields, second vice-president; Marshall Diggs, third 
vice-president, and Montfort K. Crowell, cashier. The new board as- 
sumed charge of assets totaling about two millions, and will guard the 
interests of depositors whose savings aggregate over $1,500,000. 

The Sacramento Savings bank is one of the oldest in the city, 
being in fact next to the bank of D. 0. Mills in age. It has always 
sustained a high reputation as a solid institution, and ranks among 



392 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the strongest and safest banking institutions in the state. It was 
opened Marcli 19, 1867. 

The Capital J3anking and Trust Company is the outcome of a 
small private bank started on Seventh street by Smith and Bassett, 
which increased and grew into the Capital bank. About 1911 it was 
changed to a national bank, Alden Anderson becoming the president 
and W. W. Bassett the cashier. It is in a prosperous condition. 

The Dime Savings bank, which was opened in July of 1873, failed 
in May, 1878. The pioneer bank of B. F. Hastings & Co. failed in 
1871. 

The Sacramento Valley Trust Company was organized and incor- 
porated in 1910 and opened for business on April 4th of that year, 
with Albert Bonnheim as president and a capital stock of $225,000. 
In 1912 the title was changed to the Sacramento Valley Bank and 
Trust Company. Today it comprises three banks in one, a commer- 
cial, savings and trust company, with a branch bank at lone, this 
state. Having had a career of continued growth, it ranks as one of 
the soundest and most progressive banks in the state. Its capital 
stock has been increased to $600,000, with resources of $2,517,507.53. 
The officers are as follows : A. Bonnheim, president ; George J. Bryte, 
F. L. Holland and E. L. Southworth, vice-presidents; William Skeels, 
secretary; E. J. Rader and J. F. Azavedo, assistant cashiers. The 
net earnings of 1912 were more than double those of the previous year. 

Fort Sutter National Bank: In the summer of 1904 the Western 
National bank of San Francisco was growing very rapidly. The de- 
mand for its stock was so great that the price of shares rose very 
rapidly, pleasing some of the larger stockholders to such an extent 
that they discussed the advisability of organizing one or more banks 
in other cities. At that time the largest stockholder in the Western 
National bank was W. A. Schrock, a furniture manufacturer of San 
Francisco. It appeared that Mr. Schrock and Mr. Holland, the as- 
sistant cashier of the bank, took greater interest in the organization 
of another bank than did any others connected with that institution. 
The matter was left in their hands, with the result that after a care- 
ful survey of the field, including all of the large cities on the Pacific 
coast, these two men decided that Sacramento offered the most favor- 
able location for organizing a new national bank. After two or three 
preliminary trips by Mr. Holland to Sacramento, it was decided to 
send to this city as bank organizer A. L. Darrow, at that time manager 
of the exchange department of the Western National bank. Mr. Dar- 
row arrived in Sacramento November 10, 1904. Aided by Captain 
Frank Rnhstaller, George J. Bryte, E. A. Nicolaus, E. L. Southworth, 
F. J. Ruhstaller, W. 0. Bowers, F. H. Krebs and other local citizens, 
he secured a subscription of $200,000, and the bank was incorporated 
January 17, 1905. Business was commenced on the 1st of July fol- 
lowing. The first location was a small store room at No. 918 Seventh 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 393 

street. The deposits at the close of business on the first day were 
$108,799.63. From that time to the present the growth of the bank 
has been very rapid. January 1, 1907, the institution moved to the 
Bryte building, on the corner of Seventh and J streets, where it has 
one of the handsomest banking rooms in Northern California. At the 
time the bank commenced business the board of directors comprised 
the following-named men: F. Ruhstaller, G. J. Bryte, E. A. Nicolaus, 
A. L. Darrow, W. 0. Bowers, F. H. Krebs, R. H. Hawley, R. M. Rich- 
ardson, E. L. Southworth and F. J. Ruhstaller. After the death of 
Captain Frank Ruhstaller, bank president, his stock was sold with that 
of three other directors. George J. Bryte was thereupon elected presi- 
dent. A. L. Darrow, who had served as cashier, became first vice- 
president, and E. L. Southworth was chosen second vice-president. H. 
W. Conger was promoted from assistant cashier to cashier. About 
January 1, 1911, a few other changes were made in the holdings of 
stock. The present board of directors is as follows : Messrs. A. L. 
Darrow, W. 0. Bowers, L. P. Dodson, J. P. Hynes, L. B. Hinman, 
Charles Cunningham, Joseph E. Green, W. C. Walker and F. H. 
Krebs. The present officers are as follows : A. L. Darrow, president ; 
W. 0. Bowers, first vice-president; L. P. Dodson, second vice-presi- 
dent and cashier; F. J. Allen, first assistant cashier; B. F. Howard, 
second assistant cashier, and J. H. Stephens, third assistant cashier. 
The following table will convey an idea of the rapid growth of 
the institution : 

DEPOSITS 

July 1, 1905 $ 108,799.63 

July 1, 1906 405,809.20 

November 6, 1911 1,864,127.41 

NUMBER OF DEPOSITORS 

December 31, 1907 2456 

February 1, 1911 5821 

November 6, 1911 6755 

From old directories we find the names of a number of the banks 
and bankers of the early days : 

1851— Heusley & Merrill (Samuel J. and Robert D.), No. 47 Sec- 
ond street, between J and K; Sacramento City bank (Rhodes, Sturges 
& Co.), No. 53 Second street, between J and K; B. F. Hastings & Co., 
No. 51 J street, between Second and Third. 

1853 — Adams & Co., Granite building, Second street, between the 
Orleans hotel and J street; Grim and Rumbler (A. K. and F. R.), No, 
3 J street; D. 0. Mills & Co., No. 58 J street; Francis W. Page, agent 
Page, Bacon & Co., of St. Louis, Mo. 

1856— Wells, Fargo & Co.; John M. Rhodes, Second street, be- 
tween J and K. 

1868 — Sacramento Savings bank. No. 89 J street. 

1871 — Capital Savings bank, southwest corner of Fourth and J 



394 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

streets; Julius Wetzlar, president, R. C. Woolworth, secretary; Odd 
Fellows' Bank of Savings, St. George building, Fourth and J streets. 

SACRAMENTO CLEARING HOUSE 

Tliis was organized October 9, 1907, and commenced business Oc- 
tober 14, 1907. 

The clearing house did great service during the panic of 1907 in 
maintaining the stability of finance. The great increase in the volume 
of its business is shown by the following figures: 

1907— October (from 14th on), $2,796,778.53; November, $3,067,- 
621.22; December, $3,177,155; total $9,041,554.75. 

1908— January, $3,953,214.95; February, $3,597,441.44; March, $3,- 
211,546.04; April, $3,546,380.22; May, $3,330,509.59; June, $3,173,- 
939.35; July, $3,306,848.36; August, $3,914,556.35; September, $3,864,- 
438.24; October, $3,804,202.32; November, $4,734,111.74; December, $4,- 
191,572.00 ; total, $44,628,760.60. 

1909— January, $3,865,408.79; February, $2,919,625.95; March, $3,- 
892,713.34; April, $4,427,146.97; May, $4,067,114.29; June, $4,581,- 
169.15; July, $4,788,787.72; August, $4,835,042.04; September, $4,804,- 
176.89; October, $4,925,118.10; November, $5,969,756.38; December, $5,- 
486,433.69 ; total, $54,562,493.31. 

1910— January, $4,994,782.66 ; February, $4,590,404.71 ; March, $5,- 
936,001.97; April, $5,530,551.44; May, $5,173,549.12; June, $5,328,- 
561.82; July, $5,591,592.45; August, $5,468,016.15; September, $6,251,- 
175.49; October, $6,758,973.83; November, $7,291,917.51; December, $7,- 
955,469.98; total, $70,870,997.13. 

1911— January, $6,274,703.01; Februarv, $5,386,346.34; March, $6,- 
238,421.46; April, $6,024,398.47; May, $6,062,887.13; June, $5,873,- 
761.68; July, $6,359,992.79; August, $6,979,070.41; September, $6,362,- 
802.00; October, $7,185,240.16; November, $8,088,287.35; December, $7,- 
540,789.41; total, $78,376,700.21. 

1912— January, $7,017,266.75 ; Februarv, $6,004,874.78 ; March, $6,- 
524,610.30; April, $6,969,224.99; May, $7,123,219.35; June, $6,501,- 
435.18; July, $7,574,437.01; August, $8,274,491.92; September, $7,749,- 
812.72; October, $10,587,858.28; November, $9,557,330.25; December, 
$8,862,499.16; total, $92,747,060.69. 

FLOURING MILLS 

Although flour was necessarily an article of daily diet among the 
miners in the days of '49 and later, the staple menu being flapjacks 
and bacon, beans and coffee, with an occasional addition of beef, veni- 
son or other game (a menu which, by the way, has not been much im- 
proved on for camp fare by the outing parties of today), there were 
not many flour mills in the early days. General Sutter built a flour 
mill, but as far as is known, there is no record of other mills being in 
operation during the first years of the rush for gold. 

In 1853 the Lambard Flouring mills were erected on the north 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 395 

side of I street, at the head of Second street. For a couple of years 
they were run in connection with the Sacramento Iron works, the 
original building being of brick and only 20x40 feet in size. In 1856 
it was enlarged and supplied with a solid foundation by James Kerr, 
a millwright from Boston, who afterwards lost his life on the ill- 
fated steamer Central America when she was lost. Additions were 
made from time to time, until the capacity was increased to run five 
stones. It was finally abandoned as a flouring mill and has been used 
for many years as a storehouse for feed and other things. Some 
years ago it was used as a storehouse for sawdust, which swelled and 
burst out from the wall on I street, several pedestrians narrowly 
escaping death or serious injury. 

In 1853 the brick building afterward occupied by the Sacra- 
mento Flouring mills on Front street, between L and M, was erected 
by Dr. Carpenter, a well-known and wealthy citizen, with the idea of 
having it made the State Capitol. The Capitol, however, was never 
located there, and after the completion of the structure its first floor 
was occupied by C. H. Swift, Campbell & Sweeney, and other grain 
stores, etc. In 1856-57 it arrived at the dignity of being used as the 
courthouse for the county. The property later passed from Dr. 
Carpenter to C. K. Garrison. In 1869 Charles and Byron McCreary 
purchased it and turned it into the Sacramento Flouring mills. One 
of the brothers died a number of years later, and the other closed the 
mill, it being gathered in by the Sperry Milling Company of Stockton, 
which formed a combination with a number of other mills in this 
county. McCreary passed away near the close of the last century. 

In 1854 R. D. Carey purchased what was known as the Ice House 
on Front street, near what is known as ''Jibboom" street, adjoining 
the railroad shops. He converted the building into the Pioneer Flour 
mill. He afterward failed in business, and the property was purchased 
by E. P. Figg. Carey went to Philadelphia and afterward became 
quite wealthy, it is said. In 1858 Seth Garfield and Aleck Dyer pur- 
chased the mill from Figg and thoroughly remodeled the plant. It 
was destroyed by fire in October, 1863, the owners losing about 
$10,000 over their insurance. At the time it was burned it was run- 
ning day and night, turning out two hundred barrels of flour a day, 
the net profit on which was .$75. Dyer left the city after the fire, and 
Garfield and A. C. Bidwell went into partnership, rebuilt the mill 
which now stands there, and had it in running order in four months. 
Three days afterwards Bidwell sold out to li. G. Smith, who, with 
Garfield, ran the mill until the close of 1864. J. H. Carroll then came 
in as a third partner, and the firm expended $70,000 in increasing the 
capacity of the mill to five hundred barrels a day. The three partners 
conducted the business till 1869, when Carroll and Garfield sold out 
their interest to H. G. Smith and G. W. Mowe, who took the name of 
the Pioneer Milling Company. It also entered into the Sperry com- 



396 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

bination and the old mill stands idle, the warehouse of the company 
having been removed to the northern part of the city. 

We are indebted to Mr. Ferdinand Kohler for the following in- 
teresting sketch of the business of manufacturing flour in Sacramento 
county and the Sacramento valley. Since the day of the wheat barons 
has passed away, wheat has ceased to be a staple product of the val- 
ley, and only enough flour is manufactured to supply the local and 
adjoining markets, the export having passed to Oregon and Washing- 
ton as their wheat-growing area increases, and the land of the Sac- 
ramento valley, impoverished for wheat raising by continued sowing 
of the same crop, rendered it unprofitable to raise that cereal. Not 
until the owners of the larger tracts of land in the valley were 
forced by conditions to recognize this fact did they let go their grasp 
on the big ranches and suffer them to be subdivided and put to other 
uses. During the first years of the settlement by whites in the Sac- 
ramento valley the flour used was made in the eastern states and 
brought around Cape Horn by sailing vessels. No one thought at 
that time that California would some day become the banner wheat 
state of the Union. It was not long until wheat was introduced in 
the Sacramento valley and yielded well, and the acreage increased 
from year to year. 

About 1850 the first flour mill was built by Seth Garfield in the 
American river canyon about a mile above Folsom. The basement of 
this mill was built of stone quarried on the ground. The mill was run 
by water power and ran for ten or twelve years ; it laid idle for two 
years before it was burned in 1865, and was never rebuilt. The ruins 
are still in evidence. 

The Phoenix mill was built in Sacramento city at Thirteenth and 
J streets in 1853, and after many changes of ownership has done busi- 
ness continuously excepting two years (1879-80) until this day. In 
1881 George Schroth, J. H. Arnold and F. Kohler, under the name 
of George Schroth & Co., bought the mill, which had then laid idle two 
3^ears, and built an entire new plant. The mill was burned in 1885, 
but was immediately rebuilt. Although changed in 1891 into a cor- 
poration, called the the Phoenix Milling Co., the stock is still held by 
the same ])arties or their heirs. 

Garfield, who had sold his interest in the Folsom mill about 1853, 
built the Bay State mill at Second and N streets in Sacramento. This 
was destroyed through a boiler explosion, and after that rebuilt at the 
mouth of the American river, and later moved a little further down 
the river to about where Jibboom street is. Later it became the 
property of Messrs. H. G. Smith, J. IT. Carroll and Mowe. Still 
later Lew Williams bought out Carroll and Mowe, and the mill con- 
tinued under this management until taken over by the Sperry Flour 
Company in 1892. 

The Lamliard mill, built in the '50s at Second and I streets, ran 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 397 

a few years and did a large business under the ownership of General 
Redington. 

After wheat was introduced into the Sacramento valley and 
yielded so well the acreage was increased from year to year until in 
1880 California raised the largest crop, and during the following year 
exported over two million tons, which at $30 per ton makes a total of 
$6,000,000. It was then the banner wheat state in the Union. At this 
time hundreds of ships were engaged in carrying wheat from Cali- 
fornia to Europe. Flour mills were running all over the state, their 
.products being shipped to adjoining states and to Central America, 
the Islands, China and Europe. There were mills at Roseville, Wheat- 
land, Sheridan, Marysville, Yuba City, Oroville, Gridley, Chico, Te- 
hama, Red Bluff, Ball's Ferry, Williams, Colusa, Yolo, Woodland, 
Knight's Landing, Dixon, Elk Grove, lone and Stockton. Most of 
these are now extinct. 

From 1881 the crop of wheat in California began to decrease. The 
practice of raising wheat year after year on the same land finally 
wore out the soil and the quantity diminished, until in 1908 there was 
but 220,000 tons raised. The quality also declined, and California 
millers were forced to import hard wheat from Utah, Kansas, Dakota 
and AVashington to mix with the home product. The flour produced 
from this mixture proved a happy blend and cannot be excelled any- 
where in its baking qualities. 

The farmers were obliged to discontinue wheat raising and turn 
the land into pasture. In the meantime new varieties of wheat were 
introduced by the aid of the State University, and with the re-cultivat- 
ing of the land better results have been obtained, and the production 
of wheat is again increased. In 1909 the crop was 280,000 tons and 
in 1910 390,000 tons. In 1911, on account of unfavorable weather, 
the yield again decreased, but the quality of the grain improved won- 
derfully, so that it can safely be said that the crop of 1911 was the 
best milling wheat raised in California for twenty years or more. 

As above stated, with the decline of the wheat crop the flouring 
mills shut down one after another. The export trade was entirely lost 
and the mills were confined to the home trade alone. Sacramento 
city, which with its four mills at one time produced over twelve hun- 
dred barrels of flour daily, does not average over three hundred bar- 
lels now. Stockton, with a ca])acity of four thousand barrels a few 
years ago, manufactures only about one thousand l)arrels per day at 
this time. 

In 1891, when it was ]ilainly seen that the export flour trade would 
be lost to California, and with the capacity of the flour mills of the 
state four or five times larger than the local demand justified, a move- 
ment was set on foot to organize all the better mills into one large 
concern in order to prevent disastrous competition which was surely 
to follow. The result was the incorporation of the Sperry Flour 



398 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Company in 1892. The Pioneer and the Sacramento mills of Sacra- 
mento, the Buckeye of Marysville, the Chico mill of Chico, the 
Sperry and the Farmers' Union of Stockton, the Central Milling Com- 
pany, owning five mills in the Santa Clara valley, and the Golden Gate 
of San Francisco were taken in. The Phoenix of Sacramento and the 
Crown of Stockton, however, could not be won over. The latter, with 
a one-time daily capacity of sixteen hundred barrels, is not running 
any more, nor are the Pioneer and the Sacramento mills of Sacra- 
mento in operation. 

The prospect for the milling industry is not very bright. Land 
is becoming too valuable for wheat culture and is diverted to fruit, 
dairying, beans, hops, etc. The export flour trade is therefore a 
thing of the past. The mills can look only for such an increase of 
their business as is consequential to the increase of population, which 
fortunately gives great promise. 

CHAPTER XXXIX 
PUBLIC UTILITIES 

GAS WOKKS 

Early in the history of Sacramento the necessity became apparent 
for a system of lighting more generally available and more elaborate 
than the tallow-dip. Kerosene at that date was not in general use and 
acetylene and other substances were not then known. Gas had been 
in use in cities for a long time and was therefore the logical means 
for lighting streets and houses. Early in 1854 a Scotchman named 
William Glenn obtained a franchise for establishing and maintaining 
gas works in the city of Sacramento. He made no attempt to build 
the works, but instead sold his franchise to a joint-stock association, 
which organized August 18, 1854, as the Sacramento Gas Company, 
Angus Frierson was elected president and N. W. Chittenden, secre- 
tary. The capital stock was $500,000, and by May, 1856, $200,000 had 
been expended. The initial step in constructing the gas works was 
taken October 20, 1854, by Mayor R. P. Johnson, who turned the first 
soil excavated for placing the gas meter tank, the location being in 
Slater's addition. The new enterprise was pushed forward energetic- 
ally until March 7, 1855, when the rise of the American river and 
the submergence of that part of the city caused its temporary aban- 
donment. The prosecution of the work was resumed August 4, 1855, 
and energetically carried out. The city was lighted with gas for the 
first time on the evening of December 17th in the same year. The 
officers of the company at that time were: R. P. Johnson, president 
and superintendent; W. H. Watson, secretary; D. 0. Mills, treasurer; 
P. B. Norinai, engineer; James Murray, W. F. Babcock, L. McLean, 
Jr., R. P. Johnson and W. H. Watson, directors. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 399 

In 1857 this company sold out, but as most of the stock was bought 
by the original stockholders, little change was made. In 1867 so 
much of the land west of the works was washed away by high water 
that it was feared the structure would be undermined, and large 
quantities of cobbles were thrown into the river against the walls until 
the danger was checked. A special train, while coming from Rocklin 
for the purpose of bringing stone for this purpose, collided while on 
its return trip with a wood-train near Antelope station, and the en- 
gineer, Roderick McRae, and Joseph Bryan, collector for the gas 
company, were severely injured. This accident claims the distinction 
of having been the first collision on the Central Pacific railroad. 

In 1872 articles of incorporation for the Citizens' Gas Light Com- 
pany of Sacramento were filed, the capital stock being placed at $200, 
000. The trustees were: Joseph W. Stow, H. B. "Williams, W. H.' 
Montague, C. T. Hopkins, E. B. Mott, Jr., G. W. Mowe, Julius Wetz- 
ler, G. Cadwalader and J. F. Houghton. The articles of incorporation 
fixed the duration of the company at twenty-five years, but its life 
appears to have been less than that number of days. 

The Pacific Pneumatic Gas Company was organized early in Oc- 
tober, 1872, its purpose being to manufacture gas from petroleum. 
The company purchased a lot of land for $5000 from the Johnston 
Brandy and Wine company in what is known as Brannan's addition, 
south of the south line of S street, running back to Front street and 
having one hundred and twenty feet of river front for wharfage. The 
property was sold in 1889 to W. D. Knights. 

January 8, 1872, the articles of incorporation of the Citizens' Gas 
Light and Heat Company were filed, the capital stock being $100,000, 
in shares of fifty dollars each. The trustees elected were: W. E. 
Brown, J. R. Watson, R. C. Terry, R. C. Clark, A. Gallatin, W. E. 
Perry, H. C. Kirk, C. H. Cummings and James McClatchv. W. E. 
Brown was president; Robert C. Clark, vice-president; Albert Galla- 
tin, treasurer, and J. W. Pew, secretary. 

The Sacramento Gas Company and the Citizens' Gas Light and 
Heat Company consolidated January 1, 1875, under the name" of the 
Capital Gas Company, with capital stock, $2,000,000, in forty thousand 
shares of fifty dollars each. Works were erected on that portion of 
Brannan's addition which lies between T and U streets and Front 
street and the river front, five hundred feet deep and two hundred and 
fifty feet wide. In 1878 Smith & Co., of the Pioneer mills, bought the 
Sacramento Gas Company's retort house in Slater's addition and 
made it a warehouse capable of storing four thousand tons of grain. 
The railroad company bought the gasometer and the land it stood on, 
and sold the gasometer for old iron. 

In 1856 the average daily output of gas was from 8,000 to 10,000 
feet. The selling price was fifteen dollars per thousand, and there 
were one hundred and thirteen consumers. In 1863 the number of con- 



400 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

sumers had increased to six hundred, and the city then contracted for 
forty-five street lamps at nine dollars a month each, the lamps to be 
lighted only during the session of the legislature. A new gas 
holder was constructed in 18()9, with a capacity of 60,000 cubic feet. 
February 1, 1870, tlie i)rice of gas was reduced to seven dollars a 
thousand cubic feet, and there were at that time 33,000 feet of gas 
mains in use. During the same year the price of gas was further re- 
duced to six dollars per thousand, at which rate it was held for sev- 
eral years. 

In 1871 there were 50,000 feet of gas mains in the streets of Sac- 
ramento, and in 1873 eighteen miles of mains were laid. In 1875 the 
consolidated companies had three 60,000 cubic feet gas holders in oper- 
ation where the present gas works are, and the customers had to 
rely on these for gas until the new 500,000 cubic feet gas holder was 
constructed in 1908. 

The Capital Gas Company combined with the Thompson-Houston 
Electric Light Company July 1, 1887, thus disposing of a comj^etitor 
and combining electric lighting with its gas business. 

In 1890 the Sacramento Electric Gas and Railway Company was 
formed, by the consolidation of the Sacramento Electric Power and 
Light Company and the Folsom Water Power Company, and in 1902 
this company acquired by purchase the Capital Gas Company. In 
March of 1903 the Sacramento Electric Gas and Railway Company 
was acquired by the California Gas and Electric Company. During all 
these changes there had been an advance in the art of gas making and 
the method of making gas. A plant for the manufacture of water gas 
from anthracite coal and petroleum was erected and used in conjunc- 
tion with the coal gas works, and as petroleum became cheaper the 
water gas superseded the coal gas. In 1903 another advancement in 
the process of making gas was made b}" the introduction of crude-oil 
water gas, using California ])etroleum exclusively for the manufacture 
of gas, and the ])rice was reduced to one dollar per thousand. 

In January, 1906, the Sacramento Electric Gas and Railway Com 
pany became a ]:)art of the Pacific Gas and Electric system, and is now 
under the management of C. W. McKillip, with Edward S. Jones as 
superintendent of the gas works. Since the change many improve- 
ments have been made in the plant. New and larger sets of oil-gas 
generators have been ])ut in and the big storage tank constructed. 
The street main system has been extended and a high pressure gas 
system installed at Oak Park. A ten thousand barrel steel oil-tank 
for storage of oil has l)een sent up from San Francisco and placed 
at the works. 

THE TELEPHONE 

The Sunset Telephone Com]iany made its first a]ipearance in Sac- 
ramento in 1879, and the first tele])hone installed was a hand re- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 401 

ceiver. In 1882 the Sunset Telephone Company installed a plant in the 
Western Union building on Second street, between I and J, using the 
old Gilliland switchboard and Edison transmitter. The next year the 
Blake transmitter and a two-position switchboard were installed. In 
1883, also, the first long distance line was installed between Sacramento 
and San Francisco, the circuit being relayed at Benicia. In 1885 the 
office was moved to Third and J streets, upstairs, and a four-position 
switchboard installed, a copper circuit being built to San Francisco, 
using the Humming long-distance transmitter, which was introduced 
about this time. From this start the long-distance service in the north- 
ern part of the state grew up. Between 1885 and 1897 the company 
added a couple of copi^er loops, weighing one hundred and seventy-two 
pounds to the mile, between Sacramento and San Francisco, and on May 
4. 1897, the first heavy copper loop weighing four hundred and thirty- 
five pounds to the mile for each wire, was completed between the two 
-cities. 

The first express system was installed in Sacramento during the 
year 1893, and in 1894 the office was moved to Sixth street, between I 
and J, where a complete express system was installed. Under this sys- 
tem the old one was done away with, the subscriber taking the receiver 
off the hook and calling central. This system was maintained until the 
office was moved to the present building, constructed for the company, 
between Fourteenth and Fifteenth, in 1910, where a complete one-pound 
common battery switchboard was installed. The first underground 
system in Sacramento was installed in 1894. 

The company began business with several hundred subscribers, 
the rate being six dollars per month for many years and until the rival 
company was formed. 

The Capital Telephone and Telegraph Company entered the field 
in competition with the Sunset company in 1893, a demand for cheaper 
telephone service having arisen. The stockholders were mostly citizens 
of Sacramento. The ordinary rates of the Sunset at that time were 
$6 a month, but the new company cut the rate down to less than half 
that amount and forced the Sunset finally to meet its rate. The com- 
pany commenced btisiness with four hundred subscribers, which was 
more than the Stmset company had at that time in Sacramento. 
George M. Mott was the first president, and M. J. Dillman was vice- 
president and general manager for more than twelve years of its 
service to the community. During this time the company extended 
its lines into Placer, Eldorado, Amador and Yolo cotinties, and ulti- 
mately reached a list of twelve hundred fifty stibscribers. It had 
central exchanges, in Sacramento, Folsom, Roseville, Loomis, New- 
castle, Auburn, Shingle Springs, Placerville, Jackson and lone. The 
company was the outgrowth of a general dissatisfaction with the 
high rates and poor service of the Sunset, and was successful from 
the start, both financially and in the service rendered, but experience 



402 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

showed that the telephone business is a natural monopoly, and that 
two systems in the same community become a nuisance, causing much 
annoyance and extra expense. In 1906 the company sold out to the 
Sunset company, which used the system in connection with its own 
for several months and then consolidated both systems. Hon. Fred- 
erick Cox was president for eight years and for the last four years 
M. J. Dillman was president and manager. The office was located on 
Fifth street, between I and J. 

WATER WOEKS 

The first plant in Sacramento that could be termed ''water works" 
was the five horsepower piledriver engine of William P. Henry, near 
the foot of I street. By this water was pumped up from the river 
by suction into a reservoir, and from the reservoir carts were loaded 
and the water was peddled out by the gallon. There was an antipathy 
to monopolies even in those days, long before "trusts" were heard 
of. ''Uncle Billy" Anderson thought he perceived the germ of pros- 
perity in the industry, and he soon started a rival enterprise at the 
junction of Second street with "the slough." The two parties carried 
on a successful business in competition with each other until they 
formed a combination with A. A. Bennett, and erected more elaborate 
works just south of Henry's engine, constructing a tank that was much 
higher and better protected. 

The city grew, and more extensive water works became necessary. 
In consequence, in the fall of 1852, George Gordon and the "Sacra- 
mento Water Company" each presented to the city plans for the 
construction of a system of water works, which were submitted to 
the people in December and both of them were rejected b}^ the popular 
vote. At the same time, however, the peoi?le voted a tax of three- 
quarters of one per cent for works of some kind, to be thereafter 
fixed upon. Plans and specifications were advertised for by the city 
council, and a Mr. Kirk presented plans, which were adopted. The 
specifications called for a brick building, 50x127 feet on the ground 
and the top of the wall thirty-six and a half feet above the present 
grade of J and Front streets. The floor of the second story was to 
be sixteen feet above the J street grade, and the reservoir was to be 
50x128 feet and six and a half feet high, the greatest depth of water 
to be five feet. The reservoir was to be on the top of the building. 
The price was to be $120,000. The building was completed and the 
tank filled April 1, 1854, and the occasion was celebrated by the citi- 
zens on April 6th. The building still stands and is known as the old 
waterworks building. Some years ago it passed into the possession 
of the Southern Pacific Company. 

The first bonds of the water loan were issued August 12, 1853, and 
the total issue of bonds under this loan was $284,495. The first super- 
intendent of the new works was William P. Henry, who had been the 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 403 

first man to introduce anything like a pumping works for water supply 
into the city. The first parties who purchased water from the new 
works were Adams & Co., who paid for a fifteen days supply at the 
rate of $12.22 per month. There were seventy-three customers in 
April, 1854 ; 155 in May, 260 in June, and 403 by November. 

During the year 1855 two and one-fourth miles of water pipes 
were laid which, with fifty hydrants and twenty-one stop gates, cost 
$23,600. The reservoir capacity was 200,000 gallons, and the pump- 
mg capacity 39,100 gallons per hour. By March 1, 1856, the total 
length of pipe laid was eight and one-fourth miles, and a few years 
later a Worthington pump was added to the equipment. The extension 
of the pipe system decreased the pressure and complaints of scanty 
supply of water became frequent in the remoter parts of the city. At 
last, April 6, 1870, a disastrous breakdown occurred to the works, 
shutting off for some time the water supply. It was evident that 
something must be done to remedy the condition, and on June 6, 
Superintendent McCleery brought before the board of trustees plans 
prepared by A. A. Bennett, an architect, to raise the old building at 
a cost of $10,000. June 22, 1870, Turton & Knox began to raise 
the tanks fifteen feet, and a new stand pipe was put in. This par- 
tially remedied the trouble, but it was only a temporary relief, and 
it soon became evident that a new system of works, with a largely 
increased capacity, would satisfy the"^ people's demands. 

A number of schemes were considered from 1858 to 1872, but 
were abandoned successively, among them being the Holly system. 
Water from the various wells and from the river was analyzed. 
The analysis of one hundred and twenty ounces of water taken from 
the Sacramento Eiver during the April freshet of 1870, and evapo- 
rated to dryness by James Bell of San Francisco, left a residuum of 
2.59 grains, composed as follows : G^^sum, 1.27 grains ; epsom salts, 
0.70; salt, 0.21; silicate of potash, 0.13; silica, 0.25; iron, onlv a sus- 
picion ; loss, 0.03 grains. July 20, 1872, a special election was held, as 
a result of which it was decided to adopt one of the three plans of- 
fered by the Holly Company, and which would cost $58,000. The 
west fifty feet of lot 4, between H and I streets, and Front and 
Second, was purchased by the Capital Savings Bank and the National 
Gold Bank of D. 0. Mills & Co., and the deed presented to the citv. 
On receiving this deed the trustees passed a resolution to accept it, 
and to reserve from the bonds authorized to be issued $20,000, sub- 
ject to such further legislation as might be had, for the purpose of 
paying the banks the money advanced by them, the amount advanced 
by the Capital Savings Bank being $8,000, and that advanced bv the 
National Gold Bank being $7,000. Work was immediately begun on 
the new works and pushed to completion as fast as possible, but the 
machinery was not in shape to undergo its trial or test of capacity 
until July 17, 1873. When its capacity was thoroughly tested, it 



404 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

proved to be fully up to the demand of the specifications, and 
on the 28th the works were accepted by the trustees. The amount of 
bonds authorized by the act, approved March 30, 1872, for the pur- 
pose of erecting the works, was $191,307.50, but the amount issued 
was only $189,993.15. 

The Holly rotary pumps proved to be worthless for the water 
works, but the gang pumps put in by the company did good service 
for many years. Karly in 1878 a pump, generally known as the 
Stevens pump, was built in the Central Pacific Company's machine 
shops, and installed in the west side of the waterworks, where it did 
good service for years. Becoming superannuated a number of years 
ago, it is now used only in emergencies, or when repairs are being 
made to the other pumps. Since then the capacity of the plant has 
been increased from time to time, and a 12,000,000 gallon pump is in 
course of construction. 

CHAPTER XL 
THE CROCKER ART GALLERY 

Sacramento boasts of one of the finest collections of paintings 
and works of art to be found in the United States. Originally a pri- 
vate collection, gathered at great expense in Europe by the owner, 
it became the property of the city of Sacramento in 1885 by a deed 
of trust, the second benefaction to the people by its generous donor, 
Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker, the widow of Judge E. B. Crocker, who 
had spent about $400,000 in gathering the magnificent collection and 
had housed it in a fireproof building that is said to have cost nearly 
$200,000, including after improvements made by Mrs. Crocker. 

The building is fireproof, as stated, and was finished in the 
most approved style of modern architecture and embellishment, situ- 
ated in the midst of spacious terraced grounds adorned by rare 
flowers and plants. A massive building one hundred and twenty- 
two feet long by sixty-two feet wide, it is in harmony with its con- 
tents and well proportioned for its uses. It has three floors, the 
basement being originally intended for a recreation room and hall, 
in wliich many public receptions and functions have been held in 
times past. The second story was for offices, museum and library. 
The third floor is the art gallery, where are gathered many produc- 
tions of the old masters, of the Flemish, Dutch and Italian schools, 
as well as many fine paintings by eminent California artists, who 
were liberally patronized by Judge Crocker when making his se- 
lections. One of the most striking pictures in the gallery confronts 
the visitor as he enters. It is a large painting by Hill, of the Yo- 
semite Valley, considered his masterpiece, and ranking with Bier- 
stadt's ''Heart of the Andes." There are also striking canvases by 
Nahl, the glowing colors revealing his individuality and portray- 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 405 

ing vividly tlie early days of California. The second and third floors 
are elaborately frescoed; all the woodwork is heavy, richly carved 
and French polished, while the glass is all cut and "^ delicately etched 
m tastefml designs and the floors are all laid in Eoman tiling. Mrs. 
Crocker subsequently laid the floor of the museum in fancy woods' 
in ornamental designs. " ' 

The art gallery consists of a vestibule, a main hall, and the 
east, west and south halls. In these halls are over seven hundred 
oil and pastel paintings, among them many works of Vandyke, Guido, 
Tintoretto, and other celebrated artists. The librarj^ on the sec- 
ond floor, contains a collection of over three thousand studies from 
eminent artists, collected by Judge Crocker, together with many of 
the finest examples of the engraver's and the lithographer's * art. 
One feature of great value in the gallery is the collection of 
portraits of representative men of California. It had not been the 
mtention of Judge Crocker to seclude this splendid collection, but 
rather to have made it the means of cultivating the taste in art of 
his fellow citizens. His widow carried out his idea, and the gallery 
was therefore opened to the inspection of proper persons at proper 
hours and under proper restrictions, and it was often thrown open 
to the public for charitable purposes. 

The California Museum Association was the outcome of a meet 
ing December 5. 1884, of a number of gentlemen desirous of form- 
ing a scientific association. Its purpose was to foster art, science, 
mechanics, literature, the development of the state and the encourage- 
ment of social intercourse among the members; also for establishing 
a repository for the collection and exhibition of natural curiosities^ 
scientific objects^ antiquities, etc. The association started with about 
twenty members, holding private meetings at which papers were read, 
for some weeks. In January it had grown courageous and resolved 
to erect a building for its own and public uses. Mrs. Crocker was 
foremost in all good works and charities in the citv and was known 
as '^ Sacramento's Lady Bountiful" through her contributions to the 
churches and- charitable objects. Learning that the association had 
resolved to give an art loan exhibit to secure a nucleus for its build- 
ing, and had called a meeting of ladies to aid in the undertaking, Mrs. 
Crocker sent word that, if the association desired, the E. B. Crocker 
Art Gallery was at its disposal for the purpose of holding the 
exhibition. 

Her offer was accepted gladly and in March, 1885, a strange col- 
lection of the greatest variety of curiosities of the pioneer era, of art, 
science, antiquity, discovery and of handiwork of various descriptions, 
contributed by the citizens of Sacramento and San Francisco, was 
thrown open to the public. Contributions from the latter city were 
made by the Alaska Fur Company, Irving M. Scott, Alexander Bad- 
lam and a number of ladies. The exhibition was open for more than 



26 



406 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

two weeks, and the fame of it went abroad through the land, bringing 
many visitors to Sacramento to look upon the collection. It was both 
a social and financial success. During its continuance Mrs. Crocker 
called the president of the association, David Lubin, and informed him 
that it was her desire to present the gallery, with its collection of 
paintings, furniture, etc., to the association. The announcement was 
made to the public and was received with the most cordial expressions 
of a))preciation and high regard for the generous donor. The associa- 
tion, however, after deliberation on the magnificent offer, decided that 
it was wise to accept it only under a condition, self-imposed, that the 
citizens of Sacramento should raise a fund of $100,000, to be perman- 
ently invested for the maintenance of the gallery and buildings, being 
sensible that otherwise the burden would in time become too onerous 
for a private association. The accumulation of so large a fund was 
found to be difficult in so small a community, however liberal indi- 
viduals might be in making contributions. 

The association therefore proposed to Mrs. Crocker that if she 
would transfer the property to the city, making the association a co- 
tenant with the city, the raising of $100,000 would not be necessary. 
She kindly acceded to the plan, the proposition was placed before the 
people and it was found that it met with immediate favor and that 
the city was willing to accept the trust. Thereupon the association 
incorporated March 20, 1885, and Mrs. Crocker executed to the city a 
deed of all the valuable property involved, stipulating that it should 
always be managed and controlled by a joint board of trustees from 
the association and the city — the mayor to represent the city and the 
board of directors representing the association, each corporation having 
only one vote. The deed of trust provided that the association might for- 
ever use the property for the purposes of its work as heretofore out- 
lined. 

The citizens were not slow in showing their appreciation of the 
munificence of the gift and its unselfish character. They held in 
remembrance also the generous endowment of the Old Ladies' Home 
and its gift by Mrs. Crocker. This appreciation took the form, in 
May, 1885, of a grand floral festival, at which three thousand school 
children made bountiful floral offerings to Mrs. Crocker. The lower 
floor of the great pavilion of the State Agricultural Society — the 
largest building in the state — was almost filled with the beautiful floral 
offerings to Mrs. Crocker. Nor was it Sacramento alone that testi- 
fied to the high regard in which the benefactress was held. The offer- 
ings ranged from modest bouquets to spacious churches and towns and 
great allegorical designs, all constructed entirely of flowers. They 
came from all parts of the state, from Los Angeles on the south to 
Shasta on the north. People of all churches and denominations, the 
rich and the poor, of all clans and creeds, assembled to do honor to 
her. The lowest estimate of the number of people who thronged the 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 407 

spacious building on the night of the festival, and witnessed the 
ceremony of delivering the keys of the gallery to the trustees and 
their acceptance of the trust, placed the number assembled at fifteen 
thousand. It was a spontaneous outpouring of heartfelt gratitude 
and regard such as has never, before or since, been accorded to a 
female citizen in the United States. 

On the evening of this festival, after the keys of the art gallery 
had been transferred to the mayor, the citizens of Sacramento pre- 
sented to Mrs. Crocker a splendid oaken casket, which had been made 
from some of the timber taken from the old historic Sutter's Fort. 
It contained two volumes, one of which was bound in velvet and 
gold and the other in silver and velvet, both being marvels of artistic 
taste. The first book contained a number of pages giving a history 
of her benefactions, of the gift of the art gallery, and of the floral 
festival, displayed in the highest form of the typographical art. In 
addition to this each page was adorned by hand decoration in water 
colors. In the second volume was an account of all the steps leading 
up to the event, together with copies and extracts from expressions by 
the press, from journals all the way from New York to Sacramento. 
The gifts were not less unique than beautiful, and Mrs. Crocker voiced 
her appreciation of them with deep emotion. 

The Museum Association lost no time in entering upon its work 
in the art gallery and improving the opportunity afforded by this 
magnificent gift. The first step taken by it was to organize the school 
of design, and for that purpose Messrs. Weinstock and Lubin con- 
tributed $1000 toward the purchase of the necessary casts and para- 
phernalia for the school. It was opened in January, 1886, and was 
continued for a number of years. It developed in this city and the 
surrounding counties an aesthetic taste and a cultivation of artistic 
talent that eventually produced wide results, and many of the students 
afterwards earned names that stand high among the artists of Cali- 
fornia. The Ladies' Museum Association founded a number of schol- 
arships for those who showed artistic talent but could not afford the 
expense of developing it under ordinary circumstances, and the op- 
portunity was eagerly embraced by a number who in later days did 
credit to the institution. 

During the loan exhibition the Museum Association had secured a 
large number of life members in this city, and a larger number subse- 
quently in San Francisco among former Sacramentans who had not 
forgotten their attachment for their old home. With the revenue 
from these, from a small number of members who paid regular dues, 
and from admission fees to the gallery on such days as it was open 
to admission, rounded out by voluntary contributions from generous 
citizens, the school became self-sustaining, and the good it did lives 
after it. 

In 1887 the association, in con junction, with the board of trustees 



408 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the city, applied to the legislature for the custody of the state's 
mineral cabinet, which had up to that time been kept in the State 
Capitol. The legislature passed a law empowering the governor to 
appoint three trustees to take charge of the cabinet and locate it in the 
E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, without expense to the state, so that it 
might be more readily viewed by the people. In accordance with this 
act, Governor Bartlett appointed three of the directors of the Mu- 
seum Association for that purpose and the cabinet was removed and 
placed on the lower floor of the gallery. Mr. Irelan, the state miner- 
alogist, consented to allow his assistant, Dr. Schneider, to be detailed 
to re-classify the cabinet, and when he had done so the trustees, 
through Dr. Pyburn, the secretary, began arranging it in cases, and 
the work being completed, December 26, 1888, it was thrown open to 
the inspection of the public on the following day. The state retained 
its title to the property, but its custody being as explained, rendered 
it a very valuable addition to the gallery. Later on, a valuable collec- 
tion of minerals and natural history exhibits and curiosities of an 
earlier association which was known as the Agassiz Institute was 
presented to the association. 

In September, 1888, David Lubin presented to the association five 
exquisite pieces of statuary purchased by him in Italy. In October, 
1888, the association, which had never called on the citizens of Sacra- 
mento for contributions to its support, except for the loan exhibit of 
1885, determined to hold a second loan exhibition. The ladies of the 
city resolved to aid it, prominent among them being the wives and 
daughters of members of the association. They organized and were 
known as the Ladies' Museum Association of Sacramento, with Mrs. 
Mayor Gregory as president ; Mrs. William Ingram, Jr., secretary, and 
Mrs. Albert Bonnheim, treasurer. In two months they had a member- 
ship of one hundred and thirty-eight, and offered to take charge of the 
loan exhibition, which they did, and made it a success fully equal 
to the first one. 

For many years, in fact, almost from the time of transfer of the 
mineral cabinet to the art gallery, the trustees of the cabinet have 
been H. Weinstock, J. A. Woodson and Dr. Pyburn. 

The present directors of the California Museum Association are: 
J. A. Woodson, president; H. Weinstock, vice-president; Daniel Flint, 
R. P. Burr, E. C. Hopkins, E. J. Devlin, D. A. Lindley, M. J. Curtis 
and Sparrow Smith; W. F. Jackson, secretary. Mr. Jackson has al- 
ways been the custodian of the gallery since its gift to the city, and 
during the continuance of the Art School, held under the auspices of 
the Ladies' Museum Association, he was the instructor. His name 
stands among the foremost artists of California and is well known 
throughout the state. 

The officers of the Ladies' Museum Association at present are: 
President, Miss Bessie Crouch; vice-president, Mrs. J. E. Terry; sec- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 409 

retary, Mrs. Frederick J. Schwartz; treasurer, Mrs. W. H. Govan; 
directors: Mrs. William Beckman, Mrs. W. K. Cothrin, Mrs. E. F.' 
Frazer, Mrs. L. A. McLean, Mrs. Gus Lavenson, Mrs. E.'c. Hart and 
Miss Mary Crouch. 

The association is not only self-supporting, but still continues to 
endow scholarships from its fund for that purpose. It recently 
awarded its thirty-seventh scholarship, and the pupils have well re- 
paid the association by the advancement made by them in art. Some 
of the "scholarship paintings" have even been placed in the salons of 
Paris, and many struggling geniuses have been enabled to realize 
their artistic ambitions to develop their talent. At present the as- 
sociation has on hand about $2000, with which, when it grows to a 
suitable amount through donations from lovers of art, or other sources, 
it proposes to purchase a painting of sufficient merit and donate it to 
the gallery. It is to be hoped that its efforts to encourage art culture 
will meet with the success thev deserve. 



CHAPTER XLI 
ASSOCIATIONS AND CLUBS 

SACRAMENTO PIONEEES 

The pioneers of Sacramento early recognized the advisabilitv of 
forming an association of the first comers to the coast. January 25, 
1854, about seventy persons met at Jones' hotel on J street, between 
Front and Second, for the purpose of organizing a pioneer association 
in Sacramento. Joseph W. Winans was elected chairman, and Samuel 
Colville, secretary, of the meeting. A committee was appointed, con- 
sisting of R. P. Johnson, Samuel Colville, J. W. Winans and R. M. 
Folger, which reported on the 27th of January a constitution. It was 
adopted and, with some alterations made later, is the one which now 
■governs the body. The association met February 6, 1854, for the 
purpose of electing officers, to serve until September 9, 1854. The 
following were elected: Joseph W. Winans, president; J. B. Starr, 
J. N. Nevett, D. J. Lisle, Richard Rust, J. B. Mitchell and William M. 
Carpenter, vice-presidents; Samuel Colville, recording secretary; N. 
A. II. Ball, corresponding secretary; B. F. Hastings, treasurer; H. E. 
Robinson, Volney Spalding, C. C. Sackett, R. P. Johnson, W. C. 
Waters, James Haworth and George Rowland, directors. 

The charter members of the association were as follows, although 
a number of those at the first meeting signed their names later in the 
year, but too late to be charter members, the roll having closed in 
January: 

James Anthony, James Alexander, H. B. Bonnell, E. J. Barroll, 
Frank Bush, Jr., Gordon Backus, J. B. Blanchard, Charles H. Brad- 
ford, M. D. Corse, George Cadwalader, Edward Crowell, John H. 



410 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Carroll, Samuel Colville, William Chesley, James H. Culver, John L. 
Craig, George Chedwick, Robert M. Folger, Gilbert Griswold, Justin 
Gates, Jr., John G. Hyer, James Haworth, J. L. Howard, C. W. Hoyt, 
W. P. Henry, H. W. Harkness, C. C. Hayden, James C. Hedenburg, 
Thomas H. Jackson, E. B. Kenyon, W. F. Kennedy, Edward McCarty, 

C. Morrill, James B. Mitchell, Jesse Moore, G. W. Mann, M. K. 
Murphy, Samuel J. May, David Oliver, H. H. 'Callahan, Gregor}^ J. 
Phelan, Henry E. Robinson, S. B. Robbins, George Rowland, Charles 
Smith, Jacob S. Shaber, A. C. Sweetzer, Charles S. Sackett, Charles 
H. Shaw, James B. Starr, John Tingman, Joseph W. Winans, William 
Wolfersburger, John Wood, Jonathan Williams, J. C. Zabriskie, R. P. 
Johnson, N. A. H. Ball, B. F. Hastings, Volney Spalding, J. N. Nevett, 

D. J. Lisle, Richard Rust, J. H, Culver, A. C. Latson, A. C. Morse, J. 

F. Morse, Charles F. Swift. 

The present officers are: Joseph Sims, president; directors, 
Joseph Sims, F. S. Hotchkiss, George P. Putnam, W. E. Norris, James 

G, Pattersou, Mrs. Ida Taylor, Mrs. M. Witham; secretary, James G. 
Patterson; treasurer. People's Savings bank. 

In order to explain this list, it will be necessary to recite the 
series of events which led to the adoption of a new constitution and 
the admission of a younger set of members. The original constitution 
had been amended a number of times, so that confusion as to its pro- 
visions arose. In the meantime the roll had been steadily growing 
less, as the members passed away. An association known as the Sons 
and Daughters of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers had 
been formed in 1891, the first officers being: William M. Sims, presi- 
dent; Leila J, Lindley, vice-presideut ; Annie Luther, secretary; Matie 
Johnston, treasurer; P. C. Farnsworth, marshal; directors, Gussie 
Carroll, Minnie Richardson, Leila J. Lindley, Florence McKune, W. 

E. Osborn, William M. Sims, C. E. Mack, Jr.", W. A. Gett, Jr., and H. 
M. LaRue, Jr. The society incorporated July 28, 1891. 

At this time the roll of the pioneers was steadily growing smaller, 
and by the end of the century the disposition to be made of the valu- 
able propery belonging to the association became an important ques- 
tion, and one involving much thought. The Sons and Daughters of 
Pioneers signified their willingness to make an arrangement through 
which they would ultimately take over the property when the last 
Pioneer had passed away. The idea met with favor in the eyes of 
some of the Pioneers, while others opposed it. Finally, January 30, 
1909, when only ten of the Pioneers remained, they agreed to form a 
new organization, with a new constitution, and the present one was 
adopted. It provides for two classes, the first to consist of those 
whom the original society had declared eligible to become members, 
and the second to consist of the sons, daughters and lineal descendants 
of the members of the Pioneers' Association in good standing. Under 



HISTORY OF SACBAMENTO COUNTY 411 

this constitution the Sons and Daughters became members of the as- 
sociation of Pioneers April 25, 19uy. 

T '■'^''^ P'oj^eers' membership has in the meantime dwindled to four- 
Joseph M. Sims F. S. Ilotchkiss, D. M. Burns and Jerome Madden- 
Up to February 8, 1912, Edward Twitchell was one of the remaining 
members but he passed away on that date, at the age of eighty href 
years. He came to California through Mexico in 1849, ridfng across 
that country on a mule. For many years he was connected ^ift fte 
surveyor-general's office, and made the first government survey 0? 
Lake Tahoe and the Colorado desert. ^ 

Following is a complete list of the presidents of the society and 

1854-56; A. C. Monson, 1856-57; John F. Morse 1857-59- James 
Queen, 1859_^0; A. C. Monson, 1860-61; John H. Car^ 1861-6^" 
k rZ' ^ f"^' ^'"'^°''-' "^- P'^'^'™' m3-6i; B. H. McDonald, 1864- 
?8r7r« T •^^t<^^> 1^65-66; William F. Knox, 1866-67; Isaac N. Hoag, 
1867-68; James McClatchy, 1868-70; Charles N. Boss, 1870-71- Isaac 
Lohman 1871-72; Albert Leonard, 1872-73; Edward F. Aiken 1873-?4 
fZ,7^^ \^^^'^:^''' ^- ^- ^'"^ Heusen, 1875-76; N. D. Goodel! 
ftu' Z-^F- *^"^'°™' ^^"-^^' ««»'■§« ^- Putnam, 1878-79; John 
S. Mdler, 1879-80; W. C. Felch, 1880-81; James McGuire, 1881-82; 

f.f^-JT'\f-f''' '^- "• "'=^^"™' 1^^3-84; George W. Cheslev 
1884-8,; Powell S. Lawsou, 1887-90; H. M. LaBue, 1890-91; William 
Johnston 1891-92; J. M. Stephenson, 1892-94; W. V. Light 1894-95 
Jsoi'r Tj'rton. 1895-96; Joseph Sims, 1896-97; W. C. Parnsworth; 
189,-98; E. Twitchell, 1898-99; A. C. Sweetser, 1899-1900- Felix 
Ir-' 3°n; ?f ^''"^°™°' ^»'^l-«2' ^- Hotchki'ss, 1902-03;' WE 

S nT'r'cos rn ;, "• "• ^^"^™' ''**^-''^' ^- ^'^o^^^' 1907-08 ;' Joseph 
t5ims, 1908 till the present time. 

1 ■7^^'' association meets in Pioneer hall, which bnilding was erected 
by It m 1868 on Seventh street, between J and K, and later it pur- 
chased a bmlding adjoining it on the south and fitted it up with a 
banquet hall and parlor. It also collected a museum of relics of the 
early days, which contained many interesting- objects. 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

The Chamber of Commerce is one of the live institutions of Sac- 
ramento and wields a widely extended influence, with a large member- 
ship m the towns of the valley as well as in the citv. It was estab- 
iisnea July 12, 1895, and has been in existence ever since, doino- much 
to promote the i^ermanent upbuilding of the communitv. Like all 
simdar associations, however, it has languished at times, owing to the 
mdilterence of members, but the organization has been maintained 
m spite ot discouragements, and since 1907 it has taken a more active 
part m the promotion of the commercial interests of citv and vallev. 
^Mnce 1910 its influence has been particularlv noteworthv. The presi- 



412 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

dent, D. W. Carmicliael, is a "live wire," and lias made good as an 
expert in stirring up all measures for tlie local betterment. The de- 
velopment of the public interests along the right path has been a 
matter of intense interest to him. A tireless worker, indefatigable in 
endeavor and purposeful in results, his clear intellect and keen 
faculties are devoted to the welfare of the city. In his endeavors he 
has been seconded ably by Glenn S. Andrus, secretary-manager 
of the Chamber of Commerce, whose training has admirably qualified 
him for the work. The co-operation of the Home Products League, 
the Real Estate Board and other civic bodies has been secured, and 
the influence of the Chamber is felt throughout the valley along lines 
of permanent progress. 

SACRAMENTO VALLEY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 

The Sacramento Valley Development Association was formally 
organized at a meeting held at Woodland, Yolo count}^, January 15th 
and 16th, 1900. The suggestion of such an organization for the valley 
was evidently made by C. W. Thomas, an attorney of Woodland. He 
passed the suggestion on to Gen. Will S. Green with the request that 
the Colusa county board of trade call a meeting of delegates from 
the various counties and municipalities of the valley for the purpose 
of discussing the creation of such an organization. General Green, 
realizing the need, prevailed upon the Colusa county board of trade 
to issue such a call, and the meeting at Woodland was the result. 
The records show that six counties (Colusa, Yuba, Sacramento, Sutter, 
Glenn and Yolo) were represented by delegates at that meeting. The 
meeting was called to order by C. W. Thomas, and D. H. Arnold of 
Colusa and George Clark of Woodland were elected temporary chair- 
man and temporary secretary. Among those who took a prominent 
part in this first meeting were: C. W. Thomas, Gen. Will S. Green, 
Robert T. Devlin, George V. Martin, Marshall Diggs, Dr. D. P. Durst 
of Woodland, Frank Miller of Sacramento, Hon. F. D. Ryan of Sac- 
ramento, James M. O'Brien of Marysville, Hon. George W. Pierce of 
Davis, J. 0. Coleman and Col. E. A. Forbes of Marysville. At this 
meeting Gen. Will S. Green of Colusa was elected president, and 
acted in that capacity until his death July 3, 1905. Soon after this 
meeting at Woodland the office of the association was moved to Colusa, 
and F. E. Wright of that place was elected secretary. 

The call for the first meeting held in Woodland invited delegates 
to attend the meeting of the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Convention. 
The second meeting was held at Oroville, where ]iermanent organiza- 
tion was finally perfected and the name changed to the Sacramento 
Valley Development Association. 

The greatest difficulty confronting the organization in its early 
days existed in the raising of funds for its support. General Green 
personally visited the counties of the Sacramento valley and appealed 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 413 

to the several boards of supervisors for an appropriation of fifty 
dollars each. The delegates from each county paid their own ex- 
penses for several years, and the lack of funds made it practically 
impossible for the association to accomplish any work which required 
the expenditure of any sums of money. Its moral influence, however, 
was great, and its first efforts were directed towards an educational 
campaign in the Sacramento valley so that those already living here 
might know the opportunities and advantages that this district pos- 
sessed in comparison with other sections of the world. One of the 
first undertakings of the association was to confer with the owners 
of the Glenn ranch in Glenn county and induce its subdivision into 
small farm tracts. Efforts were directed to securing reports from the 
United States department of agriculture upon the various lands of the 
valley and the possibilities for irrigating the same. The Geological 
Survey was induced to send experts here for the purpose of mapping 
the sites for storage reservoirs, and thus was started the study of 
the water control problems of the Sacramento valley. 

As the organization grew the need of additional funds was ap- 
parent, and a custom was inaugurated which exists at the present time, 
that each county should contribute to the support of the organization 
a fund equivalent to one-half cent on each one hundred dollars of 
assessed valuation. 

In 1909 the need of extensively advertising the Sacramento valley 
was evident, and the association undertook to raise an advertising 
fund of fifty thousand dollars a year for five years, or a total of two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This fund was secured and has 
been continued, and is now in its third year. The organization has 
grown to be recognized as one of the largest factors of public im- 
provement on the Pacific coast. Its work is extensive, consisting of 
the installation and maintenance of exhibits at various points through- 
out the American continent, issuance of literature, advertising in 
publications throughout the United States and various other lines of 
activity. 

Soon after the death of General Green, Hon. Marshall Diggs, who 
had been closely identified with the enterprise since its inception, was 
elected president, and still holds that office. In August, 190.3, the 
office was moved to Sacramento, and W. A. Beard of Oroville elected 
secretary. He continued in office until September, 1906, and was suc- 
ceeded by 0. H. Miller of Marysville, who has since held this office. 
The present officers of the association are : President, M. Diggs ; first 
vice-president, Newton Cleaveland; second vice-president, E. Frank- 
lin; secretary, 0. H. Miller; treasurer, C. F. Dillmau; directors, B. 
Cussick, J. W. Kaerth, C. H. Dunton, I. J. Proulx, E. Franklin, Mor- 
ris Brooks, W. D. Egilbert, B. F. Bush, Louis Tarke, A. L. Conard, 
T. B. Gibson and H. H. Dunning. The organization embraces the 



414 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

following twelve counties: Butte, Colusa, Eldorado, Glenn, Placer, 
Sacramento, Shasta, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo and Yuba. 

THE SATURDAY CLUB 

No list of representative institutions of Sacramento would be 
complete unless it contained a history of the inception and progress 
of a club that by its enterprise and executive management has made 
its name and that of Sacramento known to the whole United States 
and, as a matter of fact, to many lovers of music in Europe. 

The musical life of Sacramento is represented by the Saturday 
Clul), a magnificent organization of women, formed for the stimula- 
tion of musical interest in the community. From a charter member- 
ship of sixty it has swelled to a membership of thirteen hundred, and 
its further rapid growth has been limited only by the present ac- 
commodations for its recitals. It is said to be one of the best man- 
aged women's clubs in the United States. The club was organized 
through the efforts of Mrs. Irving Bentley, now of San Francisco, 
and Miss Emily Thompson, now the wife of Dr. James Pond of 
Oakland. A charter membership of forty active and twenty associate 
members was enrolled, with Mrs. Frank Miller as president; Mrs. 
Charles McCreary, vice-president, and Miss Emily Thompson, secre- 
tary and treasurer. These officers, with Mesdames George E. Pratt, 
R. I. Bentley, B. F. Howard, Charles Neale and Miss Minnie Clarke, 
composed the first executive board. Of the sixty charter members, 
only two, Mrs. Albert Elkus and Mrs. Robert Hawley, have retained 
their active membership during the twenty years, and only five of the 
associate members, Mesdames G. L. Simmons, Sparrow Smith, H. G. 
May, and Misses Minnie Richardson and Lizzie Griffin. The latter has 
since given eleven years of service as an active member. 

The social side dominated during the first two years of the 
club's life, the associate membership being limited, and the meetings 
being held at the homes of the members, the first one being at Mrs. 
McCreary 's December 9, 1893. At the beginning of the third year, 
the by-laws were changed, and the meetings were held in public halls, 
a more democratic spirit supplanting the exclusive feature formerly 
prevailing. Membership tickets were made transferable and people of 
all callings were made eligible to enjoy the programmes. Since then 
the club has been steadily increasing in power and strength, broaden- 
ing its field of work and widening its influence. It has outgrown every 
available meeting place in the city, so that it has several times been 
forced to close its membership roll. A few months ago it was re- 
opened, the Diepenbrock theater offering more spacious accommoda- 
tions. 

The membership of the club consisted originally of two classes — 
active and associate, but four years after its organization a student 
class was added, limited to fifty, who must be studying with a teacher 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 415 

of good repute. The standard set for these pupils is very high, and 
the Club has educated several hundred girls in this way. The list is 
always full and often there are as many as forty waiting to get in at 
the end of the season. 

The club is purely an organization of women, and until six years 
ago no names of men appeared on the prospectus except as par- 
ticipants in the programmes. Since that time a limited number of 
men have been admitted to associate membership, and a Men's Auxiliary 
was also formed, made up of local musicians who had given and were 
still .giving valuable assistance to the club. During the first six 
years of its existence, the programmes were given almost entirely 
by its active members, but since that time a series of artists' recitals 
has been given each season. As many as twelve artists' recitals are 
often given, which, with the nine Home Days given by members of 
the club, make an interesting season. It is the only club in the United 
States that gives its members the i^rivilege of hearing the great artists 
without assessments. In the Saturday club the membership tickets 
admit to all recitals. The club has also a study course for its mem- 
bers, conducted by prominent musicians of this coast. In 1911 Albert 
I. Elkus gave a course of twelve lectures on music, with musical 
illustrations. 

Among the most famous artists of the world who have appeared 
under the patronage of the club are: Moriz Eosenthal, Mme. Bloom- 
field Zeisler, Camilla Urso, Katherine Euth He>^nan (a Sacra- 
mentan), Edward McDowell, Mile, de Lussan, Madame Schumann- 
Ileink, Josef Hofmann, Wilhelm Heinrich, Nordica and the Euss 
Orchestra, David Bispham, the Kneisel Quartette, Mary Louise Clary, 
Denis 'Sullivan, the Westminster Choir, Jan Kubelik, Claude Cun- 
ningham, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Johanna Gadski, Herbert Witherspoon, 
Bruce Gordon Kingsley, Teresa Careno, Fritz Kreisler, Emilio de 
Gorgoza, Josef Lhevinne, Antonio de Grassi, the Flonzaley Quar- 
tette, Antonio Scotti, Jaroslav Kocian, Eheinhold Von Warlich, the 
Eussian Symphony, and Tettrazzini, the last receiving an ovation 
seldom offered to artists when she appeared here in March, 1912. 

The Artist Eecitals are always looked forward to with great an- 
ticipation by the entire membership, being both delightful and profit- 
able, and an incentive to the active and student membership, but it is 
the Home Days that keep the club spirit alive, the programme being 
by the active membership, each one appearing twice during the season, 
and a programme analysis being given by one of the literary mem- 
bers. The club has always paid the artist talent all that the treasury 
would allow, and when a famous Californian revisits the coast, invites 
him or her to make application for a date. It has undoubtedly done 
more for the musical life of Sacramento than any other influence. 
Before its inception, it is difficult to appreciate the musical apathy that 
prevailed in the city. Famous artists came here a few times, and met 



416 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

with disappointment. De Pachmann twenty-two years ago played to 
an audience of thirty people. 

The chib is recognized throughout the United States as one of the 
leading musical organizations. It is conducted on the highest artistic 
plane, and contains more intelligent musicians than most clubs of its 
kind can show. Its constitution and by-laws have been recommended 
by a writer in the Philadelphia Musical Etude, "to every club about 
to organize or desirous of being more successful than it is." 

Among workers who have given long and active service are Mrs. 
Albert Elkus, a member of the board for eighteen years, president 
for four years and a few years ago paid the courtesy of honorary 
president. She is the mother of the composer-pianist, Albert Elkus, 
and is a pianist of great ability, pla>dng with the Scheel Orchestra in 
1895. Mrs. Frank Miller was the club's first president and re-elected 
three times. Mrs. William Ellery Briggs was president for three 
terms. Miss Maud Blue, now Mrs. Eugene Pitts, was the club's 
youngest president, and held office for two years. Mrs. J. A. Moynihan 
presided for three years over the club. Mrs. Francis Moeller was 
secretary for five years and was one of the vice-presidents when she 
passed away in February of 1912. Mrs. Louise Gavigan has been the 
president for the past two years. These, as well as many members 
not named, have been faithful workers for the welfare of the club. 

THE TUESDAY CLUB 

The Tuesday Club is one of the prominent organizations of Sac- 
ramento, and, being officered and directed by some of the most in- 
tellectual women of the city, it has exerted a strong and beneficial in- 
terest in the progress of the city. It was organized in 1896, and Mrs. 
William Beckman was elected its first president by the seventeen 
charter members. The launching of the club was enthusiastically re- 
ceived, and within two months the membership had increased to over 
fifty, making it necessary to procure a hall for the meetings, which, in 
the beginning, had been held in Mrs. Beckman 's parlors. From this 
nucleus the club of today, numbering considerably over six hundred 
members, has developed. 

For four years the club had social reunions, musical programmes, 
lecturers and miscellaneous subjects, which programme it still carries 
out, but it then began its public work by sending to the board of city 
trustees a petition requesting it to pass an ordinance prohibiting the 
granting of any more saloon licenses in the residence portion of the 
city. The board ]mssed the ordinance, which is still in effect. The 
membership increased ra]^idly, and the club became recognized as a 
center of social and mental culture, with the purpose of encouraging 
all movements for the betterment of society at large, to further the 
education of women and foster a broad public spirit in the commun- 
itv. It was deemed advisable to divide the club into smaller depart- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 417 

nients in order to facilitate study along different lines to suit the 
diverse tastes of its members. 

In the fifth year work of a philanthropic nature was taken up 
and proved in every respect a success. The club made an enthusiastic 
campaign which resulted in carrying the bonding of the city for the 
new high school; also the completion of the club's work begun for 
the introduction of manual training in the schools. Through the 
energy of the club, also, domestic science is taught in the city schools. 
It gives liberally to the Travelers' Aid Society and is foremost in 
helping financially all objects of a charitable nature. From its in- 
fancy the members began to devise methods for the improvement of 
the city, and a recommendation came from the club's department for 
the formation of an improvement club. The suggestion was approved, 
with the result that, in combination with other women's organizations, 
the Women's Council was organized, which now numbers between 2000 
and 3000 earnest, active women, who work with the object in view 
of the betterment of the city and countj". 

In 1900 a committee from the club requested the purchase by the 
trustees of a park known as East Park, as a playground for the 
children and for the use of the citizens. The plan met with opposi- 
tion from many, but by energy, persistence and persuasion the result 
sought was accomplished. The park was purchased for $12,500, re- 
christened McKinley Park, and is now valued at $100,000, a good 
investment for the city, not only for the welfare of the children, but 
also financially. In 1892 the club established three traveling libraries, 
being the second in the state to distribute to the dwellers in remote 
districts the means of knowledge and culture. In 1903 the club, with 
the idea of owning its own clubhouse, formed a corporation among its 
members, calling it the Tuesday Club House Association, to which 
the club donated $300 as a nucleus for a building fund. Since then the 
energy of the association has been bent toward securing sufficient 
funds, and with such success that the club has been housed in its 
beautiful $30,000 ])uilding on Twenty-eighth street, opposite Sutter's 
Fort. 

THE SUTTEE CLUB 

The Sutter Club was incorporated February 2, 1889, for the pur- 
pose of ]')romoting social intercourse among its members. The upper 
floors of the California National Bank building were especially ar- 
ranged to accommodate the club. Its first president was Newton 
Booth, who prior thereto had been the governor of the state and also 
United States senator from California. 

About six years ago the enlargement of the quarters was under- 
taken to accommodate the growing membership. The club was also 
thoroughly refurnished, so that now its rooms are beautifully decor- 
ated and its furnishings elegant and substantial. 



418 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The organization is thoroughly imbued with the social spirit of 
good fellowship and is noted for its hospitality, especially to those 
who visit Sacramento. Many notable banquets and entertainments 
have been given at the club. It is in the most flourishing condition, and 
forms an important factor in the social life of Sacramento and North- 
ern California. 

Its officers now are F. W. Kiesel, president ; Charles B. Bills, vice- 
president; E. P. Hilborn, secretary, and with these the following con- 
stitute the board of directors: D. H. Miller, Dr. G. A. White, F. L. 
Martin, J. E. Huntoon, C. W. Morton, Ira C. Boss, Dr. T. J. Cox, R. 
M. Richardson and J. L. Nagle. 

Mr. Kiesel succeeded W. H. Devlin, who had been president for 
six years, and through whose untiring energy and administrative 
ability the club has attained its present degree of prosperity and 
efficiency. The present membership is five hundred and seventy-five. 

DEAMATIC AND MUSICAL 

The getting of gold, while it absorbed the energies of the immi- 
grants, did not render them oblivious to other things. As before 
stated, gambling was carried on openly and to a large extent. Other 
amusements were sought, and October 18, 1849, the Eagle theater 
gave its first performance, L. Hubbard & Co. being the proprietors. 
The box tickets were $5.00 and the pit $3.00. The first play was the 
Bandit Chief, or Forest Spectre, and the actors, Messrs. Atwater, 
Price, Harris, Ray, Daly and Mrs. Ray. Not less than $80,000 was 
expended in the erection of the theater. It was 30x65 feet, and the 
lumber from which the frame was made cost from $600 to $700 per 
thousand feet. It was common for the audience in the pit to engage 
in a game of monte between the acts, using the seats for tables. The 
flood of 1850 came, and on the benefit night of J. H. McCabe, one of 
the actors, the water invaded the theater, covering the tops of the 
parquette seats near the orchestra. On January 4th the theater closed 
and the company went to San Francisco. The theater and the 
''Round Tent," in which Mr. Hubbard had made a fortune, were sold 
at auction for $4500. 

The Tehama theater was built in 1850, on Second street, between 
I and J, and the opening piece was the Lady of Lyons, under the 
direction of Mrs. Wingard, known theatrically as Mrs. J. liudson 
Kirby. June 14, 1851, she married James Stark, and they conducted 
the theater till August 13th, when it was burned, supposed to be the 
work of an incendiary. 

The Pacific theater was opened by Petit & Luce on M street, near 
Front, with a grand ball April 25, 1850. In 1851 Junius B. Booth 
was a member of the com])any playing there. During 1849 the Stock- 
ton Minstrels and the California Minstrels had given performances, 
and in 1851 Donnelly's Ethiopian Minstrels. J. A. Rowes Olympic 



. HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 419 

Circus opened at the Pacific tiieater May 2, 1849, boxes $5.00, par- 
quette and dress circle $3.00, second tier $2.00. In October, 1850, Sam 
Brannan built for the circus a large building on Front street. 

In September, 1851, Dr. Volney Spalding erected the American 
theater on J street. The state legislature in one of its removals held 
a session here. J. B. Booth was manager, and Frank Chanfrau, Louis 
Mestayer and others were in the company. In August, 1854, J. B. 
Booth, senior, accompanied by his son, Edwin Booth, appeared in the 
Iron Chest. The theater was destroyed in the great fire of 1852. 

The Sacramento theater, on Third street, between I and J, was 
opened in March, 1853, but did not pay and was run spasmodically. 
Among those of fame who played there were Ole Bull, Maurice Strak- 
osch, Madam Anna Bishop, the Robinson family, Barney Williams and 
wife, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Judah, Edwin Booth and Walter L. Leman. 
It was run successfully in 1855 by a stock company, of which Edwin 
Booth was one. He was not at first a favorite, but captured the 
public and the critics in the Marble Heart. 

The Edwin Forrest theater was opened October 8, 1855, and Mc- 
Kean Buchanan played through the month. It was a losing invest- 
ment, was turned into ''Sam Wells' " Melodeon in 1860, and burned, 
supposedly the act of an incendiary, September 26, 1861. The Na- 
tional, afterwards the Metropolitan, theater, on K street, was built 
by Lee & Marshall, circus proprietors, and opened by them August 
11, 1856. The next month it was turned into a theater. Mr. and Mrs. 
J. W. Wallack appeared in it in 1858. In 1859 it was remodeled and 
the name changed to the Metropolitan theater. Many of the famous 
actors of the day appeared during its existence. It was burned about 
twenty years ago. 

The Clunie theater was erected in the '90s and is still in existence, 
many actors and troupes of national fame having appeared on its 
boards. 

The Diepenbrock theater, at J and Twelfth streets, was opened in 
1911 and has been well patronized. At present it is used for vaude- 
ville. 

Sacramento has always supported high-class operatic and musical 
entertainments, and many artists of world-wide fame have appeared 
here and delighted large audiences. Of late several houses have been 
devoted to vaudeville, and the ubiquitous moving picture shows flourish 
financially. 

The Philharmonic Society was organized in 1855, under the direc- 
tion of H, J. McNeil, and flourished for some years. The Apollo club, 
an organization for male voices, was organized in 1880, as also the 
Cecilia club, for ladies only. They died after a short time. 

STATE AGEICULTURAL SOCIETY 

The history of the State Agricultural Society dates back to 1854. 



420 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY . 

In that year a bill was introduced into the legislature incorporating 
the society. At that time mining was the leading and almost the only 
industry in the state, and W. S. Letcher said, in reporting favorably 
on the bill, "It is a measure the provisions of which will act upon 
every interest, affect all classes of our citizens, and touch with electric 
power every branch of industry throughout the state." The bill was 
approved May 13, 1854, and the sum of $5000 a year for five years 
was appropriated for the support of the society. The first fair was 
held at San Francisco October 4, 1854, and the amount of premiums 
given was $4000. 

A convention was called and met at Sacramento April 25, 1855, 
was attended by tlie foremost agriculturists throughout the state, and 
addressed by distinguished citizens. The second state fair was held at 
Sacramento and $6550 was paid in premiums. It was held in the as- 
sembly chamber of the State Capitol, and all the exhibits were dis- 
played on two tables, each fifty feet long, and two oval tables for the 
cereals. The Sacramento Daily Union stated, while speaking of the 
exhibits at the fair, that a Durham bull had arrived from Sutter 
county. Two apples from San Jose and two seedling peaches from 
Coloma were also mentioned. General Hutchinson in his address 
proudly asserted that 2,000,000 bushels of various grains had been 
produced in the Sacramento valley. 

At the fair in 1854 horses, cattle, swine, sheep and poultry were 
in the animal show opened at the Mission. At the second fair in Sac- 
ramento the cattle show was at the Louisiana race track, a place 
afterwards widely known and now well remembered by old Sacra- 
mentans. The three succeeding fairs were held respectively at San Jose, 
Stockton and Marysville. In 1859 the fair was again held at Sacramento, 
the cattle show being on the blocks between and L, Eleventh and 
Twelfth streets. An evidence of the early determination of stock breed- 
ers to procure the best and highest-bred strains is shown that at this fair 
Mr. Peterson of Alameda sold a French merino ram for $1500, and a 
ram, "Crystal Palace," that took first prize at the World's Exposition 
in Paris, for $1500. Besides these, he sold thirty French merino rams 
and ewes for $12,000, a total of $15,000 for thirty-two head of sheep. 
In 1860 the state fair was permanently located at this city. 

Up to this year the society possessed no stock grounds, but in 1861 
six blocks of land were purchased by Sacramento citizens and pre- 
sented to the society. The streets were closed and a high brick wall 
enclosed about twenty acres. Stalls and stables for about four hun- 
dred animals were constructed, and a half-mile track laid out. In 1862 
the people of Sacramento raised enough money to purchase six more 
blocks for the society. The streets were closed and a five-mile track 
constructed. It became the favorite drive with owners of fine horses, 
and Governor Stanford, among others, was led into racing and breed- 
ing fine stock. This track was on a level at the time when Governor 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 421 

Stanford's liorse ''Occident" made his famous time of 2:16i4, and he 
suggested that the outer side of the track be raised in order 'to keep 
up the momentum of speed while the horses were turning curves. The 
society had no money for the work, so Governor Stanford ordered it 
done at an expense of $2000, refusing reimbursement. He asked, how- 
ever, that the society annually offer an ''Occident Stake," which has 
always been done since, this race for colts becoming one of the 
features of the fair. 

In 1859 the citizens of Sacramento by an almost unanimous vote 
taxed themselves one-quarter of a cent and purchased the quarter of 
a block on the northeast corner of Sixth and M streets, for building 
a pavilion for the society. On July 1st the cornerstone was laid, and 
the building, which still stands, was accepted on September 1st. It 
was used as an Agricultural pavilion till the second one was built in 
1884. The second pavilion was built on Fifteenth street, between M 
and N, in the Capitol Park, and was in use until it was condemned, 
about three years ago, and torn down. The old race track was sold 
about eight years ago, and is now covered with fine residences. The 
new grounds of the society were purchased beyond the county hospital 
and Imildings erected there. The pavilion on Fifteenth street was in 
the shape of a Greek cross, each part being 400 feet long, and cost 
$80,000, Sacramento city donating half the amount. To the earnest 
and intelligent work done by the society California owes a great share 
of its improvement in stock, fruit raising, grain raising and other di- 
rections, which have brought it to a front rank in the United States. 

SACRAMENTO ATHLETIC CLUB 

This organization was organized in June, 1888, by A. F. Klein- 
sorge, Arthur Arnold, George Crum and Harry Rubenstein. The first 
meeting was called at the "Stag Club's" rooms at Fifth and J streets, 
over what was then Lavenson's shoe store. The committee on mem- 
bership, after one week's canvassing, reported one hundred twenty- 
five names,^ the initiation fee being $2.50. At the second meeting, held 
at the Capital City Wheelmen's rooms in the Masonic Temple, an or- 
ganization was perfected and by-laws adopted, the initiation fee being 
raised to $5.00, with dues at $1.50, J. Charles Jones presiding. The 
by-laws were patterned after those of the San Francisco Ohanpic club, 
and the Old Pavilion was secured as the club's headquarters. George 
H. Clark was the first president, and A. Kleinsorge, secretary. As the 
club was not in financial position to pay instructors, Joe Mansfield, 
Arthur Arnold, Al Kleinsorge and Herman Hildebrand volunteered 
ns instructors, and the club flourished wonderfully until it was forced 
to vacate the building in order that Weinstock, Lubin & Co. might 
occupy it after the big fire that destroyed their store at Fourth and K 
streets. After their store was rebuilt, the club returned to its old 
quarters. At present the Sacramento club contemplates the erection 



422 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of a building- costing $350,000, which will contain a gjannasium and 
other appurtenances, and will, if the plans are carried out, absorb the 
Athletic club. 

SACRAMENTO BOAT CLUB 

The Sacramento Boat club as one of the institutions of the cit}" 
has impressed upon both citizens and visitors the great opportunity 
for healthful pleasures afforded by the beautiful river that flows past 
our doors. It was founded January 24, 1906, with Albert Elkus, W. A. 
Meyer, John C. Ing, I. G. Shaw, D. W. Pierson and George Lichthardt 
as its moving spirits. Papers of incorporation were received during 
March of the same year. Principally a rowing club in its early years, 
it has more recently followed the trend of the times toward the motor 
boat. During 1907 the Sacramento Boathouse Association built and 
furnished for it a boathouse which cost $2350. The club broke the 
record for regattas in the United States in 1909 by holding a regatta 
on Washington's birthday, when the streams of the east were locked 
in icy fetters. One of its most successful regattas was held on Sac- 
ramento day, April 24, 1909. Members of the club own some of the 
most speedy motor boats in the state and have carried off the honors 
from the San Francisco club. An effort is now being made to revive 
racing in shell boats, although the river current is rather strong for 
that sport. At Sausalito in May of 1909 the General II, owned by C. 
Forrest Mitchell and B. Klune, won over the Kanocti in a regatta, and 
the General I defeated the Kanocti at Sacramento. In May of 1908 
the club, with the assistance of Hon. Duncan McKinley, secured the 
consent of Secretary of the Navy Metcalf on the occasion of the visit 
of the United States fleet to San Francisco, and five gunboats, the 
Perry, Preble, Farragut, Davis and Fox, were allowed to come up the 
river to Sacramento, where boats and crews participated in the 
regatta of the club at that time. 

OTHER CLUBS 

Several clubs have been formed for sport and for the protection 
of game and fish, the earliest of these being the Forester Gun club, 
named for ^ 'Frank Forester," a celebrated writer on field sports in 
the first half of the last century. This club was formed in 1879 with 
twenty members, the first officers being as follows: Horatio Hurd, 
president ; Capt. J. D. Young, vice-president ; John Ilotz, secretary, 
and Henry Gerber, captain. Mr. Gerber is the only one of these 
officers now living. 

The Roosevelt Protective club was organized in 1879 with Charles 
E. Mack as president, W. L. Willis as secretary and about a dozen 
members. It was purely protective in object and was named in honor 
of R. B. Roosevelt, president of the United States fish commission, 
and an uncle of ex-President Roosevelt. 

The Pacific Sportsmen's club was organized in 1881 with the fol- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 423 

lowing officers: T. D. Hopper, president; Frank Kunz, vice-president; 
Charles Flohr, secretary and treasurer. The first and third clubs 
during the closed season held monthly trap shoots to keep in practice 
and for sport. The Roosevelt did effective work in the prevention 
of the slaughter of game out of season. The Canvasback club (prac- 
tically the successor of the Foresters), the 1901 club and others, have 
been formed more recently and rent one or more preserves for duck 
shooting. 

The Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement was organized 
March 17, 1868, and incorporated June 29, 1878, with the object, as 
stated, of the promotion of medical science and also of good feeling 
among practitioners of medicine and surgery. The raembers are 
limited to those adhering to the allopathic system of treatment. The 
first officers and members were as follows: F. W. Hatch, M. D., presi- 
dent; G. L. Simmons, M. D., secretary; Drs. W. R. Cluness, I. E. Oat- 
man, J. M. Frey, H. W. Harkness, T. M. Logan, J. F. Montgomerv, 

A. B. Nixon, G. J. Phelan, G. G. T^n^ell, Hoffman and H. L. 

Nichols. 

The Pro Culto Literary and Social club was organized April 26, 
1887, and prospered for some years. 

Vincent Circle, Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, was or- 
ganized early in the '80s and increased in membership so rapidly that 
in 1884 a division was necessary, a portion of its members uniting to 
organize the Westminster Circle, C. L. S. C. 




(77 




Z//.m/u<Ji^ J^r/^^ Q-^ 



r^^^iJia/^ /^r^x^^c^^^x^^ucxU/^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



BISHOP THOMAS GRACE 

One of the most noble acts of abnegation of which the human 
soul is. capable is the renunciation of the pleasures of the world, 
and worthy of the highest reverence is the man or woman, who, 
actuated by the necessity for the administration of divine love and 
mercy to a wandering people, answers the appeal of the spirit. In 
the life of Bishop Grace, whose diocese embraces the Cathedral of 
the Blessed Sacrament of Sacramento, are exemplified those quali- 
ties so essential to the sustainment of the role to which he has been 
assigned and throughout his ministerial service his conduct has 
evidenced his intensity of belief and his fitness for his high calling. 

A native of Ireland, Bishop Grace was born August 2, 1841, 
in Wexford, where he spent his early youth. His father, James 
Grace, a merchant, was of Norman lineage, being a descendant of 
Raymond le Gros, who lived in the twelfth century. He married 
Miss Ellen Armstrong, of Irish birth. Mr. and Mrs. Grace never 
came to America, preferring to spend their last years in the old 
country among the friends whom they had known and loved so 
long. Thomas Grace received his preliminary education in the 
private schools of his home section and having decided to enter 
the priesthood, was placed in St. Peter's Seminary under the tute- 
lage of Bishop Furlong. In 1862 he entered All Hallows College, 
Dublin, distinguishing himself by his earnest spirit and rapid 
mastery of the technical details which formed a necessary part of 
his curriculum. Upon being ordained in 1867 he made prepara- 
tions for his journey to California, leaving Queenstown in 1867 on 
the steamer Aetna and arriving at his destination eleven days later. 
Coming to California, he took charge of a newly established parish 
at Red Blutf, Tehama county, where he erected the Convent of 
Mercy, and two years later removed to a charge in Humboldt 
county. In 1869 he was transferred to Carson City, Nev., and in 
1871 became assistant to Father Dalton at Grass Valley, Cal., re- 
maining in this charge four years. In 1875 he became pastor of 
St. Joseph's Church, Marysville, Cal., officiating seven years prior 
to his removal to Sacramento in 1882. Here he was given charge 
of St. Rose's parish and continued there until 1896, when he was 
exalted to the bishopric. In sorrow, sickness and death, he has 
comforted his flock by his tender compassion, divine in its close 



428 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

association with the source of all love, and his faithful service 
has greatly endeared him to his people, who feel themselves for- 
tunate, indeed, in having for their spiritual leader a man so un- 
selfish, so representative of the great character which he seeks to 
glorify. 

A brief history of the Catholic church in the Sacramento Val- 
ley is very fitting in connection with this concise biographical men- 
tion. 

"A matter of first care among Catholic families in settling 
down to live in a new center is to find out what opportunity will be 
afforded them to practice their religion and to give their children 
a Christian education. Hence, an outline of the work of the church 
in the Sacramento valley thus far, with a summary account of its 
present status therein, will undoubtedly be useful to those about 
to come to live in this far region, and not without interest for 
those who already are so far blessed by living here. We are ar- 
rested by the name of this beautiful valley, Sacramento, a sacred 
and beautiful name, which recalls to us the symbol of Christian 
charity, the last supper, and its perpetuation of Divine love in 
the blessed sacrament. Whilst the missionaries named their other 
conquests in California in honor of one or the other of the saints, 
how meet that the fairest of California's fields, with its lordly 
river, later on that its chief city, and later still that within that 
fair city the principal church, in point of architectural style and 
in the number of worshipers, should be dedicated to Christ in the 
Sacrament of the Altar, under the comprehensive name of Sac- 
ramento. 

"From the early part of 1850, when Father P. A. Anderson, 
a Dominican priest, arrived in Sacramento to form a nucleus church, 
the growth of Catholicity has been well in proportion with the 
rapid development of the capital city and the country tributary to 
it. A small building on L street between Fifth and Sixth served 
for a time as a chapel. Then Governor Peter H. Burnett gave a 
deed to Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Allemany for the property where 
stands the present postoffice building. On this site three struc- 
tures were in turn erected. Saint Rose's, the last of these, was in 
use until 1887. Father Anderson died of typhoid fever in the fall 
of 1850 and his work was taken up by Rev. John Ingoldsby. Oc- 
tober 29, 1854, the corner-stone of St. Rose's Church was laid. 
All that remains of St. Rose's now, except fond memories, is its 
bell, which is daily heard from the turret of St. Francis' Church, 
still calling the faithful to prayer. When the corner-stone was 
opened, on excavating for the foundations of the postoffice build- 
ing, among other interesting finds were copies of the daily and 
weekly Sacramento Union. 

"As the gold mines increased in number Sacramento became a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



429 



mission center not only for the scattered populations euterinir the 
va ley, but for much of the mining country as well. In 1853 Marvs 
ville received its first resident priest and from that as a center fte 
various surrounding territories and mining districts were vki ted 

« f te^ritL^r'td nt""f ^''°P. ^^"-"->- "-" had ^^^^ 
aWv well Tn • «fii ti ^''"'*'f°. ^'T'' ^'''^ Progressed remark- 
Eu^eire O'Connell I I'^P^'^t'^-J 'ad so far increased that Rev. 
i<.u„ene O Connell was consecrated bishop and sent from Rome as 
vicar apostohc of that vast country lying between the thirtv nin?h 

hi the°wist "Dr (?""„1 'Vi*'f.' '^^^^"'^^ '^ '"^^ -•'* to tie-p"ad^ 
ui tlie west. Di tonnell had but four priests to minister to the snir 

rtna wants of the gold seekers and other residents of that vast! on" 

He lived m Marysville, as Sacramento was then under thelmis' 

diction of the archbishop of San Francisco. His ad.4nt marked 

vrarslZ^fo^nd't/r'^ "^T' '^^^'""'^ ^°^ CatholicU; Ten 
gated ■ wnH .Y ^P"'*"''" ™^" ^"'^ *'^*>' '^We priests en- 

gaged m work m the same territory. In 1868 the vicariate at- 
temed such organization as to be constituted a diocese b Pope 

JhTnlt ' '^'"T" "^ ^"■'^'^ ^'^"''^■- The arduous woA, witt 

the advancing years of Bishop O'Connell, compelled him to ami 
for a coadjutor. Father Patrick Manogue, then paZ- of V r- 
gmia City was m 1880 appointed to the office with the riAit of u 
cession and was consecrated bishop in St. Marv's Ca redraf San 
Francisco, ,n 1881 When the pioneer bishop resigned M see in 
1884 It was to Bishop Manogue that the care of the diocese passed 
and he immediately took up the responsibility of its goveriiinent 
PvPuffnl , ""'"'■' f ?f '' ^^'° ministered in Sacramento in these 
eventful years one lately called to his reward. Rev. Patrick Scan- 

BrothL-s'T tt C,"' r ^-"r^'?-'^ t°d->-- At his invitation the 

th™u ands If b V T ''''°°'' '^'""'' ''"'■« '" Aug-ust. 1876. The 

nstUution J«^^^ ^)!' K^T """" ""^'^'^ *'"''^"S'' «'«t educational 

"lets' r '^ *"' '"' """'■S^' ^"'^ "•■'"^t^'^ «t Twelfth and 

11 stieets, have good reason to cherish his memorv, along with 

were spent. St. Joseph's Academy, conducted bv the Sisters of 

fn ISfieX f" °i''' ' '°™* "' P"""' learning-for young ladie" 
rameifto *''t,^P'^™P^' ^«« ^«« transferred from Marysville to Sac- 
ainento. Five years previous Rt. Rev. Thomas Grace was sent 

oJe ca™' '/°« '°° "^ "" "'"■'^- -^f "'^ ^''"■■'■''- ^^I'- B-C Ma- 
xtor ofs" ^'"r'''"' *° f ^'de Father Grace was appointed 
bu dn<. tlfe I P™-cathedral. On undertaking the work of 

Bi hon V'r l"-esent stately cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament 
hlflf 7^'-' T'^' ""■°"«'' "'« "'^"•^- f-'i-^^ds that Father Grace 
foi t et .i""^' -Zf' "^ residence here, generous supporters 

motle, T 7 ?T- 7''" '"''''='°^ °f Sacramento the cathedral or 
mothei church of Northern California marked a high step forward 



430 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in affairs Catholic, From that to this, the development of the 
good cause has been marked. Since 1886 Catholics look to Sacra- 
mento not only as the capital of this resonrcefnl valley and of the 
entire state, but also as the center of Catholicism for all Northern 
California and Nevada. 

"The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, begun in 1886 and 
dedicated in 1889, is in the later Italian style of architecture. It 
was built under the direction of that architect and scholar, Bryan 
J. Clinch, whose death occurred in Oakland after the San Fran- 
cisco fire in 1906 and whom to know was to revere. The elegant 
proportions of the structure, its majestic dome rising to a height 
of over two hundred feet, its classic arches and arched ceiling set 
in frames of varied frescoes, the harmony of due proportions in 
dimensions, the storied windows, rare paintings and the statuary 
it contains, endear both the structure and its venerable builder to 
Sacramento citizens, irrespective of creed or class. There is no 
public building in the city that is more visited by strangers. Its 
delicate spire, surmounted by a golden cross, that rises to a height 
of two hundred and sixteen feet, meets one's eye for miles outside 
of the city and is visible long before the home of the Camellia itself 
comes into view. Its tower clock, with massive dials and spnorous 
chimes, lends much to the public use as well as to the elegance of 
the structure. The building is cruciform, 208x114, being by far 
the most spacious church in California as well as the most elab- 
orate and ornate in design. After a life of toil Bishop Manogue 
had the crowning consolation of seeing his latest church and resi- 
dence completed and financed before called by God to render his 
account. 

"Twelve months after the death of the Rt. Rev. Bishop, Rev. 
Thomas Grace received his letters of appointment to the vacant 
see of Sacramento and was consecrated June 16, 1896. He was 
ordained to the priesthood in 1867 at All Hallows College, Dublin, 
and immediately afterward came to California to do priestly work. 
During his administration much has been done materially and spir- 
itually for the advancement of religion in the city and country tribu- 
tary to Sacramento. Churches and schools have multiplied until 
almost every fair-sized town in the valley has a resident priest and 
there are many with two. Beautiful buildings are replacing the 
smaller structures, whose ever open doors elevate many a worldly 
heart from earth to heaven. It may truly be said that the Catholic 
Church is so scattered in this ex]iansive valley that all who desire 
may avail themselves of its privileges. The four priests- by whom 
the work was begun are now replaced by almost sixty. The Sac- 
ramento that possessed only a chapel fifty years ago today has 
six churches and as many chapels, attended by ten priests. Under 
the guidance of the Sisters of Mercy in 1904 the church took up 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 433 

tlie care of homeless children in the beautiful Stanford mansion 
on Eighth and N streets. The same gentle hands soothe the sick 
and dying in the various hospitals of the city and county, as well 
as in their own. The daughters of St. Francis have come in to 
carry on their specific work, teaching. Catholic schools to the num- 
ber of five in the different sections of the city have been erected 
and are maintained by Catholic generosity, so that boys and girls 
may be sent to breast the world secured not only in secular knowl- 
edge, but likewise in the principles of morality and their Christian 
faith. The same forces, fidelity and zeal of bishops, priests and 
people that accomplished this much, under Divine guidance, are 
not exhausted, but invigorated by the work to renewed effort for 
still greater advances. Now that the material side of the Catholic 
movement is substantially provided for, the energy of all can be 
more effectually devoted to its central feature, the preaching of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ in all of its original simplicity and full- 
ness." 



HAEEY THOEP 

The position of an humble apprentice in a mercantile establish- 
ment in the north of England rarely points to the presidency of a 
large American department store, but such represents the beginning 
and the climax of the career of Harry Thorp, recognized as one of the 
merchant princes of the. capital city and as one of the most experienced 
authorities in dry goods that the Pacific coast can boast. Apparent 
chance or the over-ruling destiny that guides all humanity turned his 
steps toward the occupation for which he was best qualified, and 
when he received admission to an established mercantile house as a 
junior apprentice he placed his feet upon the rounds of the ladder 
leading upward to success. Years of the most conscientious labor fol- 
lowed. Experience developed a natural aptitude for the business and 
cultivated his sagacious jud.gment concerning the quality of fabrics, 
the correct value of cottons and woolens, and the inherent worth of 
the vast number of supplementary articles included in every complete 
stock of merchandise. 

The genealogy of the Thorp familv indicates a long line of Eng- 
lish ancestry, many of them identified with the shire of Lancaster, 
where Harrv Thorp was horn and where his parents, John and Helen 
(Parker) Thorp, made their lifelong home. Primarilv educated in the 
free schools, he later attended an academy, but in 1880 left school in 
order to^ begin an apprenticeship to the dry-goods trade in Burnley, 
Lancashire, England. The next four years represented a period of 



434 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the greatest importance in his commercial life and laid the foundation 
for all subsequent prosperity. In the midst of his monotonous task 
as an apprentice, he kept an attentive mind, a clear vision and an 
open ear, so that he quietly absorbed a vast fund of information con- 
cerning mercantile pursuits. When he left the English firm in 1884 
he crossed the ocean to New York City and secured a clerkship in the 
dry goods house of John Daniels & Son, remaining with that firm 
until December, 1887, when he came via the Isthmus of Panama, to 
Sacramento, his subsequent headquarters and present home. 

By a fortunate coincidence the ability of Mr. Thorp attracted the 
attention of Weinstock, Lubin & Company, and he was given a posi- 
tion in their department store, where he was promoted from one post 
to another until he was made general buyer for the dry goods depart- 
ment. After two years in that position he became eastern buyer for 
several departments, making semi-annual trips to Chicago and New 
York. He soon became foreign representative for the house, making 
a number of business trips to Paris and other important European 
trade centers. After being financially interested in the company for 
some years he was made a director in the company. During January 
of 1910 he was elected president and manager of the concern, which 
since has reaped the benefit of his wise counsel as chief executive and 
his efficient oversight as manager. The same ability which has helped 
to bring success to his mercantile establishment enables him to serve 
with discretion and sagacity as a member of the executive board of 
the Retail Merchants' Association, also as a director of the Chamber 
of Commerce. With other capitalists he was interested in the starting 
of the Hotel Sacramento and became one of the directors of the com- 
pany owning the same. In addition he acts as a director of the Sutter 
club, and his social and fraternal connections are further broadened 
through his association with the Masons of the thirty-second degree, 
Scottish Rite, and Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. While 
never prominent in partisan affairs, he is loyal to the Republican 
party and gives his stanch allegiance to the men pledged to promote 
party principles. About three years after coming to Sacramento, on 
New Year's Day of 1890, he was united in marriage with Miss Lillian 
E. Smith of this city. They are the parents of an only son, Harry 
Sam, now a student in the University of California. The family are 
actively connected with the Episcopal church of Sacramento. 



S. J. LUBIN 

A native son of California, S. J. Lubin was born in Sacramento 
in 1876 and there attended the public schools, graduating from high 
school in 1895 and in 1903 he obtained the degree of A. B. from 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 435 

Harvard University. He then engaged in college settlement work, 
his field of action being principally in New York and Boston, and in 
1906 he returned to Sacramento, and he is now serving as a member 
of the board of directors of Weinstock, Lnbin & Co., and also as 
secretary of the same. He served from the first of January, 1911, 
to the first of July, that year, as a member of the Board of Education. 
On August 20, 1912, he was appointed by Governor Johnson a member 
of the State Immigration Commission. 

Mr. Lubin married in New York City Miss Rebecca Cohen, who 
was born in Moscow, Russia, and was reared and educated in New York 
City. They are the parents of two children, David, Jr., and Ruth. 



HUGH McELROY LaRUE, Jk. 

A sturdy California son of a sturdy Kentucky sire is the subject 
of this sketch, and the two men of like blood and like name may to 
some extent blend together in this story. It is a far cry from the 
''Land of Gold" back to the "Dark and Bloody Ground," and a long 
lap of years between ^66, the day Hugh McElroy LaRue, Jr., and '30, 
the day of Hugh McElroy LaRue, Sr. The father, whose coming 
across the plains was in the famous fall of '49, had been digging 
around in the mines and on the ranches of California about seventeen 
years when the young man was born. This first incident in his life, 
October 1, 1866, took place on the homestead ranch of the Rancho 
del Paso, possibly more known as the Norris Grant, situated near Sac- 
ramento City. In all California's golden acres may be found no more 
noble tract of soil, rich leagues of oaken hill and dale, and here within 
these auspicious surroundings he began his span of life. Nor was he 
the only junior in that family circle. There were five, he being third 
of the four boys, whose order of birth was, Jacob Eugene, Calhoun 
Lee, Hugh McElroy and John Rush. There was a lone sister to this 
quartet of brothers, by name Marie Virginia, who early passed away. 
Their mother in her pre-marriage day was Miss E. M. Lizenby, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Lizenby, a prominent pioneer in the history of Lewis 
county. Mo. She is a halfsister of Rev. William M. Rush of the Mis- 
souri conference of the M. E. Church, and of the Hon. John A. Rush, 
formerly state senator from Colusa county, but later attorney-general 
of Arizona. Hence the source and inspiration of John Rush LaRue 's 
name. 

Soon after the birth of his fourth son, the father disposed of his 
interest in the homestead tract, and invested in about two thousand 



436 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

acres in Yolo county. A further investment was in a one hundred 
and forty-acre vineyard near Yountville, Napa county. The elder sons, 
Jacob and Calhoun, were placed in charge of these properties and the 
family removed to Sacramento. Here Hugh LaRue attended the city 
public schools and prepared for the State University. H. M. LaRue, 
Sr., was nearly all his life a public man, taking an active part in state 
agricultural and legislative matters, and in such surroundings the 
younger man grew up, making full ]ireparation for a useful after-life. 
He went through the University of California with the class of '90, 
studied law and was admitted to practice two years after. He was 
with Judge McKune of Sacramento for ten years, and in 1898 opened 
an office and went into business for himself. He is now president of 
the Sacramento Abstract and Title Company, of which firm his brother, 
John R. LaRue, is a prominent member. Mr. LaRue was married 
June 5, 1907, to Miss Edith Hughson, daughter of W. A. Hughson, 
a former well-known physician of that city. He is 'a member of the 
Elks, also of the Sutter and University Clubs. His home is at No. 1044 
Cutter avenue, Sacramento. 



CHARLES F. GREEN 

The subject of this sketch was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Oc- 
tober 29, 1858, the son of William and Laura (Gott) Green. When 
fifteen years old he left school and began to learn the carpenter's 
trade, at whicli he worked for five years in his native place. In 1881 
he came to California and settled near Bolinas, where he engaged in 
ranching until 1886, a portion of the time working at his trade. Then 
he removed to Sacramento, where he immediately entered the employ 
of Edward Bovyer, contractor and builder. Here he remained for one 
year, but it was the preliminary to his work in the Southern Pacific 
Railroad Company, where he is now a valued employe. He was first 
engaged as carpenter in the car shops and six months later, having 
proved himself capable, he entered the bridge and building depart- 
ment, and the following year, 1887, was made foreman of the depart- 
ment. In 1905 he was ])romoted to su]iervisor of the same depart- 
ment and he is still filling this position efficiently. 

Mr. Green was married in (Ontario, October 26, 1881, to Miss 
Menerva L. Healy. They have three children, viz. : Mrs. Marrirf 
Noble of Roseville; Alec, a machinist with the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road Company, and Arvin, a student in the high school. Mr. Green 
is a member of the Masonic order and a member of the Methodist 
Church, and for many years he has cast his vote for Republican 
candidates. 





a^^ 




HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 439 



CHARLES F. SILVA 

Having distinguished himself during his entire career by his 
shrewd business management and inflexible honor, it is fitting that 
Mr. Silva should stand as he does today among the avowed financial 
leaders of both Sacramento, Yolo and Sutter counties, the center of 
his interests being in Sacramento. Not only has he achieved material 
success, but, through temptations innumerable, has resisted every 
form of dishonor, giving to his children a name which they will ever 
be proud to bear. A naturalized citizen of the United States, Mr. Silva 
has been identified with the development of California since 1878, 
when he crossed the Pacific with his brother, Frank F. He was born 
December 14, 1867, in Fiole, Azores Islands, Portugal, of which 
country his parents, John and Annie (Posash) Silva, also were 
natives. 

Mr. Silva spent his early youth in a home of culture and received 
a training which combined both love and firmness and which left upon 
his childish character a lasting impression. Although but eleven years 
of age when he left his studies to accompany his brother to the new 
land, he had acquired, by concentration and natural aptitude, knowl- 
edge greatly exceeding in extent that absorbed by his American 
brothers of a similar age, and was, therefore, fairly well equipped to 
engage in the battle of life. Upon reaching Boston, after a voyage 
of three weeks, the brothers proceeded at once to Sacramento, Cal., 
which they had chosen as their destination, since reports combined to 
cast particular favor upon that locality. Settling in Vernon, Sutter 
county, Charles Silva served two years on a ranch, and in 1880, having 
saved most of his earnings, was enabled to establish a cheese manu- 
facturing plant, but two years later disposed of his interest and rented 
a farm in Yolo county, where he set up and operated a cheese plant 
for one year and then purchased his own cows. Shortly thereafter he 
engaged in the traffic of wood, carrying on both enterprises until 1900, 
when he changed his residence to Sacramento. Here he conducted a 
coal and wood business of no inconsiderable importance, also employ- 
ing, for the sale of provisions, two boats whose route included the 
towns of the Sacramento river between the capital and Butte City. 

Thoroughly interested in the progress of the community in which 
he had cast his fortunes, and possessing a rare sense of diplomacy 
and foresight, he rose in commercial circles with a sureness which was 
somewhat bafiling to many of his competitors, who, despite their 
efforts, found it impossible to outstrip this cool and self-possessed 
young business man, whose affairs appeared to conduct themselves 
as if by magic. Not in the least selfish or domineering, however, Mr. 



440 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Silva continued to increase his interest in municipal matters, and by 
his quiet and timely assistance soon became known as a man whose 
success failed to blind him to the needs of the public. 

In 1911, associated with a Mr. Brown, Mr. Silva established the 
Silva-Brown Company, wholesale and retail dealers in coal, wood and 
feed. He also owns seven thousand acres of land in Sutter county 
devoted to the growing of alfalfa and grain and also to stock-raising, 
and he conducts four meat markets in Sacramento, one located on 
Ninth and N streets, one on Sixteenth and M, one on Fourth and M, 
and one on Seventh and J streets. He is today the largest individual 
cattle dealer in the state of California. Aside from his large ship- 
ments from various sections of the state, he shipped in from old 
Mexico three thousand head in 1911, and this year the shipment will 
be much larger. Mr. Silva has served as manager and director of 
the Sacramento River Farms Compan^^ since its organization, his ex- 
ecutive ability and unquenchable energy i3articularly fitting him for 
the position, in which he has been of incalculable value. Under this 
company the partners are operating ten thousand and four hundred 
acres of grain. 

Mr. Silva has always been a great lover of the horse, and for 
many years has been breeding standard bred animals, to such an 
extent that he has one of the finest lot of standard bred studs and 
dams in the state. He raised and owns Teddy Bear, which has a 
record of 2:05 at the State Fair of California, held at Sacramento in 
1911. The record up to that time had stood for six years at 2:061/2, 
which Teddy Bear broke, as stated above. Mr. Silva also owns 
Queen S., the mother of Teddy Bear, and also Black Bear, the two- 
year-old son of Teddy Bear, that is developing into just as fast a 
pacer. It is a source of recreation and pleasure and a pride to him to 
have been able to accomplish such wonderful results and to improve 
the standard-bred horse in California. He. is a member of the Cali- 
fornia Driving club of San Francisco and the Sacramento Driving 
club. 

In Sacramento, on August 15, 1899, Mr. Silva was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Terese Kennedy, who was born in Oakland, the 
daughter of Daniel and Mary (Hurley) Kennedy, natives of Ireland 
and New Orleans, La., respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Silva became the 
parents of eight children, as follows : Claire M., Charles C, Ralph C, 
Fred C, Alice C, Merrill C, RaATnond C. and Bertram C. In their 
comfortable home circle are found the confidence and companionship 
which assures the success of the parents in the rearing of their chil- 
dren. A Republican in progressive principles, Mr. Silva takes a deep 
interest in political matters, although he has never aspired to public 
office. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 44] 

HERSCHEL B. MATHEWS 

Ms a^soel'tpTlifT''.? if''' ^'"T, ^^"'''^ ^" '^'^ '" '"^ dealings with 
hrvint ohP S H "° ,"'"' l""«™«««. for the consciousness of 

of then, tS 1 ™/' '''"™ "S''*""^ disconragenients and makes 
ot them but passmg dreams, each milestone adding a measure of se- 
rene content incomparably precious to the soul whicl receives il 
.f *^ I well-spent life of Mr. Mathews, assistant superintendent 

element relT"*°r'""=','f * ^"^ ^'^""«>' *^°™P->' ^^ f"™ ' - 
eement leflec mg discredit upon the name which he has given his 

vldenc'e ^f '^ ""f''"* '"f"" ^"'^^™'°* '»-' '^-•' foresight giv 
Auo.n"t 30 l8fio '°"w '-^fl'*"'' ^'^""•^' ^'^''='' '''' Possesses^ Born 
August 30 1862 in Wyandot county, Ohio, of which section his par- 
ents Dame and Emma Jane (Barnthouse) Mathews, were among 

countv. Mo. from the public school of which localitv he graduated 

h a^sitfeVl if f^- T' }'''' "^^'" "' ""'^'^ ^ fanii of Ms own' 
o tTe !t^ / ■' " 1°'" '■'"''°"°" *° 1"^ ^o'-k enabling him 

o take charge of his own affairs with great ease. After four vears 

he abandoned agricultural pursuits and going to Kansas Citv Mo he 

but'Tn 1888 r "" %" •r'^'j'"; °" *'" Metropolitan Street r" ^av 
but m 1888 tiring of city hfe, he returned to his home section wel 
coming gladly the duties of the farm, which at least afforded the peTce 

self ZZ 1 f ™V °"*-°^'--- I- 1891. 1-ving convinced'hH: 
selt that the opportunities to be secured in the west were worthv of 

arriving in Sacramento m November, 1891. Without difficultv he ob- 
temed a position as conductor on the line of the Sacramento Electric 
& Gas Rai way Company, and after a faithful service of twentv vears 
during which period he amply demonstrated his steriing quaHtief and 
his devotion to duty, he was made assistant superinrendent of the 

~- mint on " "^""T "' '"' r"'"' -'•"■" -«• l^"- 1- -"-t - 
management of his work proving bevond criticism 

In February, 1894, in Sacramento, Mr. Mathews was married to 
Miss Adeha Ilgner, whose birth occurred in Dixon, Cal. "nd who e 
parents. William and Sophia (Gotwalt) Ilgner, nat ves of Germam 

"lildre" E„n"''7r^r ''^'^"'^ ^''■- """^ ^^-- Mathews htrtwo 
chilli en. Ruth and Olive, both of whom are ambitious students in the 
Sacramento high school, and the family home at No. 2411 K street s 
the scene of many a gathering of happv voung people 

A Republican of broad and practical principles, Mr Mathews 
takes a prominent part in civic affairs, and as ,' supporte of tie 

fZ::VT'f ?"'""• 1 "'"<•" '"^ -=f*^ - ^ .nemberl: counted 
projects '"' '" "'" ^°' *''" ''«'™"<=e™ent of all uplifting 



442 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



CHARLES PAULE 

No easily-won gifts from the goddess of fortune favored Mr. 
Paule in his struggle against early poverty and in his persistent effort 
to overcome obstacles lying in the path leading toward industrial in- 
dependence. His was not a boyhood of ease and indolence nor yet a 
youth of large educational opportunities, but rather a period of 
preparation for self-support by physical labor. His rise to business 
prominence and praiseworthy achievement indicates the indomitable 
perseverance of his energetic temperament. Life offers him many 
opportunities for further advancement, with a future of continued 
activity and growing success presenting its attractive openings to his 
mental vision. Through his office of vice-president of the Sacra- 
mento Valley winery he has had 'a close association with one of the 
leading industries of the region, and he enjoys the further honor of 
having been among the original promoters and organizers of this well- 
known concern. 

The early life of Charles Paule was passed in St. Clair county, 
111., where he was born August 27, 1874, and where his parents long 
lived and labored, the mother having been a member of a well-known 
family bearing the name of Weber. He was sent to the public schools 
from six until sixteen years of age and then spent two years as a 
student in a Roman Catholic school at Freeburg, St. Clair county, 
where he became familiar with the religious history of his chosen 
church. Always from youth he has been devoted to Roman Catholic 
doctrines, and his contributions to the work of the church have been 
regular and generous. Upon leaving school he began to earn his own 
livelihood as a farm hand and for some time he worked among the 
farmers of his home neighborhood. At the age of twenty-four he 
came to California and settled in Fresno, where he engaged in a vine- 
yard and winery as an assistant. From that place he came to Sacra- 
mento in 1903 and secured emplo^mient in the California winery, 
where he remained until 1910, meanwhile holding the responsible posi- 
tion of cellar master. When he resigned from that concern it was for 
the ]nirpose of assisting in the organization of the new company, to 
whose gratifying growth he has contributed through his experience, 
energ>" and intelligent comprehension of every department connected 
with the business. Always from youth he has been an industrious 
worker, with little leisure for participation in public affairs or in 
politics; indeed, his only part in such activities is the voting of the 
Republican ticket at general elections. In Sacramento, April 14, 
1903, he was united in marriage with Miss Annie Frentrup, a native 
of Germany. They are the parents of five children, Charles, Gus, 
Annie, Lauren and Esta, to whom they hope to give the best educa- 
tional advantages offered by the splendid schools of Sacramento. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 445 



DANIEL W. CARMICHAEL 

Daniel W. Carmichael, president and general manager of the 
Carmichael Co., Sacramento, and president of the Sacramento Cham 
ber of Commerce. 

In every group of men is found one man who, by his sterling 
worth of character and achievements, is fitted for the place of leader. 
Untoward circumstances may for a time prevent such a man from 
gaining the recognition due him, but sooner or later he comes into his 
own. Such a man is Daniel W. Carmichael, president of the Chamber 
of Commerce, realty operator and Democratic leader. 

Mr. Carmichael was born in Atlanta, Ga., in the year 1867, the 
son of William and Evelyn (Fincher) Carmichael. His father was a 
southern planter and a well-known and respected man of his com- 
munity. He received his early education in the public schools of 
Atlanta, but gave up his studies at the call of the west, in 1885, to 
come to California, where for two years he followed the usual hardy 
life of the California rancher. Upon coming to California he located 
in Stanislaus county, working here and there and gaining experience 
of life among the world of men. 

Ambitious, and perceiving the necessity of further education for 
the attainment of the career which he had laid out for himself, he 
entered the Stockton Business college and studied bookkeeping and 
business management. After a course in this institution he became 
bookkeeper for Kendall & Co. in 1887, in whose employ he was for 
five years. 

In the year 1895 Mr. Carmichael organized and became a member 
of the firm of Curtis, Carmichael & Brand, which was incorporated 
the following year. This company was organized for the purpose of 
acquiring and developing Sacramento valley lands. In 1900 Mr. Car- 
michael bought out his partners' interests and the firm became Car- 
michael Company. As the head of this company he has handled, 
developed and colonized thousands of acres of Sacramento valley land. 
No company in Sacramento has been a larger factor in the aiding of 
the incoming settlers to acquire homes suitable to their taste and 
means. 

At the present time the company is actively engaged in pushing 
the development and settlement of a large tract of four thousand 
acres known as the Carmichael Colony, located between Sacramento 
and Fair Oaks. This tract, which is located along the west bank of- 
the American river, contains some of the best citrus land in the 
Sacramento valley and is being cut up into small farms of ten acres 
each. 

The colonization of land, however, is not the only business activ- 



446 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

itv in which Mr. Carmichael is engaged. In 1899 he organized the 
Sacramento Oil Company, of which he is now secretary and treasurer. 
This corporation purchased oil lands in the Kern county oil district 
and sunk one of the first oil wells at Bakersfield. Some years later 
he became one of the organizers and directors of the Acme Develop- 
ment Oil Company, which corporation, as well as the Sacramento Oil 
Company, is now paying dividends. 

In tlie political life of the city, county and state, Daniel W. 
Carmichael has for many years wielded a powerful influence. In 
November, 1895, he was elected treasurer of Sacramento city on the 
Democratic ticket, which office he held for two years. So well did he 
fulfill the duties of this office and so steadily had his reputation grown 
that in June, 1903, he was elected county treasurer, which office he 
held until 1907.- In the intervening years his influence among Demo- 
cratic circles in California had developed to such an extent that in 1900 
he was elected delegate to the National Democratic convention held 
in Kansas City, Mo., where William J. Bryan was nominated for 
president. At that time Mr. Carmichael and Mr. Bryan became ac- 
quainted, which acquaintanceship has grown with steadily increasing 
warmth throughout the succeeding years. In 1904 he again repre- 
sented his party at the national convention, being elected delegate at 
large from California to the Convention at St. Louis, where Alton 
Parker was chosen to lead the Democratic ticket. It may be men- 
tioned in this connection that Mr. Carmichael is now president of 
the Wilson club, and with a gradually increasing influence among the 
Democrats of this state. 

For many years Sacramento has profited through the untiring 
efforts of Mr. Carmichael in the behalf of its semi-public organizations 
devoted to the upbuilding of its industries and the forwarding of its 
best interests. He became president of the Sacramento Chamber of 
Commerce in 1910, which office he now holds. For eighteen years he 
has been a director of the same institution. Possibly no other man 
has done more to put this organization on the firm and efficient basis 
on which it now stands. 

Fraternally Daniel W. Carmichael is well known. Among the 
various organizations with which he is affiliated may be mentioned 
the Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks and the Sutter club. In recognition 
of his ability in this line of work the State Realty Federation of 
California elected him president for the year 1910-11. 

In 1892 Mr. Carmichael was married in Sacramento to Miss 
Myrtie Robb, daughter of Charles S. Robb, a well-known local railroad 
man, who for thirty-five years was connected with the Southern Pa- 
cific Railroad Company. In addition to his justly earned prominence 
in local business and political circles he has received a generally state- 
wide recocrnition as a power in California's business and political 
life, and it is not too much to say that his record during the past 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 447 

twenty-live years fully justifies any honor or recognition which the 
people of California may see fit to bestow upon him. He is now 
serving as chairman of the Panama-Pacific County Commission from 
Sacramento comity. 



BENJAMIN MARTY 

The name of this sturdy Swiss farmer and stock-raiser was known 
to the people of Sacramento county principally through the successful 
identification of his sons with agricultural affairs and dairy interests. It 
was his good fortune to possess the splendid qualities that have given 
pre-eminence to the republic of Switzerland, where he was born in 1829 
and where in 1866 he married Katharina Marty. In their native land 
they labored industriously on a small dairy farm and by frugal manage- 
ment earned a comfortable livelihood. They became the parents of six 
sons and all are now living with the exception of George, who died 
in the old country at the age of twelve years, and Joseph, who was 
accidentally drowned in the Sacramento river at the Monument ranch, 
March 18, 1912, at the age of thirty-nine years. All of the sons were 
educated in Swiss schools, trained to a knowledge of every department 
of agriculture and qualified to support themselves as farmers in any 
part of the world. They became men of excellent capacity for work 
and remarkable powers of physical endurance. Four of the five came 
to the United States and settled in Sacramento county, where they 
achieved a degree of success altogether commendable and certainly 
merited. 

The eldest of the family, Antone, born January 20, 1869, was the 
first of the family to seek a home in the new world. Arriving in Sac- 
ramento April 30, 1890, he worked for three years as a day laborer 
on a ranch operated by his uncle, Joseph Marty. With the savings of 
that period he bought a one-third interest in the dairy herd of his 
uncle. This purchase did not include any interest in the land itself. 
In order to render possible the enlargement of the dairy the partners 
rented additional tracts of land. Eventually the young man became 
the owner of one-half of the dairy business and during 1902 he bought 
the remaining one-half interest, thus becoming the sole owner of the 
dairy. With the year 1909 the lease of twenty years expired and he 
sought other headquarters. Thereupon he removed to the Monument 
ranch, liis present location. By his marriage to Miss Susie Durrer of 
Red Bluff he has three children, Hedwig, Antone and Adelhaide, all of 
whom are now students in the schools of Sacramento county. The 
family are honored members of the Roman Catholic Church and he 
holds active connections with the Young Men's Institute. In addi- 



448 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tion he is identified with the Woodmen, Foresters, Turn Verein, Im- 
proved Order of Red Men and Helvetia Society, the last-named a 
Swiss organization of local prominence. 

The only daughter in the family, Katharina Marty, was born in 
S^vitzerland January 20, 1870, and still lives near the old Swiss home- 
stead. Her husband, Peter Meister, a large land owner, extensive 
agriculturist and successful specialist in fruit, also is a man of promi- 
nence in public affairs and is well known throughout all of their dis- 
trict. There are ten children in the Meister family. The only other 
member of the Marty family to remain in Switzerland is the youngest 
brother, Frank, a young man of ability and a skilled worker in the 
cheese industry. Through his recognized thoroughness as a cheese- 
maker he has been retained in important positions and now is inter- 
ested in a large cheese factory in Bavaria, Germany, where much of 
his time is spent. He still considers Switzerland as his home, al- 
though business interests keep him elsewhere much of the time. 

The father's namesake, Ben, Jr., born in 1871 and a resident 
of Sacramento county since 1891, worked for his uncle, Joseph, for 
some time after his arrival. During 1902 he bought a small ranch 
down the river and became interested in the poultry industry. By 
his marriage to Albertina Zuger he has one child living, Albert, four- 
teen years of age. Like his brothers he holds membership with the 
Improved Order of Red Men and the Helvetia Society. Joseph, born 
in 1873, came to the new world in 1892 and had the supervision of the 
ranch until his death in 1912. He was prominently connected with the 
Foresters, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Helvetia Society. 

No member of the family has exhibited greater energy, more un- 
daunted courage and more sagacious judgment than has characterized 
the efforts of Martin Marty, a native of Canton Schwyz, Switzerland, 
born February 2, 1876, and a resident of the Sacramento valley since 
the year 1892, when he accompanied his brother, Joseph, to the ranch 
home of their uncle, Joseph. Although at the time he was a mere 
lad, unfamiliar with American institutions and Californian methods 
of agriculture, he was so willing and capable that he secured steady 
work without difficulty. For four and one-half years he worked at the 
old Sprague ranch on the Freeport road. At the time of the dis- 
covery of gold in the Klondike he went to Alaska, going over the 
Chilcoot pass with two others, carrying thirteen hundred pounds of 
food. On Lake Bennett they whipsawed the lumber and built two boats 
in which they made their way through Wildhorse Rapids and down the 
Yukon to Dawson. There he prospected for two years and then went 
to Cape Nome and other fields. During the four years of his sojourn 
in the north he staked out one claim that later proved to be very 
valuable and it was his intention to develop this, but his entire outfit 
was stolen and he was left without adequate means for recuperating 
Iiis losses. On such small events do human destinies turn. The theft 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 449 

of his outfit prevented him from making a. fortune in the mines and 
he returned in 1902 little richer than when he started, yet possessing 
a wealth of information about Alaskan mines and that vast unex- 
plored region near the Arctic seas. 

After his return to Sacramento county Martin Marty with two 
of his brothers bought out their uncle and located eight miles up the 
Sacramento river on the Yolo side, where they bought five hundred 
acres of bottom land. Of this they now have over four hundred acres 
in alfalfa, which has been improved from brush and tules, and in the 
year 1912 they cut four thousand tons of hay from February to De- 
cember. They have on this tract three hundred and fifty head of 
cattle, among them being two hundred and forty milch cows of the 
best grades. Eight dairy wagons are kept in constant use and two 
thousand gallons of milk are handled and sold daily, a milk boat being 
run from their ranch to Sacramento twice daily. The brothers also 
own a stock ranch of one thousand acres in Placer county. On 
December 3, 1904, Martin Marty married Miss Katharine Mente, a 
native of Austria, and of this union they have one daughter. Mar- 
guerite, born July 25, 1910. The family holds membership with the 
Roman Catholic Church, in which he is a liberal giver and active 
worker. Fraternally he is associated with the Foresters of America, 
the Improved Order of Red Men, Woodmen of the World and the 
Helvetia Societv. 



JOHN H. MILLER, Jr. 

Three generations of the Miller family have been identified with 
the growth of California and two of these have maintained prominent 
associations with the reportorial and journalistic history of Sacra- 
mento, where John H., Jr., now fills the responsible position of associate 
editor of the Sacramento Sunday Neius and of the Sacramento Valley 
Monthly. The journalistic instinct came to him as an inherited ac- 
quisition from his father, John H., Sr., a newspaper man of recognized 
ability and for years a disciple of the ''art preservative," although 
having followed other occupations in the earlier years of his activity. 
Practically all of his life was spent in the west, for although he was 
born in Indiana November 25, 1848, he was only about five years old 
when the family came to California via the Isthmus of Panama. The 
arrival in San Francisco was followed by an immediate removal to 
Cold Springs, Eldorado county, where the child grew to manhood and 
received a public school education. At the age of eighteen he suc- 
cessfully passed an examination for a teacher's certificate and then 
began to teach at Coloma, Eldorado county. The occupation, however, 
proved only a stepping stone to other enterprises. During 1868 he 



450 HiiSTUKY OJ^^ SACKAMENTU COUNTY 

began to build a telegraph line from Georgetown to Plaeerville. When 
the task had been accomplished he devoted his attention to the oper- 
ating of the line. 

The purchase of the system by the Western Union Telegraph 
Company opened the way for John H. Miller, Sr., to come to Sacra- 
mento. After he had located in the city he organized the Capital Car- 
riage Manufacturing Company, and with a partner, Mr. Pritchard, 
conducted the business on Eighth and K streets. Selling out in 1878, 
he and his business associate bought the Phoenix Milling Company 
and gave their attention to the management of the plant for some 
years. Next we find Mr. Miller entering the field of journalism, for 
which he possessed a natural aptitude and in which he rose to a con- 
siderable degree of prominence. After having been employed as a 
reporter with the Sacramento Becord-Union until 1892, he then ac- 
cepted a position as news editor of the Sacramento Bee. Eesigning 
from this newspaper in 1907, he engaged with the Sacramento Union 
as manager of their office for two years. During 1909 he removed to 
Marysville and there he remained until his death in May of 1911, 
meanwhile ably filling the office of editor of the Marysville Appeal. 

Both through his own personal influence and through the medium 
of the journalistic sheets with which he was connected Mr. Miller gave 
stanch aid to the Republican party. In local affairs he stood for 
progress. In associations with his fellowmen he stood for the exer- 
cise of charity, benevolence and kindliness. Principles were the ob- 
ject of his favor or his criticism rather than people. Measures for 
the upbuilding of community and state had his cordial co-operation. 
As a citizen he ever proved loyal, patriotic and progressive, and his 
memory is worthy of perpetuation in the annals of his community. His 
wife, whom he married at Georgetown, this state, in June of 1871, and 
who bore the maiden name of Ella Spencer, was a native of Eldorado 
county, born in 1853, and she passed away in Sacramento in 1 885. They 
are survived by four children, of whom the only son, his father's name- 
sake, was born in Sacramento, June 8, 1880. Two of the daughters are 
married, namely: Mrs. M. M. Kimball, of Sacramento, and Mrs. H. 
Grimm, of Portland, Ore. The youngest daughter is employed as a clerk 
in the postoffice at Sacramento. 

The completion of the high school course in Sacramento was 
marked by the graduation of John H. Miller, Jr., in 1900, after which 
he studied for one year in the University of California. Upon his 
return to Sacramento he took up the task of earning his own way in 
life and since then he has risen to considerable prominence in journal- 
istic circles, having enjoyed a connection of seven years with the 
Sacramento Bee. with which he worked in various positions from re- 
porter to assistant city editor. In 1910, having acquired an interest in 
the News Publishing Company, he transferred his activities from the 
Bee to the editorial department of the Sunday Neivs, where he has 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 451 

ably filled the position of associate editor and where he is making a 
success in this responsible capacity. Mr. Miller's marriage occurred 
in Sacramento October 4, 1911, to Miss Agnes Lister Strachan, a 
native of Scotland. From boyhood he has been a stanch believer in 
Republican principles. Men and measures having the support of the 
party have likewise his support and he has proved loyal to the prin- 
ciples of the organization which he favors. The Sutter club has the 
benefit of his active co-operation and his devotion to its labors in 
behalf of civic progress and municipal welfare. 



FRANK J. MANNING 

Notwithstanding the fact that he is still young in years Mr. Man- 
ning has had long experience in the laundry Ijusiness. His selection 
for the responsible position of foreman, upon the consolidation of 
various companies into the Cascade laundry in 1903, was not the 
result of chance or any fortuitous circumstances, but a recognition 
of his eminent fitness for the responsible post. Ever since he first 
became identified with his present specialty he has given to the work 
intelligent study, wise discrimination and painstaking industry; these 
qualities have brought him a comprehensive knowledge of every detail 
connected with the industry, as well as a high reputation for skillful 
handling of such work economically but successfully. Having a deep 
faith in the future prosperity and growth of the Cascade laundry, 
he early became one of its stockholders and in 1907 the directors chose 
him to fill the office of vice-president, in which capacity he remains 
to the present, while also continuing to act as foreman. 

Born at Aurora, 111., July 30, 1876, Frank J. Manning is a son of 
Abner and Adelia Manning and was sent to the schools of his native 
city until he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the common 
branches. Next he entered a business college and for a year enjoyed 
the advantages offered by a thorough commercial course, which pre- 
pared him for l)usiness activities. Upon leaving college he began to 
assist his father in a meat market owned by the latter in Aurora, but 
later he left the market to clerk in a grocery and continued in that 
position until he determined to remove to California. After his arrival 
in Sacramento in 1894 at the age of eighteen years he secured work 
as a helper in the American laundry and this started him in the busi- 
ness which he has followed from that time to the ]H-esent. For some 
years he was connected with the Union laundry, first as foreman only, 
but later as foreman and also as vice-president, continuing in these 
offices until the laundry became merged into the combination resulting 
in the organization of the Cascade Laundry Company. 



452 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

To one possessing sucli geniality of disposition an identification 
with fraternal bodies is a natural attribute of Mr. Manning, who finds 
pleasure in his active co-operation with the good works of the Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Foresters in Sacramento. While not a 
participant in partisan atfairs nor a seeker for office, he maintains a 
warm interest in political issues and votes with the Republican party. 
His family consists of wife and daughter, Irene, the former, prior to 
their marriage in Sacramento April 9, 1901, having been Miss Caroline 
Urban. In citizenship he is loyal. Movements for the development of 
the resources of the city, county and valley of Sacramento receive 
his cordial support and to such he gives of his time and means and 
influence. While particularly well informed along the line of his 
specialty, this does not represent the limit of his business knowledge; 
on the other hand, he keeps well posted concerning every line of 
commercial endeavor in his city and watches with civic pride the 
growth of those industries whose success brings prestige and honor 
to his chosen community. 



GEORGE N. RANDLE 

The civil engineer of a modern institution, city or highway, is the 
creator thereof, and at least as long as it lasts his fame will last. 
Even if he only assisted or advised in the construction of a single 
building, it will stand to his memory. It is not necessary to formally 
introduce George N. Randle, the subject of this sketch, at least to a 
Sacramento audience, where he has been a resident for upwards of 
sixteen years. All of this time he has been an engineer of the city 
and also in the state department of public works. He was born at 
Colusa, Cal., July 1, 1871. His father, S. W. Randle, came to this 
state from Illinois in 1852, crossing the plains and enduring the hard- 
ships of that time and trail. He first located in Colusa county and 
took up farming. He married the daughter of Maybury Davis, a 
prosperous ranch and stock man of Princeton. George N. Randle is 
one of a family of three children, all of whom are living. He ]iassed 
through his school days, from grammar to high school, and graduated 
at Washington college as a civil engineer in 1892. He was connected 
with the state department of public works for nine years, resigning to 
go to the Hawaiian Islands, where he was engaged on works on the 
McBryde Sugar Conijiany's plantations. Returning to Sacramento in 
1905, he was appointed city engineer by Mayor M. R. Beard, and re- 
appointed by his successor, Mayor Clinton L. White. 

Engineer Randle, in a busy city like Sacramento, is indeed a busy 
man, and a capable man in his intricate and complicated profession. 





^. ^;^)^ 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 455 

He has splendidly aud successfully extended the city's water system 
and the sewerage system as well, constructing a sewage pumping plant 
with a capacity each twenty-four hours of 107,000,000 gallons. 

Mr.^ Randle married Miss Mollie Nurse, daughter of M. A. and 
Mary Nurse. Mrs. Randle is a prominent church and club woman, 
being a member of the Tuesday and Saturday clubs, and she is a tal- 
ented musician. Her husband is a Knight Templar and a member 
of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco, the Elks and the Sutter 
club. In professional interests he is a member of the Technical 
Society of the Pacific Coast and of the American Society of Civil 
Engineers. 



CAPT. JOHN H. ROBERTS 

The ranks of the pioneers have fast thinned out in recent years. 
The number of men having a clear remembrance of the features which 
disting-uished the coast country in the early '50s is lessening faster 
and faster with each passing twelvemonth. Capt. John H. Roberts, 
who died at his residence, No. 717 N street, Sacramento, February is' 
1909, was among the brave and resolute travelers who made the 
journey with a company of emigrants which was outfitted for the 
overland trip at Chicago, 111., which was then only a village com- 
paratively. His labors in the mines not bringing him the results for 
which he had hoped, he turned his attention to flat boating on the 
river, a business which grew with passing years till in 1866 it was 
organized as the Sacramento Transportation Company, with a capital 
stock of $40,000 and with officers as follows : Capt. John H. Roberts, 
president; W. E. George, secretary; P. J. Harney, general manager, 
and H. K. Johnson, agent. 

In Michigan, in the city of Detroit, Captain Roberts was born 
February 22, 1832, a son of John T. and Margaret (Williams) Rob- 
erts. In the midst of a venturesome youth, at the time when the Cali- 
fornia gold fever was at its height, it is not surprising that he became 
one of its victims. Going to Chicago, he there joined the outfit re- 
ferred to, which set out in due time with ox and horse teams. The 
journey was long and tiresome, filled with thrilling experiences, but 
it does not appear that any one of the party failed to reach his des- 
tination by reason of sickness, death or accident. After his indifferent 
venture as a miner and some valuable experience in flat-boating. 
Captain Roberts engaged in cutting and hauling lumber and logs to a 
mill, and for several years disposed of his entire product to the firm 
of Bacon & Lawler. To that humble beginning he traced the rise of 
his later considerable fortune, as at that time, owing to the unprece- 



456 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

dented growth of his river transportation enterprise, he was led to 
organize a company to handle all kinds of freight. Since its formation 
in 1866 until the present time, the Sacramento Transportation Com- 
pany has been an important factor in the upbuilding of Sacramento, 
and it has likewise benefited towns all along the river, its boats run- 
ning as far north as Red Bluff. Aside from his interest in this con- 
cern. Captain Roberts owned some of the best gold mines in the 
state down to the day of his death. Fraternally, he was a Mason of 
the Knight Templar degree, and Mrs. Roberts is a member of Colum- 
bus Chapter, 0. E. S., of Sacramento, also a charter member and past 
president of Fair Oaks, W. R. C. 

In San Francisco, in 1869, Captain Roberts married Miss Minerva 
Haskell Walrath, who was born in New York, a daughter of James 
and Esther (Oliphant) Walrath, also natives of New York. Mrs. 
Roberts came to California with her uncle, Austin H. Walrath. Soon 
after their marriage. Captain and Mrs. Roberts established their resi- 
dence at No. 717 N street, where the family home has l)een maintained 
to the present time. 



JOSEPH E. PIPHER 

The court commissioner of Sacramento county occupies a posi- 
tion of distinct importance and growing influence among the at- 
torneys whose broad talents and mental endowments bring them pro- 
fessional eminence throughout the entire valley. Scarcely yet in the 
prime of manhood's activities, with the promise of years of excep- 
tional usefulness before him, he faces a future attractive with the 
charm of an anticipated civic service and occupational success pre- 
dicted by his friends and well-wishers. Combined with an excellent 
and increasing knowledge of the law he possesses the advantage of 
expertness in stenography; indeed, his skill in that direction caused 
him to be selected for court reporter in 1903, and the record he made 
in the position furnished convincing proof as to his accuracy, dispatch 
and professional knowledge. From reporter he was advanced by ap- 
pointment in 1904 to county court commissioner, and his long reten- 
tion in the office furnishes convincing proof as to the satisfactory 
nature of his services. 

Claiming Illinois as his native commonwealth, Mr. Pipher was 
born in the city of Monticello December 1, 1876, and is a son of A. T. 
and Mary J. Pipher. He entertains but few recollections of the home 
of his earliest years, for he was only two when his mother removed 
to California, and since then he has been identified with the west, re- 
ceiving such advantages as its public schools afforded and enjoying 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 457 

its opportunities for advancement. During the spring of 1891 he 
was graduated from the high school of Modesto, and immediately 
afterward he had the good fortune to secure a clerkship in a law ofiSce 
of that place. In the midst of such an environment he was able to 
devote much of his time to the study of law, and at a very early age 
his knowledge of the leading law authorities was unusually accurate. 
He also gave considerable attention to the study of state laws, par- 
ticularly the laws of California, and in that way he early acquired 
authoritative knowledge along these interesting professional lines. 

An identification of several years with the well-known law firm 
of McCune & George in Sacramento afforded Mr. Pipher the best 
possible advantages for obtaining a knowledge of the law by actual 
experience. When not assisting the firm in the preparation of legal 
papers he was studying the books of their excellent library, so that 
when he made ready for his examination in 1897 it was with the grati- 
fying knowledge that his information was thorough and his prepara- 
tion as nearly complete as is possible. The supreme court granted 
him the privilege of practicing in the state, and he immediately be- 
came connected with the bar of Sacramento, where he since has made 
his home. From 1899 until 1903 he served as deputy to the district 
attorney, Hon. C. W. Baker, and then he officiated as court reporter 
for a year, but since 1904 he has given his time and attention to the 
duties of court commissioner, in which position his service has been 
exceptionally capable and satisfactory. With his growing profes- 
sional reputation there has been a rising Masonic prominence, which 
has brought him into leadership among the members of the blue lodge 
and chapter; in addition, he has identified himself with the Knights 
Templar and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Another important 
fraternity which enlists his co-operation is the Benevolent Protective 
Order of Elks. Side by sid6 with his studies of the law have been his 
inquiries into political questions, and the opinions formed as the re- 
sult of his thoughtful consideration of public issues have brought him 
into active association with the Republican party in Sacramento. In 
this city occurred his marriage to Miss Marie Louise Mason, Febru- 
ary 14, 1900, and their union has been blessed with two daughters, 
Helen and Katharine, both of whom are now students in the city 
schools. 



WILLIAM H. QUAAS 

It has been the fortunate experience of Sacramento to attract to 
and retain in its citizenship a large number of men possessing in 
eminent degree the qualities that promote the prosperity of a munici- 
pality. Not the least conspicuous among these citizens is William H. 



458 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Quaas, wlio as a junior partner in the Kane & Trainor Ice Company 
maintains an association with one of the leading firms of the city and 
by formulating jjlans for its growth at the same time advances the 
general civic welfare. Although still on the sunny side of life's prime, 
lie has gained a thorough knowledge of many districts of California 
through business relations therein, and in addition he had the ad- 
vantage of travels abroad and study in the educational institutions of 
Germany. It is liis opinion, the result of close observation in various 
localities, that Sacramento offers to men of energy advantages unsur- 
passed by regions whose attractions are more widely heralded. 

With some degree of pride Mr. Quaas claims to belong to a 
pioneer family of California. His maternal grandfather, Adolph Heil- 
bron, came from Germany in 1850, and after a brief sojourn in St. 
Louis proceeded to the west during the era of mining activities. 
William H. was born in Sacramento September 6, 1884, and is a son 
of Henry and Carrie (Heilbron) Quaas, the former born in Germany 
and the latter in Sacramento, her death occurring in San Diego. The 
father now makes his home in Sacramento, where the grandfather, 
Adolph Heilbron, also resides. On the conclusion of the preliminary 
course of study in the California schools, Mr. Quaas was sent to the 
ancestral home in Dresden, Germany, where he attended school for 
two and one-half years, finding in the educational institutions of that 
country a degree of thoroughness and discipline most helpful to the 
formation of desirable traits in the students. Upon his return to 
California he spent six months in Fresno county on a ranch owned 
by the family, and from there went to Napa county, where he en- 
gaged in the growing of fruit and in general ranching for five years. 

As an employe of the surveying corps connected with the Southern 
Pacific railroad in 1906 Mr. Quaas was sent to the Imperial valley 
on the border of Mexico and continued to work there until the San 
Francisco disaster, when he was transferred to the surveying depart- 
ment of the road at Santa Cruz. When he severed his connection 
with the road he formed an alliance with the Shattuck & Desmond 
Company, contractors, in whose interests he engaged in construction 
work on the coast road, meanwhile gaining much helpful information 
concerning the region in which he worked. During June of 1907 he 
secured a ]:>osition as bookkeeper with the Buffalo Brewing Company 
of Sacramento, and continued in that capacity for three years, even- 
tually resigning to enter upon his present business relations. The 
death of Mr. Kane and the necessity of the settlement of his estate 
led Mr. Quaas to purchase his one-half interest in the Kane & Trainor 
Ice Company, an influential and prosperous concern that acts as dis- 
tributors for the Buffalo Brewing Company, the Union Ice Company 
and the National Ice & C^old Storage Company. 

The personal tastes of Mr. Quaas are not such as to lead him 
into public affairs or partisan activities. Aside from voting the Re- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 459 

publican ticket he takes no part in politics and at no time has he been 
willing to consider official honors for himself. A broad-minded sym- 
pathy with all efforts for the upbuilding of humanity leads him to 
maintain an interest in all denominations and creeds, but he is especi- 
ally generous in his contributions to the Methodist Episcopal church, 
with which his wife is actively associated. Both are identified with 
the Saturday club, one of the leading social organizations of the city, 
and both are likewise solicitous to promote all measures for the per- 
manent advancement of the community. Prior to their marriage, 
which occurred September 28, 1909, Mrs. Quaas was Miss Abbie 
McKay, her family being among the well-known residents of Sacra- 
mento. The only child of the union, Abbie Capitola, was born in this 
city April 29, 1911. Friends won by years of earnest helpfulness 
maintain a deep interest in the success of Mr. Quaas and predict for 
him years of steady and growing prosperity. 



J. K. McKINSTRY 

Could the pioneers of the west have discerned the future great- 
ness of the coast country they would have been overwhelmed by the 
comprehension of the vast changes in store for them and for their 
descendants. A few men of optimistic vision glimpsed the prosperity 
of the future and worked patiently with their eyes fixed upon the 
goal, deeming no hardship too great, no obstacle too weighty and no 
task too laborious that would advance the common welfare. That 
the spirit of the honored pioneer, J. K. McKinstry, has been optimistic 
is abundantly proved by his long identification with Sacramento 
county. He arrived at Silver Lake on the 1st day of September, 
1850, at the age of fifteen years, and soon afterward came to Sacra- 
mento county, where he has since labored in business undertakings 
of considerable importance. Upon his arrival he found a cosmopolitan 
population attracted hither by the discovery of gold. Few expected 
to remain in the west. The majority dreamed of finding a fortune 
in the mines and returning to their old homes with the fruits of their 
labors. To him, however, there came few visions of wealth. The 
mines did not fascinate him by their tempting opportunities. Instead, 
he chose the slow but sure path to success, that of ceaseless industry, 
unwavering perseverance and intelligent investments. The results 
testify as to the accuracy of his judgment. 

Born in Rochester, N. Y., February 9, 1835, J. K. McKinstry is 
a son of John and Jane (Kelso) McKinstry, natives of Ireland, but 
from earlv life residents of the new world. The familv removed to 



460 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Chicago in 1837 and in 1840 settled among the pioneers of Galena, 
111,, where the boy was sent to the public schools. At the age of 
fifteen years in 1850 he crossed the plains to California, crossing the 
Missouri river at St. Joseph May 4, and settled in Sacramento 
county, where he secured employment in the mines in Placer and 
Eldorado counties for four years, after which he became interested 
in ranching. Subsequently he secured a clerkship with the general 
mercantile firm of Whitaker & Ray in Gait, the ensuing eight years 
being spent as a salesman in their store. During 1872 he embarked 
in the livery business for himself and from that time to the present, 
a period of forty years, he has conducted the same concern, keeping 
on hand a general assortment of vehicles and teams for every use. In 
business he has been prompt, efficient and reliable, and the town has 
been benefited by his long residence therein. 

The political views of Mr. McKinstry always have been in sym- 
pathy with the principles of the Republican party and he has voted 
that ticket at all elections. As a rule he has refused local offices, but 
he made an exception in favor of service as justice of the peace, which 
office he filled for eight years in Dry Creek township. As justice he 
proved to be efficient and capable, impartial and well-informed. His 
incumbency of the office was satisfactory to all concerned. In fra- 
ternal relations he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. In his varied activities he has been benefited by the prac- 
tical help and common sense of his wife, formerly Frances Armstrong, 
who possesses the sterling qualities inherited from a long line of 
British ancestors. Born in the city of London, England, June 14, 1841, 
she came to the United States in 1856 and shortly afterward landed 
in San Francisco. Since then she has continued to reside in Sacra- 
mento county. Her children, Clara, Elizabeth, Edgar, Charles and 
Thomas A., received the benefit of her devoted care, wise judgment 
and personal oversight during their early years, and each was thus 
wisely prepared for the responsibilities of life, while at the same time 
she gave generous assistance to charitable enterprises and was ever 
kind to the distressed or needv. 



SAMUEL WILSON RUSSELL 

From the humble position of freight handler with attendant du- 
ties taxing the most sturdy physique to the important responsibilities 
of general freight and passenger agent represents a rise indicative 
of the forceful ability and stalwart determination that form the lead- 
ing characteristics of Mr. Russell, whose long association with the 
Northern Electric Railway Company has brought him into prominent 
relations with the people of Sacramento and at the same time has won 
for him the confidence of the officials of the road. Nothing short of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 461 

positive ability could have made possible his advancement in railroad 
circles, and this ability has been manifested in his tactful associations 
with the people who are patrons of the road, as well as in his capable 
supervision of the company's interests. 

Noting the events of especial importance in the life of Mr. Rus- 
sell, we find that he was born at Bovina, Delaware county, N. Y., July 
25, 1873, and is a son of Andrew T. and Mary (McLaury) Russell. 
After he had completed the studies of the public schools he was sent 
to Eastman's Business college at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he car- 
ried on a commercial course for a year. On his return to the home 
farm near Bovina he assisted in the care and cultivation of the same, 
but, not caring for agriculture as a life occupation, he left home at 
eighteen and went to Oneonta, N. Y., where for two years he man- 
aged a depot restaurant. Later he acted as clerk of the Central hotel 
in the same town. After two years as hotel clerk he resigned and 
came to California, where he engaged in the tea and coffee business, 
but this he sold at the expiration of six months and then left Los 
Angeles, his former place of business, for San Francisco, where he 
secured employment as freight handler on the Southern Pacific rail- 
road. A service of six months was rewarded by promotion to the local 
freight office, where he remained for four years, meanwhile working 
in various capacities. Following upon a service of one year as rate 
clerk in the general agent's office he was promoted to be contracting 
freight agent, and continued as such until October of 1907, when he 
resi.gned from the Southern Pacific employ and entered upon his 
present connection with the Northern Electric Railway Company. In 
addition, he is also general freight and passenger agent for the Sacra- 
mento and Woodland railroad. 

While still a resident of the east Mr. Russell formed the ac- 
quaintance of Miss Annette Procter Smith, member of an old family 
of New York state and herself a cultured young lady of Oneonta, that 
state. They were united in marriage October 12, 1897. Their children 
are named Procter, Ormonde, Ra^^nond and Helen. The sons are 
pupils in the Sacramento schools and are bright, intelligent lads, con- 
cerning whose future the parents cherish the fondest hopes. The only 
daughter is a winsome child two years of age. The family attend the 
Presbyterian church and contribute to missionary and philanthropic 
undertakings with generous spirit. Out of a busy life, whose days 
have been filled with responsibilities of a business nature, it has not 
been possible for Mr. Russell to contribute largely toward civic prog- 
ress or political affairs, but he is stanch in his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party and in many ways has proved his devotion to the 
welfare of Sacramento. For years he has been identified with Ma- 
sonry in the blue lodge. Among the other organizations which enlist 
his interest and receive his co-operation may be mentioned the Sutter 
club and the Woodmen of the World. 



462 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



MELCHIOR H. DIEPENBROCK 

The name of Diepeiibrock indicates the Teutonic origin of the 
family of Mek'hior H. Diepenbrock. One of the most learned and dis- 
tinguished men of the family, a great-uncle and his namesake, rose to 
the rank of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church and wielded 
a powerful influence at Rome and at the court of the kingdom of 
Prussia. Judge Anthony Diepenbrock, a nephew of the Cardinal, was 
a native of Westphalia and received a classical education at Heidel- 
berg. After a successful career as a lawyer in Westphalia he was 
chosen judge of his county and also served for years as superior 
associate justice of the district, holding his official positions until death 
terminated his usefulness. By his union with Caroline Von Besten he 
had a family of six children, among whom was Melchior H., born in 
Bocholt, Westphalia, Germany, December 30, 1858, and educated in 
the thorough schools of that land. He continued his studies of classics 
and philosophy until September, 1879, when he decided to cast his for- 
tunes in the land of the Stars and Stripes. 

Coming to New York City and thence to Chicago, Mr. Diepen- 
brock acquired his first knowledge of the United States by contact 
with these two great cities, in the latter of which he worked as sales- 
man with a firm manufacturing barbers' supplies. After two years 
he came to California in 1885 and settled in San Francisco, where he 
was proprietor of a Catholic book and supply house. Later he 
founded the first German Catholic newspaper in that city and held 
the position of editor with the same until 1891, the year of his loca- 
tion in Sacramento. Here he engaged in the manufacture of cigars 
and superintended the factory of the A. Coolot Company until it was 
dissolved in 1902, since which time he has given his attention to his 
own large personal interests in and near Sacramento. Among his 
other valuable properties he planned and built the Diepenbrock 
theater, an elegant and substantial brick building on the corner of 
Twelfth and J streets. The building is very large and used exclu- 
sively for a theater, having a seating capacity of sixteen hundred 
and fifty people, and is the largest and most modern in the city, com- 
paring favorably with any theater building in the state of California. 

Ever since he became a citizen of our country Mr. Diepenbrock 
has voted with the Republican party, but at no time has he eared for 
political distinction or official honors. Fraternally he holds member- 
ship with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In marriage he 
became connected with one of the prominent families of Sacramento, 
where July 18, 1888, he was united with Miss Clara Louisa Coolot. 
They are the parents of ten children. The eldest, Anthony B., born in 
1889, has taken the degree of Doctor. of Medicine at Harvard Uni- 





^-^^ 




HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 465 

versity, where the third son, Alois, is now studying for the same 
degree. The second son, Joseph C, acts as auditor of Diepenbrock 
theater. Marie, the eldest daughter, is a student in the Academy of 
the Sacred Heart at Menlo Park, Cal. Eugene, Alexander and Frank, 
aged respectively twelve, ten and eight years, are pupils in St. Joseph's 
Academy at Berkeley, Cal. Carola, the second daughter, attends the 
Franciscan school in Sacramento. The youngest members of the 
family circle are Victor and Clotilde, who are five and three years old 
respectively. The family are earnest members of the Roman Catholic 
Church and contribute generously to the maintenance of its charities 
and missions. 

Nine miles south of Sacramento lies a farm of six hundred acres, 
which Mr. Diepenbrock owns and which he manages with the assist- 
ance of a capable superintendent. One hundred and fifty acres are 
under cultivation to asparagus, a like amount is in beans, while in 
addition about twenty-five hundred tons of alfalfa are cut annuallj^ 
Modern improvements characterize the ranch, which is equipped for 
the dairy business. The barns are built with concrete floors and show 
the latest ideas in sanitation and convenience. The employes are 
accommodated in a house lighted by gas and equipped with baths and 
other conveniences. A cozy cottage is provided for the family of the 
superintendent. 

Upon deciding to embark in the dairy business Mr, Diepenbrock 
purchased from dairies in the east some full-blooded Holsteins, exer- 
cising the greatest care in their selection. He brought in five carloads 
of young heifers, all Holsteins, Since then he has secured the services 
of Dr, AYeldon, who in partnership with G. F. Heenan is now running 
the dairy part of the ranch. Subsequently Dr. Weldon superintended 
the purchasing, and the herd was increased to two hundred and 
seventy head of pure-bred Holsteins. This is said to be one of the 
most uniform dairy herds in the west. Eastern Holstein owners, 
visiting the ranch, have exclaimed with surprise upon the fine con- 
dition and uniform color of the stock. The most exacting diligence is 
exercised to provide pure, clean, fresh milk, and the utmost neatness 
is required of the employes in the barn. The milkers carry ten-gallon 
cans to a large tank, through which the milk runs into a trough and 
thence around ten coils of pipe filled with cold brine. When the milk 
enters the cans at the bottom it has been reduced to a temperature of 
forty degrees, has also been aerified and made germ-proof by the 
elimination of animal heat. After the milk is cooled it is placed in an 
ice-box and kept at forty degrees until loaded, one-half hour before 
shipping time. At nine o'clock it is placed on board the Navajo and 
conveyed to San Francisco for delivery to customers in the early 
morning. 

The Diepenbrock ranch furnishes an ideal location for a dairy 
plant. It is partly surrounded by a canal and adjoins the river, so 

29 



466 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

that almost the entire tract has sub-irrigation, a most important 
feature to a dairyman. The owner applied to the federal government 
for permission to build a wharf near his place, so that steamers could 
stop to take shipments. He is the pioneer milk shipper from this part 
of the county and his success caused many to predict that within a 
few years a daily milk boat would be run from San Francisco up the 
Sacramento river. No mention has been made of the young stock, 
which is one of the specialties of the ranch and which already has 
begun to augment the size of the herd, besides contributing to its 
value by the development of some exceptionally fine young pure-bred 
animals. The success of the dairy may be attributed to the sagacity 
of the owner, his willingness to expend large sums in an effort to 
secure the finest strains of milch cows and his skill in securing to 
assist him on the ranch men of intelligence, energy and trustworthi- 
ness. 



ARTHUR H. McCURDY 

Judge McCurdy, as they familiarly call him, is one of the younger 
men among the successful lawyers practicing in Sacramento. He was 
born in Selkirk, Manitoba, July 21, 1879, his father, James McCurdy, 
being an American and a bridge builder, and at that time engaged 
by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. His death took place in 
1893. The mother of Arthur McCurdy was Helen Prescott, who is 
still living in Sacramento. She is a descendant of Colonel Prescott, 
who was in command of the Americans at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, 
and she is also a direct descendant of Martha Winslow, one of the 
famous Mayflower passengers. Mrs. McCurdy possesses some price- 
less mementos of those long ago people and days, heirlooms from her 
famous ancestors, in silver spoons and other articles in that metal. 
She is of a line that possesses some of the most noted names in Eng- 
lish history. 

The three children of this family are Arthur H., the subject of 
this sketch, who was educated in the city schools. Leaving the Sacra- 
mento high school in 1901, he then entered the law office of J. Frank 
Brown, and shortly after continued his law studies in the office of 
Judge J. B. DeVine and Frank D. Ryan, On May 16, 1905, he was 
admitted to the bar of the state and November 11, 1906, was admitted 
to the United States District Court, and he has practiced law since 
his admission. Taking great interest in politics he naturally attended 
state and county Republican conventions. He was elected justice of 
the peace of Sutter townsliip in November, 1902, by a large majority, 
being the j^oungest justice of the peace elected in the county. During 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 469 

his term on tlie bench of the justice's court only three of his decisions 
have failed of confirmation by the higher courts. After the expira- 
tion of his term as justice of the peace he was not a candidate for 
re-election, but since then has given all his attention to his practice 
and has met with unwonted success, having now a large clientele 
throughout the county. Walter J. N. is an attorney at law in Sac- 
ramento. Clara Maude, the sole daughter of the family, resides with 
her mother. 

In fraternity Mr. McCurdy is a past Chief Ranger of the For- 
esters of America, Past Chancellor Commander of the Knights of 
Pythias, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 



MRS. MARY ROSS-ROAN 

Difficult indeed would it be, in any enumeration of the names of 
citizens identified with the upbuilding of Sacramento from the pioneer 
period to the present century, to mention anyone more loyal to the 
city's advancement, more zealous in behalf of its institutions or more 
progressive in the support of important enterprises than has been 
Mrs. Mary Ross-Roan during the more than fifty years of her associa- 
tion with the citizenship of Sacramento. A decade prior to the ad- 
vent of the "iron horse" in the west she came to this then unknown 
region in company with her parents. Rev. William and Berzilla (Mc- 
Ginnis) Kendall, having made the long journey from Havana via 
Panama to San Francisco with uncomplaining fortitude and endured 
its privations with a cheerfulness characteristic of her throughout all 
of life's anxieties. When she finally arrived at Sacramento in 1862 
she found a small village around which could be seen apparently inter- 
minable stretches of barren, unproductive country. To a young girl 
who had mingled happily in her native commonwealth of Illinois, the 
promises of future enjoyment did not seem alluring, yet she found 
much to interest her mind and delight her eyes. From that time to 
this she has manifested a steadfast loyalty toward her adopted city 
and has exhibited the true western spirit of progress. 

Four years after her settlement in the west Miss Mary Kendall 
became the bride of Charles H. Ross, a gentleman of eastern birth 
and honorable lineage, cherishing the inherited traditions of the east, 
yet entering the cosmopolitan activities of the frontier with a genial 
heartiness that made him one with every companion. His had been 
an interesting frontier existence, and in later days, surrounded by the 
comforts of a refined civilization, it was interesting to hear him nar- 
rate tales of the frontier showing the startling contrast between that 



470 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

period and the present. Contributing his quota to the general de- 
velopment, he is entitled to remembrance as one of the substantial 
men and true patriots whose sagacity and enterprise laid the foun- 
dation of civic advancement. 

Born in Portland, Me., in 1828, Charles H. Ross early displayed a 
desire for travel and a distaste for the conventional surroundings of 
his own neighborhood. While yet a mere boy he determined to be a 
soldier, and as this course did not meet with the approval of other 
members of the family, he took matters in his own hands and ran 
away, a procedure that terminated with his enlistment in Stephens' 
regiment in the Mexican war and his participation in military tactics 
common to the day. As early as 1847, before gold had been discovered 
or California had been brought before the attention of the people of 
the east, he came across the plains and settled permanently in the 
sparsely settled valley of the Sacramento. With a partner he took 
up twelve hundred acres of raw land about ten miles from the city of 
Sacramento, and until 1864 he engaged in the stock business, but two 
years after his marriage he removed into town and here he remained 
until his death in 1876. Meanwhile he had identified himself with 
many movements for the public welfare. From the first he held stock 
in the Sacramento bank, an institution in which he maintained the 
warmest interest and to whose substantial footing he contributed of 
his influence with positive effect. It is a statement worthy of note that 
after his death his widow succeeded him as a member of the board 
of directors in the banking concern, and she now has a record of not 
missing a meeting of the board in the past twenty-eight years, with 
the exception of two leaves of absence. During 1901 she became the 
wife of William Roan, a native of New York and a gentleman pos- 
sessing many worthy attributes of character. One of her chief 
pleasures has been the beautifying of her home, and a stranger, noting 
with admiration the artistic arrangement of lawn and flowers, would 
promptly decide that the lady of the house possessed the most refined 
taste; such an o]:>inion would be deepened by a view of the interior 
with its aspect of culture and simple elegance. 

Although many years have passed since Mr. Ross entered into 
eternal rest, he is still remembered by the pioneers of Sacramento. 
Their universal testimony is that he possessed mental attributes of 
a high order, tact and consideration of others in all the associations of 
life and the deepest devotion to the happiness of his wife, for whom 
he manifested a sincere affection that death alone could destroy. The 
philanthropic principles of Masonry won his allegiance during young 
manhood, and for years he held membership with the blue lodge at 
Sacramento. At one time he was chosen to fill the office of super- 
visor, and in that responsible ])osition he proved himself to be efficient, 
resourceful and trustworthy. He was president of the Sacramento 
Pioneer society, of which he had been a member many years. As a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 471 

member of the levee commissioners lie was most helpful, and it is said 
that, when sufficient help could not be secured on needed occasions, 
he was accustomed to give his services gratuitously, and no workman 
surpassed him in skill, speed and accuracy. Whatever promised to 
promote the welfare of Sacramento was sure of his co-operation, and 
he allowed no citizen to surpass him in loyalty and true patriotism. 



JOHN McMAHON 

It is indicative of the industrious and energetic disposition pos- 
sessed by Mr. McMahon that since he came to California he has pro- 
vided for a large family, has given to each fair educational advantages 
and at the same time has accumulated a neat competency, thus provid- 
ing for his declining days the comforts of existence. The fair degree 
of success which has rewarded his laborious efforts is peculiarly 
worthy of praise because he had no education to aid him, no capital 
to furnish the desired ''nest-egg" of his early enterprises and no 
friends to lend him the encouragement of their good wishes and prac- 
tical counsel. All that he is and all that he has may be attributed to 
his fixedness of purpose and sagacity of judgment. Of recent years, 
since his withdrawal from business cares and connections, he has 
spent his days quietly at his comfortable home. No. 2314 Z street, 
Sacramento, where he welcomes with genuine hospitality the friends 
of pioneer experiences who still survive. 

The childhood memories of John McMahon cluster around a little 
cabin in Ireland, where he was born and where he learned the first 
difficult lessons of self-reliance and self-support. He can^ scarcely 
recall the time when he did not desire to emigrate to America. The 
opportunities offered by the new world were a favorite theme of 
conversation among the struggling inhabitants of the country where he 
lived, and as soon as old enough to work independently he crossed 
the ocean to Massachusetts. For seven years he remained in the old 
Bav state and followed the trade of a blacksmith, in which he soon 
became an expert. During 1861 he came via the Isthmus to Cah- 
fornia and settled in Sacramento, where he witnessed the disastrous 
flood of 1861-62, as well as many other catastrophes incident to the 
earlv historv of the city. At the time of his arrival there was a small 
town with few stores that were substantial in construction. The 
surrounding country presented an unattractive and unpromismg as_ 
pect, but with the optimism characteristic of his entire life he decided 
that without question Sacramento and indeed the entire valley had a 
great future before them. 



472 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

It was the happy fate of Mr. McMahon to have for his wife a 
woman his equal in courage and optimistic spirit, his counselor in 
times of discouragement, his companion in the early hardships and 
privations of their younger years and his loving helpmate from their 
union in 1857 until her death in 1890. Born in Canada, she bore the 
maiden name of Mary Morgan and was a member of an old family 
who came from Ireland. Nine children were born of their marriage, 
and six of these are still living, all natives of Sacramento and all 
now residents of this city. The eldest daughter, Rosa, is the wife of 
I. H. Pierson. The others are John B., Mary E., Agnes, Lawrence T. 
and Catherine, the last-named being the wife of Theodore DeWitt. 
For a long time after his settlement in Sacramento Mr. McMahon 
engaged in the blacksmith's business and carried on a shop of his 
own, but eventually he relinquished active labors and since then has 
lived somewhat in retirement. From youth he has been identified with 
the Roman Catholic church, and when the Catholic Knights of Amer- 
ica founded an organization of their own in Sacramento, he became 
an active member and interested worker. As a citizen he is truly 
progressive. The honorable record which he made in business and 
the generosity which he displayed toward those in need as well as the 
deep interest in civic affairs maintained up to the present time have 
combined to give him the confidence of his entire community. 



WILLIAM HENCKEN 

Among the successful business men of Sacramento is William 
liencken, who was born in San Francisco, August 1, 1874, the son of 
John and Anna Hencken, natives of Germany, who came to California 
on a sailing vessel around Cape Horn in the '50s. The son attended 
the public schools of his native city until he reached the age of fifteen 
years, when he started out to work for himself, and for a period 
covering seven years he filled several store clerkships, only relinquish- 
ing the duties of one position to assume another higher up and more 
remunerative. Thinking to better himself he came, in 1898, to Sacra- 
mento, where he accepted the first position that was offered him, that 
of driver for the Union Laundry and this he filled for four years, 
meanwhile becoming familiar with that line of business. He was 
instrumental in organizing the Sacramento Laundry Co., now located 
at Front and streets, of which he is vice-president, and the same 
steady devotion to business he has maintained during the last eight 
years has helped to make the company a success. 

Mr. Hencken 's first marriage was solemnized November 15, 1899, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 475 

to Miss Lulu Thielbahr, by whom he had two children, Victor and 
Carl. Three years after her death he married her sister, Miss Edna 
Thielbahr, of Sacramento, and they have a daughter, Margaret. 

William Hencken is a member of the Foresters and the Woodmen 
of the World, and is an earnest fraternity man. He is politically a 
Republican, broadminded and progressive. 



HON. PHILIP CHARLES COHN 

That mind possesses a mastery over environment and that a 
determination of will often wrests victory from the most adverse 
circumstances are proved by a recital of the experiences of Mr. Cohn, 
who from a boy without means or backing has risen to success and 
influence. Born in the city of New York July 6, 1854, he was the son 
of Charles and Dora (Cosminski) Cohn. 

Philip C. Cohn was taken in his infancy by his parents to Mobile, 
Ala., where he had relatives, and where his father took his wife be- 
cause of ill health, but the mother passed away in 1858, having been 
taken with yellow fever there. Leaving the son with these relatives, 
Charles Cohn with his daughter Fannie returned to New York City, in- 
tending to return for his son as soon as suitable arrangements could be 
made. About this time he became interested in California, and leaving 
his little daughter with relatives in Springfield, Mass., in 1860 he came 
to California via the Isthmus of Panama and arrived at San Francisco. 
Remaining there but a short time he then went to Shasta county, and 
at the time of the Frazer river excitement went to the Caribou mines. 
Subsequently he engaged in business in Victoria, B. C, for a short 
time, then returning to California, and in Sacramento embarked in 
the mercantile business in 1863. In 1872 his daughter Fannie joined 
him and was later married to Max Marcuse of Sacramento, her death 
occurring in San Francisco in 1883. Charles Cohn spent the last years 
of his life under the care of his son and passed away in 1898 in San 
Francisco, at the age of seventy-four years and eight months. 

The early life of P. C. Cohn was a hard one for a child. His ad- 
vantages for education were meager owing to the Civil war troubles, 
and at a very tender age he was obliged to go to work as a messenger 
in order to aid the family with whom he lived. In 1869 he removed to 
West Point, Miss., where he learned the mercantile business. This 
being the era of "Carpet-bag Government" he underwent the hardest 
experiences of his life at that time, which led him to lose his faith 
in mankind, and here his love for Democracy was born and broadened. 
In all this time he had had onlv two vears' schooling, but notwith- 



476 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

standing this hardship lie learned the common-school branches and be- 
came qualified to carry on business of any kind. This was due to his 
remarkable aptitude in learning from observation and from reading. 
Few men surpass him in quickness of comprehension. His keen men- 
tality grasps facts with astonishing readiness and retains them with 
accurate precision; to this (juality and to his force of will is due his 
present substantial degree of success. 

During all these years he had lost all trace of his father because 
of the war, but in 1873, through a Mrs. Kaiser, formerly of Mobile, 
Ala., who had moved to California, he learned that his father and 
sister were in Sacramento, and getting into correspondence with them 
he made his way to that city, landing in May of 1874 with $1.15 as his 
total capital in the world. However, though poor in purse, he was 
rich in hope and energy. Securing employment at once with Acker- 
man, Block & Co., of Sacramento, he remained with them for six years, 
during which time he formed close ties with social and business circles 
which he continued to hold ever afterward. Removing then to San 
Francisco, he traveled from there as salesman for a wholesale 
crockery company. Locating in Folsom in 1884, he bought an interest 
in the business owned by Simon Cohn, his father-in-law, who in 1883 
had introduced him to his future wife. At the death of Simon Cohn 
in 1895 Mr. Cohn bought tlie widow's interest, and since then has 
conducted the store with intelligence, sagacity and discrimination. 
On October 29, 1885, he married Miss Alice Martha Cohn, a native 
daughter of Folsom, who was educated at Perry's Seminary, Sacra- 
mento, and their union was blessed with seven children. Dora F. is 
the wife of Julius Jacobs, who is associated with Mr. Cohn in business, 
and they have two children, Alice and Dorothy ; the other children are 
William M., of San Francisco; Mabel J., Selma, Charles P., Simon A. 
and Henrietta, the last five being at home. 

The Democratic party has received the staunch support of Mr. 
Cohn ever since he attained his majority and began to make a study 
of public questions. Concerning national problems he kee])s well 
posted and in local matters he also maintains an intelligent interest, 
favoring measures for the common welfare and contributing to enter- 
prises of undoubted value to civic development. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Democratic State Central Committee for about ten years, 
and for a longer period a member of the Democratic County Central 
Connnittee. In 1904 he served as delegate from the Third Congres- 
sional district of California to the National Democratic convention in 
St. Louis, Mo., at the nomination of Alton B. Parker, and on his 
return was nominated by acclamation as senator for Sacramento. 
Though running sixteen hundred votes ahead of his ticket, he met 
with defeat, owing to the large Republican majority that year. In 
1912 he was nominated in the i^rimary election for state senator 
on the Democratic ticket, receiving a vote of five to one, and was 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 477 

elected by a majority of two thousand one hundred and seventy for 
the session of 1913. This majority in such a strong Eepublican 
county indicates the implicit confidence placed in Mr. Cohn by 
the people, and he well merits this honor. 

Various fraternities have enjoyed the benefit of his genuine help- 
ful spirit. Included among these are the Benevolent Protective Order 
of Elks, B'nai B'rith, and in Masonry he is a member of Natoma 
Lodge No. 64, of which he is past master, and the Scottish Eite, having 
risen to the Thirty-second degree; he is also a member of Islam 
Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. He is past patron of Natoma 
Chapter No. 233, 0. E. S. 

As he has prospered through his mercantile and other interests 
Mr. Cohn has proved his devotion to California by investing in prop- 
erty here. His holdings are varied and important. Some time since 
he purchased sixty acres of bare land in the Orangevale district, and 
this is now under cultivation to oranges, olives, grapes and prunes. 
In addition he owns a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Eldo- 
rado county, also seven acres on the shores of Lake Tahoe, which in 
the near future will be improved with a fine modern hotel. His city 
properties are no less important than those in the country and in- 
clude San Francisco real estate, a business block in Sacramento, resi- 
dence and business property at Folsom, and other holdings in various 
localities. As a director in the Consumers' Ice and Cold Storage Com- 
pany he directs an important corporation, in which he holds a large 
interest and which is proving to be a well-conducted and important 
concern. He was one of the organizers of the Capital Fire Insurance 
Co. of Sacramento, of which he is a member of the board of directors, 
also serving as its treasurer, this company being one of large propor- 
tions and on a successful financial basis. A life member of the Good 
Eoads Association, he was a member of the conmaission that built the 
road from Folsom to Sacramento. He was appointed by the board of 
supervisors as one of five commissioners to attend the Panama-Pacific 
Exposition of 1915 from Sacramento county, being treasurer of the 
commission. He is a member of the board of directors of the Bank 
of Folsom, and is also one of the directors in the Orangevale Water 
Company. 

With all these varied interests, in the midst of his triumphs Mr. 
Cohn never forgets the days of uphill work and the difficulties that 
beset people who meet with misfortune and failure, and he has always 
been found helpful to those who have been less fortunate, being ever 
ready to devote his time and means to their assistance. In this he 
has a ready helpmeet in his estimable wife. She is a member of the 
Natoma Chapter, 0. E. S., and was made the first president of Fern 
Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West. She is a refined, cul- 
tured lady, whose excellent musical ability and many personal charms 
are much appreciated by their many friends in the county. 



478 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

HARRY C. MUDDOX 

A special atmosphere of interest envelops the men who have been 
identified with the commercial, manufacturing and material upbuilding 
of the west. A difficult although ardent task confronts the one who 
attempts to delineate their life activities and to bestow adequate appre- 
ciation upon the high inspirational force of their characters. Most 
pronounced is this lack of adequate expression in instances of per- 
sonal association with the best interests of a city or commonwealth 
through a long period of eventful years, and such an instance appears 
in the successful enterprises of Mr. Muddox. From the time of his 
arrival in Sacramento, May 4, 1872, when a child scarcely six years 
of age, he viewed the environment of his future home, up to the pres- 
ent time he has witnessed the steadfast development of the community, 
has felt the impetus of western progress and in the work of advance- 
ment has been an important factor through various lines of endeavor. 
Many movements inseparable from the history of the capital city have 
witnessed his association and been promoted by his indefatigable 
earnestness. It is impossible to measure the height or sound the 
depth of his connection with local affairs ; suffice it to state that no 
measure has been j^resented of importance to the general welfare that 
fails of his support and he may with justice claim that in some 
respects his own history is the history of business progress in 
Sacramento. 

An honorable lineage indicates the identification of the Muddox 
family with England during past generations. In the year 1862 
George and Isabelle Muddox, who had been born, reared and married 
in the city of London, crossed the ocean to the United States and 
settled in Illinois, where Harry C. Muddox was born in the city of 
Alton, 111., August 26, 1866, he being the eldest in a family of seven 
children. In a few years his parents became dissatisfied with their 
prospects in Illinois and determined to seek a new location in the far 
west. The decision made, they made preparations and then crossed 
the plains on one of the early overland emigrant trains that required 
fourteen days to reach Sacramento. During 1878 Mr. Muddox started 
a pottery and sewer pipe factory on the corner of K and Thirtieth 
streets and there he remained in business until his death in 1899, when 
Harry C. purchased the entire plant from the estate. Since then he 
has continued as sole owner and manager. From the time of taking 
over the plant he began to make improvements. The entire works 
were remodeled. The work of rebuilding necessitated much expense 
and consumed much time, but its value is easilj^ apparent to the most 
casual observer. Today the plant ranks as one of the largest, most 
complete and modern sewer pipe works on the Pacific coast, and the 
remarkable development may be attributed to the sagacious manage- 
ment of Mr. Mucklox, who having entered the pottery in early life 



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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 481 

and learned the business in all of its details, has been able to utilize 
his thorough knowledge for the permanent upbuilding of the business 
and the increased efficiency of the equipment. 

The management of the plant by no means represents the limit 
of the business activities of Mr. Muddox,. who is indeed one of the lead- 
ing business men and financiers of Sacramento and is now president of 
the Citizens Bank, a director of the Capital National Bank and also 
a director of the Capital Bank & Trust Company of Sacramento. 
Upon the organization of the Capital Fire Insurance Company of 
California, January 21, 1911, his energy in the promoting of the new 
concern was recognized in his election as president of the company 
and chairman of the board of directors, in which capacity he since 
has served with the same zeal, the same high-minded devotion and the 
same power of concentration noticeable in his every association. Out- 
side of financial and business interests, he has found leisure to partici- 
pate in the workings of the Sons of St. George, the presidency of which 
he has filled with honor, in addition to having served as a delegate to 
the Grand Lodge during nine different sessions. At Vacaville, Solano 
county, this state, August 26, 1893, he married Jessie E. Long, who 
was born, reared and educated in that city. They are the parents of 
three children, Ruth Fay, Forest C. and Isabelle E. 



EDWARD MORRIS 

To a period far exceeding the usual business activities of even 
the most robust men Mr. Morris has retained his old-time quickness 
of mental faculties, energy of action and vigor of health, thereby en- 
abling him to continue the pursuits in which he is most deeply inter- 
ested. Notwithstanding his more than four score years he still keeps 
posted concerning national problems, reads current literature with un- 
abated interest and carries his daily duties through to a successful 
accomplishment. The printing business has been his life occupation. 
When a mere lad, just from Grammar School No. 2 in New York City, 
he began an apprenticeship to the trade and soon had mastered its 
many intricacies so that he was qualified to work as a journeyman. 
Born in New York City February 22, 1828, he spent not only child- 
hood there but also youth and young manhood and for twenty-two 
years was a valued employe of the Appleton Publishing Company. 

The marriage of Mr. Morris took place in the eastern metropolis 
November 10, 1850, in the Church of the Epiphany (Episcopal), and 
united him with Miss Julia Fiddes, who was born in London, England. 
Six children were born of the union, but one daughter, Julia, died when 



482 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

only nine months old. The eldest son, James F"., has resided with his 
parents since the death of his wife, who left two children, a son and 
a daughter. The second son, Edward, formerly a noted baseball 
player, is now a resident of Pittsburg, Pa. The daughters are Mrs. 
Phoebe Leadley, Mrs. Jane L. Wiggins and Adelaide, wife of Charles 
Schoenfeldt. During 1877 Mr. Morris crossed the continent to San 
Francisco and secured employment as a printer. Being pleased with 
the western country, he sent for his wife and family, who joined him 
later, thus establishing a permanent home in this state. After a con- 
siderable period in San Francisco, removal was made to Sacramento 
in 1885, and in this city Mr. Morris has been engaged with the state 
printing office for twenty-seven consecutive years, meanwhile winning 
a reputation for fidelity, intelligent service and thorough familiarity 
with the printing business. 

After he had become a resident of Sacramento and had felt the 
need of a permanent residence, Mr. Morris bought pro])erty well 
located and erected a neat cottage, where he and his wife have since 
improved their grounds and made an attractive home. In addition, 
he has owned other property in the city and occasionally has helped 
to promote local enterprises by the loan of funds, doing this less 
from hope of moneyed returns than from a desire to advance the wel- 
fare of the city. On two occasions he and his wife have returned to 
New York City to visit the scenes familiar to their younger days. 
Their last tri]) was made during the summer of 1911, when they 
stopped at El Paso, Memphis, Denver and Chicago, also visited their 
son in Pittsburg, and found in the renewal of old associations and the 
visits to new scenes such a delightful change that they returned to 
their Sacramento home refreshed in body and mind, but firm in their 
long-cherished belief that no ]:>art of the country excels our own west 
in all that makes life enjoyable. Indeed, they attribute their own 
])reservation of health to such advanced years almost wholly to their 
removal to the western coast and their identification with a climate 
healthful and invigorating. 



GEORGE H. NETIIERCOTT 

Desire to see the then unknown west and an innate love of adven- 
ture were the princi])al factors entering into the decision of Mr. Neth- 
ercott, then a youth of about eighteen years, to join an expedition 
bound for the Pacific coast. For only three years had he been a resi- 
dent of the United States, and those years had been passed in St. 
Louis, Mo., where he earned his livelihood by day labor. He was 
fairly well educated for the period in which he attended school, and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 483 

had received excellent advantages through the efforts of his parents, 
James and Racliael (James) Nethercott, of Oxfordshire, England. He 
was born at Shillingford, Oxfordshire, .England, October 23, 1834, and 
was brought to America by his parents in 1850, crossing the Atlantic 
on the sailer "Hartley" to New Orleans, La., whence, after a voyage 
of eight weeks and three days, they proceeded up the Mississippi to 
St. Louis. Mr. Nethercott possessed a restless temperament that found 
no satisfaction in the midst of the conditions then existent in his 
locality, therefore he sought the freer opportunities of the new 
world, where his love of travel found abundant gratification in the 
expedition across the plains with ox-teams in 1853. The party to 
which he joined himself consisted of thirty-five men, five women and 
five children, with all of the necessary provisions and supplies. In ad- 
dition, the men drove two hundred and fifty head of cattle and fift}' 
head of horses. Good fortune attended the trip and only a few head 
of stock were lost. 

Having been employed as a teamster in St. Louis, the young 
emigrant sought similar work in California and he soon found a job 
with excellent pay. From teaming he drifted into ranching as offer- 
ing a more permanent and satisfactory source of livelihood. It soon 
became evident that Sacramento was short in its milk supply and that 
caused him to buy a herd of dairy cows, with which he started in the 
dairy business in 1860. When the great flood of 1861 occurred he was 
forced to keep his stock on the hills all winter. The catastrophe con- 
sideralily affected the growth of his dairy and temporarily changed his 
profits to losses, but when everything had resumed the even tenor of 
its way he again found dairying profitable, and he has continued in 
the business up to the present time. 

From the time of his marriage in 1861 Mr. Nethercott received 
the energetic assistance of his wife, a woman of great industry as 
well as wise judgment, and her death in 1894, just as they were be- 
ginning to enjoy the results of their years of labor, proved a heavy 
blow to him. She was a native of Ireland and bore the maiden name 
of Anna O'Neil. During the year 1858 she became a resident of Cali- 
fornia, where she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Nethercott. Their 
union resulted in the birth of seven children, two of whom died in 
early childhood, Edward at the age of twenty-six years, and John 
Albert died January 27, 1912, at the age of thirty-six years. The two 
surviving sons, George H., Jr., and Arthur D., are interested with 
their father in the dairy business, and their energetic, intelligent co- 
operation has proved of the greatest value to the permanent ]iros- 
perity of the industry. The only daughter, Catherine, is making her 
home with her father. In politics Mr. Nethercott gives his influence 
to the Republican party in national affairs. Movements for the bene- 
fit of Sacramento and the adjacent country receive his hearty su]iport. 
As a citizen he exerts that solid influence known only to men who 



484 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

have made a success of what they started out to do. It has been his 
privilege to witness the development of the Sacramento valley from 
a barren country to a rich and productive tract. To this growth he 
has been a personal contributor, and now in the days of his prosperity 
he enjoys recounting experiences when settlers were few, improve- 
ments conspicuous by their absence and when that spirit of hearty 
hospitality prevailed which is so esentially a characteristic of every 
new country. 



CHAUNCEY HOMER DUNN 

Hia'h on the roll of prominent professional men who have achieved 
wide reputation for honesty of principle, integrity of purpose and 
exceptional force of will, is Chauncey Homer Dunn, now senior mem- 
ber of the well-known law firm of Dunn, Cowan & Brand, whose offices 
are located in Sacramento, but whose clientele embraces a large area 
of the surrounding country. Inheriting the brilliant proclivities of his 
honored father, who though following a different walk in the profes- 
sional life, left an indelible impress upon his locality as a kindly, 
generous and unselfish character, full of thoughtful acts and charitable 
undertakings, Chauncey H. Dunn grew to manhood, giving close 
attention to his studies, being very observing and possessing a re- 
tentive memory. Of studious nature, he attained rare mental achieve- 
ment, which, added to a naturally strong personality and a self-pos 
sessed, cool attitude, enabled him to become the brilliant, keensighted 
and unusually successful lawyer he is today. Among his fellow work- 
ers he is recognized as an unerring, alert and accurate thinker, his 
active mind and intuitive power being valuable attributes in his profes- 
sional make-up, to say nothing of his clever delivery and forceful 
manner of bringing his subjects to the attention of his hearers, who 
arc compelled by his very presence to feel his influence. He is most 
conscientious in the handling of all cases and his reputation is that 
of a most generous, kind-hearted and charitable gentleman, whose 
manner of giving is unostentatious and quiet, and the many who have 
felt the aid of his helping hand have reason to hold him in the high 
respect he receives today. 

The father of Chauncey H. Dunn was the Rev. Thomas S. Dunn, 
who with his wife, Freelove M. (Conkling) Dunn, came from Ohio to 
California in 1860, via the Isthmus of Panama, At San Jose, Cal., 
Rev. Dunn became pastor of a Methodist church, in which he labored 
among the poor and needy for many years, giving of his time and 
means wherever needed .with an unselfish hand, and his memory is 
revered in many parts of the country where his benevolence and un- 




^^-^^JL.«^<.— <t--^/^y-. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 487 

tiring perseverance were felt. The Eev. Dunn was a member of the 
California Methodist Episcopal conference from 1860 until his death, 
in February, 1899, since which time his widow has made her home 
with her daughter in San Jose. 

Ghauncev H. Dunn was born September 25, 1856, at Laurel, Cler- 
mont county, Ohio, where his father was pastor of the Methodist 
Church. When he was four years old he was brought by his parents 
to San Jose, Cal., where he received his elementary education, supple- 
menting attendance at the public schools there* with a course at Napa 
College and at the University of the Pacific near San Jose, from 
which institution he was graduated with the class of 18/8 with the 
degree of A. B. His legal training was obtained in the Hastings Law 
School of San Francisco, and since becoming a member of the bar 
he has continued in active practice in Sacramento, May 1, 1912, being 
the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of his professional career. 
He is now senior member of the law firm of Dunn, Cowan & Brand, 
in which capacity he has accomplished many splendid actions in court 
and elsewhere, and he is retained by various firms and corporations 
in Sacramento, his practice being extensive and most gratifying. Mr. 
Dunn organized Eeclamation district No. 537, known as the Lovdal 
district, above the town of Washington, Yolo county, and represents 
it as its attorney ; in Sutter county he also improved a farm from the 
tules until it was brought to a high state of cultivation, when he dis- 
posed of it and is now building one of the largest modern apartment 
houses in Sacramento. He is a director of the Chamber of Com- 
merce of Sacramento, of which he is a very active member, and his 
interest in his adopted city is such that he is ever ready to contribute 
of his time, means and influence for the betterment of conditions 
there and the upbuilding and development of its resources. 

For twenty years, almost without interruption, Mr. Dunn was the 
president of the Sacramento Young Men's Christian Association, and 
he has been a member of its board of directors for twenty-seven years. 
A loyal worker in the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Sacra- 
mento, he has filled the position of Sunday-school superintendent for 
twenty years. When the Law and Order League was organized he 
was its president for two years, and since it has been known as the 
Municipal League he has served in that capacity for a like period, 
proving a most valued official. Mr. Dunn is a public-spirited man in 
the fullest sense of the word, and all interests for the welfare of his 
community receive his hearty co-operation. 

The marriage of Mr. Dunn occurred in 1884, when he was united 
with Miss Merrium V. Blasdel, of Oakland, Cal., niece of the Hon. 
Henry G. Blasdel, who was the first governor of Nevada. Mrs. Dunn 
is a member of the Tuesday Club and of the Woman's Council, a fed- 
erated club of all the women's clubs of the city of Sacramento; is 
vice-president and director of the California Civic League, a new 



488 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

organization whose mission is the instruction of women as to their 
political rights, and she is also an active suffragist. Mr. and Mrs. 
Dunn are the parents of three children: Winifred Blasdel, born in 
1890, is a student at Mills College; Carroll Conkling, born in 1892, is 
attending Belmont school; and Chauncey Homer, Jr., born in 1897, 
is a student in the Sacramento high school. 



JAMES V. HART 

To the man who realizes early in life the necessity of choosing a 
specific vocation, centering therein his most faithful attention and 
guided at all times by principles of justice and honor, success is both 
sure and permanent. Although one of the youngest members of his 
profession, city attorney of Sacramento, James V. Hart has attained 
a place among his colleagues which is entirely the result of his own 
perseverance and manly courage, and he is regarded justly as well 
worthy of the confidence and approbation which he enjoys throughout 
the community. 

A native of California, his birth having occurred February 5, 
1882, in Willows, Glenn county, Mr. Hart received a public school 
education in his home town and in 1904 graduated from the University 
of the Pacific in San Jose. The following fall he entered Stanford 
University, his spirit of determination and love of intellectual pur 
suits lending to his most arduous mental tasks an interest which 
enabled him to not only keep abreast of his fellow students but, also, 
to win a place among those who ranked highest in his classes. Sup- 
plementing a year's law course at Stanford, he was appointed county 
law librarian in 1907 and during his service studied his chosen voca- 
tion with increasing pleasure, his thorough mastery of the subject 
admitting him to the bar in 1908. In November, scarcely a year 
later, owing to the general favor with which he was regarded, not 
only by his associates, but by leading citizens, as well, he was elected 
to the office of city attorney, conducting his new duties with a skill and 
wise judgment that won him unanimous commendation. 

June 2, 1910, in Sacramento, Mr. Hart was united in marriage 
with Miss Frances Panabaker, who was born in 1886, the daughter of 
Ed E. and Rose (Williams) Panabaker of Sacramento. Mrs. Hart 
is a woman of exceptional tact and sympathetic understanding and 
renders her husband immeasurable aid in maintaining the serenity 
of spirit so essential to the proper discharge of public duties. 

A Republican of note, Mr. Hart is recognized as a man who not 
only plans improvements in party measures, but who, by means of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 491 

his influence and executive ability is enabled to carry tbem out, and 
in all his dealings exhibits the most candid methods, free from a 
shadow of equivocation. Fraternally he is allied with Sunset Parlor, 
N. S. G. W., and is also an active and popular member of the Sutter 
Club. 



OWEN G. HOPKINS, A. M. 

No life is more useful to a city or of greater service to the com- 
monwealth than that which, through forceful and unaided efforts, rises 
out of obscurity, triumphs over difficulties and emerges into useful- 
ness through the narrow path of self-denial and self-reliance. Such 
in brief is the history of 0. G. Hopkins, a native Californian, whose 
early years were filled with privations and whose unusual educational 
attainments are the result of his own determined efforts. It is the 
good fortune of Sacramento to have attracted to its professional 
coterie a man so eminently qualified to benefit civic enterprises by 
personal interest and to adorn the bar by his thorough knowledge of 
jurisprudence. As city trustee, to which office he was elected in 
1907, he showed a disposition to willingly serve the people and also 
displayed the ability to bring that service to a successful conclusion. 
By education, training and experience he is qualified for important 
work and successful association with professional affairs. 

Eldorado county is the native locality of Mr. Hopkins and May 
21, 1866, the date of his birth. The paternal genealogy shows a long 
line of Welsh ancestors. His father, Griffith Hopkins, was born in 
Wales September 28, 1829, and at the age of three years was brought 
to the United States by his parents, who settled at Carbondale, Pa. 
The advantages of free-school education in the east aided him in the 
preparation for life's duties. During 1853 he became a resident of 
Coalport, Meigs county, Pa. The year 1855 found him joining the 
pioneers of California, coming via Panama, and from San Fran- 
cisco he went to Eldorado county and tried his luck in the mines. 
Like the majority who follow that occupation he had his good fortune 
and his ill luck, but he earned a livelihood at the work, so he con- 
tinued for many years to give much attention to prospecting and 
mining. Eventually, in 1886, he retired from business and came to 
Sacramento, where in 1900 his death occurred. 

After having completed the studies of the common schools 0. G. 
Hopkins came to Sacramento in 1884, without money or friends, but 
with an abundance of hope and ambition. The first position offered 
was that of clerk in John Riley's grocery and there he worked for 
three months. Next for two months he worked for A. A. Van Voor- 

.10 



492 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

hies & Co., saddlery manufacturers. During tlie ensuing two months 
he worked for John Eitel, manufacturer of candy, and for a month 
was employed by Siller Bros., contractors and builders. With them 
he gained his first knowledge of carpentering and in order to com- 
plete the trade he entered the employ of J, H. Moon, a building con- 
tractor, with whom he continued for two and one-half years. On 
starting out to work for wages he secured employment as a bench 
hand with the Telegraph Planing Mill Company and there he re- 
mained for three years. These various positions had brought him 
enough to pay for his board and clothing, but had enabled him to 
save up little for other expenses, and always he had been ambitious 
to secure an education beyond that of the public schools. With that 
purpose in view he entered the Atkinson Business College and studied 
for three months. 

With only $35 in his pocket as his total capital, Mr. Hopkins left 
Sacramento for San Jose and entered the preparatory department of 
the University of the Pacific. By working for others during his 
leisure hours he was able to pay his expenses for the one year of 
his study in the institution, and he adopted a similar course in order 
to earn his way through Stanford University, When he was gradu- 
ated from that institution in 1895, the pioneer class with the degree 
of A. B., it was with the satisfaction of knowing that his unaided 
efforts had given him a splendid education and yet left him without 
debt. After his graduation he remained at Stanford for one year 
in order to complete the course in law. In 1896 he received the 
degree of A. M. from his alma mater. Upon returning to Sacramento 
he began the practice of law, which he has continued on a growing 
scale up to the present. Besides his professional work he has served as 
a director in the Fort Sutter Bank and as a director of the Roseville 
Banking & Trust Co., at Roseville, Placer county. 

The marriage of Mr. Hopkins and Miss Jennie S. DeMerritt took 
place in Sacramento October 12, 1899, and has been blessed with two 
children. Tlie daughter, Evelyn E., and the son, Marshall G., are both 
students in the Sacramento schools. The family are communicants of 
the Congregational Church and contribute to the missionary and 
benevolent measures under the auspices of the denomination. The 
Repu])lican ]iarty has received the support of Mr. Hopkins ever since 
he attained his majority, and in 1912 was nominated at the primary 
for State Senator of the Seventh district, embracing Sacramento 
county. Various fraternities have had the benefit of his active co- 
operation. In the Independent Order of Foresters he is officiating as 
past high chief ranger of the High Court of California, an office 
which he has filled for the past six years. A believer in the splendid 
principles for which Masonry stands, he has been staunch in his 
association with its lodge at Sacramento, lieing a thirty-second degree 
Scottish Rite Mason, and is a member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of 



HISTOBY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 493 

Sail Francisco. Other fraternal connections include member ship in the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, Knights 
of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose and Improved Order of Red Men. 



EUGENE A. JUNIOR 

For more than twenty-five years a resident of the vicinity of 
Antelope, Mr. Junior ranks deservedly among the most influential 
and progressive citizens of this portion of Sacramento county and the 
place that he owns and occupies, improved through his laborious ef- 
forts and cultivated under his scientific supervision, represents the 
fruits of his years of intelligent toil. Visitors state that the farm is 
one of the most attractive in the region, while the testimony of his 
own financial returns indicates that the property is remunerative 
as well as artistically beautiful. When he first came to the locality 
he was entirely without means and, in order to secure a start, was 
obliged to work out as a ranch hand for a number of years. Begin- 
ning as a property owner in 1893, he acquired the title to twenty-one 
acres near Antelope and later purchased an adjacent tract of twenty 
acres. On this farm he since has engaged in the growing of almonds. 
As a specialist he has won wide recognition and distinct success, and 
the products of his ranch find a ready sale at the highest market 
prices. 

A son of Joseph and Mary Junior and a native of Brandon, Rut- 
land county, Vt.,, Eugene A. Junior was born February 20, 1855, and 
attended the public schools of the home neighborhood from 1861 until 
the spring of 1873. At the latter time he removed to Michigan and 
secured employment as a clerk in a general mercantile store at Me- 
nominee, continuing in the same position until January of 1876, when 
he came west to California. Here his first emplojanent detained him 
for one year in Trinity county, where he worked in a quicksilver mine. 
Froui tiiat section he drifted to other localities and worked at any 
honest occupation that promised a livelihood. His advent into Sacra- 
mento county in 1886 was not auspicious, for he was without friends 
or caintal or influence. However, he possessed an abundance of de- 
termination and energy and these qualities, backed by honorable prin- 
ciples and intelligent judgment, have brought him a fair degree of 
success. His life has been so occupied with private concerns that he 
has had no leisure for political interests nor have his tastes led^ him 
in the direction of public activities. In political sentiments he is inde- 
pendent, supporting the men and the measures rather than the party. 
In the work of the Grange he has been an intelligent participant, having 



494 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

served two terms as past master, and in all local movements for the 
general welfare lie has been actively interested. During December of 
1889 Mr, Junior was married in Sacramento to Miss Minnie Gardner, 
an estimable young lady, born in Sutter township, this county. She 
is the daughter of Daniel Gardner, who came to California around the 
Horn in the early '50s. In 1910 their new residence was built and it 
presents an artistic appearance, being a bungalow with cobble-stone 
front, the stone having been brought for that purpose from Natoma. 



SIDNEY M. PHILLIPS 

To business men of Sacramento and San Francisco the name of 
Sidney M. Phillips is known as that of an influential citizen, prog- 
ressive in his association with commercial enterprises, devoted to the 
development of Northern California and engaged in important busi- 
ness pursuits that give employment to his trained mental energies. 
Honesty of character and earnestness of purpose have stamped the 
impress of his individuality upon associates. In view of the fact that 
scarcely yet has he reached the prime of mature manhood his success 
is particularly noteworthy and indicates the possession of originality 
of mind as well as high aspirations of soul. Metropolitan advantages 
in San Francisco, where he was born in February of 1879, offered 
abundant opportunities for the development of a mind unusually keen. 
It was his good fortune not only to attend the i3ublic schools, but also 
to enjoy collegiate instruction, and thus he entered upon business ac- 
tivities fully prepared to cope with every difficulty and master every 
intricate problem. 

The house of M. Phillips & Co., wholesale dealers in rice, gave 
to Sidney M. Phillips his initial training in the fundamental elements 
of all business, and he remained in San Francisco with this firm for 
some years. During 1904 he established in Sacramento the wholesale 
rice and cracker firm of S. M. Phillips &> Co., and at the same time 
became a resident of the capital city. As the Sacramento representa- 
tive of a number of leading automobile companies he established an 
agency at No. 1224 M street, but in 1908 he built a modern garage at 
No. 1609-11 M street and removed his agency to that address. In 
addition, he established the Phillips Drayage and Warehouse Company 
on Front and P streets. Upon leaving Sacramento August 1, 1911, 
to resume residence in San Francisco, he retired from the automobile 
business, but the warehouse is still conducted under competent and 
trustworthy management. In San Francisco he is a member of the 
firm of M. Phillips & Co., located at No. 9 Main street., wholesale 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 497 

rice and bean importers and exporters, with branches in Sacramento, 
Honolulu, H. T., Seattle, Wash., Los Angeles, Cal., and Portland, Ore. 
With all the heavy responsibilities of a business so extensive he has 
not allowed his Sacramento interests to be lessened or negiected, but 
by occasional visits he keeps in close touch with every department of 
tiie work at this point, where he has built and now occupies a ware- 
house 120x150 feet in dimensions. 

During June of 1910 occurred the marriage of Sidney M. Phillips 
to Miss Blanche Lewis, daughter of a retired business man and in- 
fluential citizen of San Francisco. In addition to enjoying the usual 
classical educational advantages, Mrs. Phillips was also afforded ex- 
ceptional opportunities in music. Possessing talent in this art, she 
has become an accomplished pianist. Her skill has become recognized 
in the musical circles of San Francisco and Sacramento, where her 
standing is that of an artist unusually gifted by nature and thor- 
oughly equipped by education for the highest successes offered by 
the profession. Grace and hospitality mingle with the other elements 
that endow her mind and character. A love of the most refined in 
literature adds its influence to the cultivation of her mind and gives 
her prominence in the Tuesday and Saturday clubs of Sacramento, 
as well as in a number of clubs in San Francisco. 



JOHN LAWRENCE NAGLE 

By far one of the most important and extensive industries in 
Northern California today is fruit culture, and, in this field, re- 
plete with financial opportunities, ought to be found men of broad 
training and keen business judgment. In truth, to such gigantic 
proportions has grown the enterprise, launched scarcely forty years 
ago in a country rich with possibilities for its success, that were 
the exact number of workers in that connection to become known^ 
astonishment would reign supreme in the minds of those who know 
little of the extent of this carefully organized, perfectly controlled 
source of production. 

In his vital association with the fruit industry during the past 
twelve years, the manager of the California Fruit Exchange of 
Sacramento, John L. Nagle, has attained thorough familiarity with 
every phase of his work and in his direct conservative methods and 
ability to master every problem that arises, is recognized as a man 
perfectly adapted for his position. 

Mr." Nagle was born September 5, 1877, in Boston, Mass., where 
he received a preliminary education in the public schools. At the 



498 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ai^e of sixteen he entered Mount St. Mary's College at Emmitsburg, 
Md,, at which place he remained for three years, and in 1896 en- 
tered Georgetown University at Washington, D. C, from which in- 
stitution he graduated in 1899, and later entered the employ of 
Haskell-Adams & Co., importers, of Boston, Mass. After serving 
these people two years as salesman he was selected to handle the 
account of Nelson-Morris & Co., beef packers, of Chicago, in San 
Francisco. His associations with the latter firm took him into the 
fruit districts of Northern California. Becoming impressed with 
the opportunities offered in the growing of fruit he determined to 
engage in the business, and for this purpose he located in New- 
castle, Placer county, in 1901. Two years later he was joined by 
his brother from Boston, and together the}^ purchased large tracts of 
land and planted the same to deciduous fruits. 

In 1904 Mr. Nagle was appointed manager of the Newcastle Fruit 
Growers' Association, a branch of the California Fruit Exchange, 
which position he held until 1910, when he was made manager of 
the California Fruit Exchange, the largest independent deciduous 
fruit marketing organization on the Pacific coast. 

The California Fruit Exchange has grown in the past twelve 
years from a shipment of two hundred cars to two thousand cars, 
and now embraces associations from the Imperial Valley to Shasta 
county, handling the products of over one thousand fruit growers 
and distributing the same through all the principal markets of the 
United States and Canada. On account of its affiliation with the 
California Fruit Growers' Exchange of Los Angeles, the largest 
citrus organization in the world, it is enabled to employ a force of 
salaried agents, numbering over one hundred, located in all of the 
large markets of this country. 

Mr. Nagle has increased his holdings in Placer county, and is 
now one of the largest fruit growers in the northern part of the 
state. On account of his close relationship with the Exchange, most 
of his time is taken up in Sacramento, though he looks after his 
personal properties once a week. 

For years Mr. Nagle took an active part in athletic sports and 
for two years held the one-mile record for the southern states. He 
was also enthusiastic in foot-ball and base-ball, but, owing to pres- 
sure of business, has found it impossible to devote any time to that 
field of pleasure. Widely known as a man of exemplary principles 
and ])rogressive spirit, he enjoys the high regard of his friends and 
associates and in all public movements of worth may be counted upon 
to lend material assistance. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 499 



RALPH KNIGHT 

The interests of occupational employment have taken Mr, Knight 
into various parts of the country and have given him a broad knowl- 
edge not only concerning his native commonwealth of California, but 
also in regard to much of the south and east. Brief sojourns in many 
well-known cities and temporary association with a number of indus- 
trial and railroad corporations have made him conversant with the 
opportunities afforded by different regions and with the condition 
of workmen connected with various large corporations. He was, 
however, connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in 
a larger degree than with any other organization and for five years 
was engaged as foreman of the drafting department in the company's 
shops at Sacramento, filling the responsible position with an energy 
which is one of his characteristics and with an intelligent comprehen- 
sion of the work acquired through former associations with similar 
departments elsewhere. However, in 1912 he resigned his position to 
engage in mechanical engineering. 

In the city where he now resides Mr. Knight was born during May 
of 1869 into the home of Capt. William L. and Mary D. Knight. The 
local schools afforded him excellent advantages in the primary and 
grammar department, after which from 1880 until 1884 he studied 
in the public schools of Oakland and then completed his education 
by a year's course in the Spencerian Business College. His entrance 
into the world of industrial activity was made as an apprentice ma- 
chinist in the printing press machine shop of Hare & Berryman, 
printers, at San Francisco, with whom he continued for a year. Re- 
turning to Sacramento he engaged as an apprentice machinist with 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and during 1892 completed the 
trade in these shops, after which he went back to the coast and for 
two months worked as machinist with the South San Francisco Land 
Improvement Company. The five months following were spent in San 
Luis Obispo, Cal., as a machinist. Upon his return to San Francisco 
he took a course in mechanical drafting in a school of engineering, 
where he studied for one year, later until 1896 engaging as a machinist 
with the Southern Pacific Com])any in Oakland. Next he spent two 
years as a machinist in the government employ at Mare Island Navy 
yard, where he held a position in the steam engineering department. 
During April of 1898 he returned to Oakland as a machinist with the 
railroad company and afterward with the same company at Duns- 
muir, Siskiyou county, to work in the railroad shops at that point, 
where he continued from 1900 until March of the next year. From 
March until June he was with the Southern Pacific at Tucson, Ariz., 
as a machinist. The following month was spent at Denison, Texas, 



500 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

as a machinist in the shops of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Eailroad, 
and he then worked for a similar period at Pine Bluff, Ark., as a 
machinist with the St. Louis & Southwestern Railroad. The next posi- 
tion was at Little Rock, Ark., with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & 
Southern Railroad. 

A brief experience concerning conditions and environment in In- 
diana came to Mr. Knight when for two months he worked at Lafay- 
ette, that state, as a machinist with the Chicago, Indiana & Louisville 
Railroad. From Indiana he traveled across the line into Ohio and 
secured employment as draftsman with the American Steel & Wire 
Company, of Cleveland, with whom he continued until December of 
1902. From that time until November of 1903 he held a position as 
draftsman with the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Philadelphia, Pa. 
Returning to Ohio he became draftsman with the Columbia Chemical 
Company at Barberton, but in March of 1904 he decided to resign and 
return to the south. After spending three months in Tucson, Ariz., 
as machinist with the Southern Pacific Railroad, he came back to Cali- 
fornia, where he entered the Southern Pacific shops at Rocklin, Placer 
county. During July of 1904 he was employed at Ogden, Utah, as a 
machinist with the same company, but in a very short time he returned 
to the company's Sacramento shops, where he was employed as a ma- 
chinist until November of 1905 and then entered the drafting room 
as a draftsman, being promoted in 1907 as foreman of the department. 
In 1912 he resigned to engage as a mechanical engineer, opening an 
office in Sacramento, where he is practicing. He is loyal to his 
native commonwealth and maintains an active association with the 
Society of California Pioneers. Politically he votes with the Repub- 
lican party, fraternally holds membership with the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and in religion adheres to the doctrines of the Chris- 
tian Science Church. 



HON. GROVE L. JOHNSON 

The subject of this sketch, Hon, Grove L. Johnson, was liorn 
in Syracuse, Onondaga county, state of New York, March 27, 184L 
His father,' grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grand- 
father were born in America. His mother, her father and her grand- 
father were all born in America. He can therefore truly claim that 
he is an American in the fullest sense. 

Mr. Johnson's fathei- died when he was but fifteen years of age, 
since which lime he has sui)])orted himself by his own exertions. He 
studied law in the office of Sedgwick, Andrews & Kennedy, the lead- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 501 

ing law firm of Syracuse, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar April 2, 
1862, just six days after he became twenty-one. He early in life 
took an interest in politics as a Republican. Although" but fifteen 
years of age he made many speeches for Fremont in 1856 and when 
but nineteen years old he campaigned for Lincoln in 1860. He was 
elected school commissioner of the city of his birth in 1862, although 
not twenty-one years old and could not take his seat for some time, 
awaiting his majority. 

The fact that his brother was serving as a commissioned officer 
in the west was the innnediate cause of the coming of Mr. Johnson 
to California in October of 1863, when he arrived in Sacramento 
after a tedious overland journey from Atchison, Kans., in a stage- 
coach that covered the distance in twenty-two days and nights. Im- 
mediately after his arrival he was made quartermaster's clerk under 
his brother and served in that capacity in California, Arizona and 
Washington. During April of 1865, with the close of the war, he 
received an honorable discharge and in May of the same year he 
returned to Sacramento, which city he since has considered his home, 
although public duties often have called him temporarily to other 
points. After having held a position as chief deputy in the county 
assessor's office for two years he was made swamp land clerk for 
the board of supervisors of Sacramento county, being the first to 
hold the office, also the sole incumbent, for at the expiration of seven 
years the swamp lands were formed into different districts instead of 
being managed by the board of supervisors, hence there was no 
longer need for a swamp land clerk of the supervisors. 

After having held a position as clerk in the office of the surveyor- 
general of (California for two years Mr. Johnson opened an office in 
Sacramento, Cal., for the practice of law May 1, 1873. Since that 
time he has risen to a high rank in his profession, not alone in his 
home city, but throughout the entire commonwealth and indeed the 
whole great west. Deliberate in action, logical in thought, ripe in 
experience and concise and clear in his reasoning and most eloquent 
in his addresses, he possesses the attributes of a successful attorney 
and has won his laurels worthily and well. He was very successful 
as a criminal lawyer and during his practice lost only two cases. 
He defended seventeen persons accused of murder and saved all but 
one from hanging. He won the Hurtado case, when the Supreme 
Court of (California, upon the strength of his argument, changed 
the rule of testimony in murder cases where temporary insanity was 
the defense. 

He carried to success the litigation growing out of the attempt 
to take the State Capitol from Sacramento to San Jose. In other 
important lawsuits he won decisions from the Supreme Court against 
learned and able antagonists and at times obtained decisions that 
were new to our state. He has alwavs been a friend to the ]:>oor 



502 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and has done more nnpaid work as a lawyer than any other man 
in California. 

The building up of an important clientele did not engross his 
attention to the exclusion of public service. Always he has stood 
for what was best for the interests of the city and commonwealth. 
In a long and influential public career he has proved absolutely 
honest and incontestibly courageous and perhaps no citizen of Sac- 
ramento has done more than he in the molding of public opinion. 
As a member of the State Bar Association and as president for more 
than twelve years of the Sacramento Bar Association, he has main- 
tained an intimate association with matters of law and jurisprudence. 
With justice he might be denominated a Nestor of the bar, not only 
on account of his long service as a practitioner, but also in recog- 
nition of his deep knowledge of fundamental law. As a public 
speak^ either politically or on general topics he has no superior 
in the west. He always captivates his audience. 

From young manhood Mr. Johnson has been active in the work 
of the Re]^ublican party. At the California Republican state con- 
ventions of 1884, 1888, 1892 and 1908 he officiated as chairman of 
the committee on resolutions and also wrote the party platform 
that was adopted by the delegates. During 1896 he was a delegate 
to the St. Louis national convention of his party. Elected to the 
Assembly in 1877, two years later he was chosen to serve as state 
senator for four years. In 1894 he became a member of congress 
from the second congressional district of California. Two years 
later, when again nominated, he suffered defeat with the balance o!' 
the Republican ticket. At the elections of 1898, 1900 and 1902 he 
was chosen a member of the state assembly and would have been 
re-elected in 1904 had not illness prevented him from being a can- 
didate. Elected to the state legislature in 1906, he served with 
such distinction and fidelity that he was again chosen for the same 
position in 1908. In each session he was chairman of the judiciary 
committee. Every bill of a general nature introduced before the 
legislature was read by him. So painstaking was he in the pre- 
sentation of every important matter to the members of his com- 
mittee that they were accustomed to remark, as they proceeded to 
the judiciary committee room, they were going to "Johnson's law 
school." No measure associated witli his public career has been 
more important than that of securing while a member of congress 
the placing of the work of improving and cleansing the Sacramento 
and San Joaquin rivers on the regular appropriation schedule, so 
that appropriations are made each year for the work without special 
orders, thus entirely removing a great public measure from the 
realm of politics. 

The first marriage of Mr. Johnson took ])lace in Syracuse, N. Y., 
and united him with Miss Annie W. de Montfredy, who was born 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 503 

in Syracuse and died in 1903 in California. September 1, 1908, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Helen Alice Hassett, a native of 
San Francisco and a daughter of Hon. W. J. Hassett, ex-mayor of 
Sacramento. By his first marriage he became the father of five 
children, namely: Albert M., who died in Oakland in 1907 at the 
age of forty-six years; Josephine, Mrs. A. R. Fink, of Sacramento; 
Hiram W., now governor of California; Mabel, Mrs. Bruce L. Dray, 
of Pasadena; and Mary, Mrs. H. E. O'Neal, of Tacoma, Wash., who 
died in Sacramento. The eldest son, Albert M., ranked as one of 
the most brilliant and promising attorneys of the state and as one of 
the most eloquent orators in the west. The inspiration of his career 
is not forgotten, although its untimely end was a source of deep 
regret to friends. 

From May, 1911, to February, 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson trav- 
eled in Europe, making an extensive tour, not only for purposes of 
pleasure and recreation, but also in the interests of research and 
study. Upon his return he gave a series of interesting lectures con- 
cerning the old world, dwelling particularly upon its people, history 
and institutions, its present status and future possibilities. In the 
midst of a career embracing large public interests and important 
private duties, he has not remained aloof from fraternal associations, 
but has enjoyed his comradeship in a peculiar degree. At this 
writing he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and of all its branches, the Improved Order of Red Men, the United 
Ancient Order of Druids, the Foresters of America, the Knights of 
Pythias, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. He has served as Great Sachem of the 
Improved Order of Red Men of California and Grand Master of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows of California and is a P. C. F. 
of the Foresters and a P. C. of the Knights of Pythias and a 
P. N. A. of the United Ancient Order of Druids. He is an honorary 
member of the Typographical union, having received that recognition 
of his services in the legislature in behalf of the printers of Cali- 
fornia. 



HENRY J. KILGARIFF 

Born in New Orleans August 22, 1855, Henry J. Kilgariff was only 
three years old when he began to be a citizen of the capital city of 
California. His father, Martin Gilgaritf, was a native of County 
Galway, Ireland, a sturdy yeoman of the old Irish school, and along 
the levees of the lower Mississippi he found profitable emplo^nnent 
as a contracting stevedore. The business of loading and unloading 



504 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tlie commerce of the great Crescent City was a paying one, but life 
in tliat liot, fevered locality was not healthful, and Martin and Honora 
Kilgariff removed their household to California. In Sacramento the 
father engaged in the same employment until his death in 1862. 

At seventeen Henry J. Kilgariff closed his school term and began 
the struggle for self-support. Any job that paid was accepted by the 
young laborer. A little flyer into politics made him a page in the 
legislature for three sessions. He then entered the service of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company in the humble ca])acity of messen- 
ger. Sticking to his job through the years he is now assistant freight 
agent in the employ of that great corporation. 

Mr. Kilgariff was married in Sacramento in November, 1895, ta 
Miss Regina Hassett, and they have three children, namely, Helen, 
aged fifteen; Margaret, eleven years; Martin, age nine; all attending 
school. Mr. Kilgariff 's fraternal relations speak clearly of his social 
standing and popularity. In the lodges of the Elks, Knights of Col- 
umbus and Young Men's Institute he is well and favorably known. 
He is also a member of St. Francis Xavier Church and a Democrat 
in his political belief. 



JOSEPH D. CORNELL 

The father of the prominent lawyer whose name is the title of this 
notice, James Cornell, came by way of Cape Horn in 1850 and began 
his career here by mining on the American river in Sacramento county. 
His success was indifferent and eventually he turned his attention to 
ranching, which he pursued with considerable success. He is passing 
the declining years of his life at his home ranch, which he improved 
from a wilderness, it being located on the Folsom road, fourteen miles 
southeast of Sacramento. His wife, who before her marriage was 
Miss Susan Cleary, bore him six children, all of whom are living, 
Joseph D. being the third oldest. 

It was in the public schools and iia the grammar school that Joseph 
D. Cornell was educated in the English branches. His legal studies 
he pursued in the office and under the dii-ection of Albert M. Johnston. 
Being admitted to tlie bar in 1900 he practiced with liis preceptor till 
his demise in 1906. Mr. Cornell then opened a law office of his own 
and has engaged in the i)ractice of his profession not only in the 
courts of Sacramento, but throughout the state. His present offices 
are in the Peoples Bank building. Owing to his careful preparation 
for his profession and the attention which he has given to every detail 
of his work, no less than to his manifest talent for his calling, he has 
been successful even beyond his expectations in building up a profit- 





it^k 




HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 507 

able clientele, to the varied interests of which he has devoted himself 
indefatigably and most conscientiously and with characteristic ability. 
AVhile the Hon. Theodore Bell represented his district in Congress 
Mr. Cornell was his very efficient private secretary, in which position 
he was enabled, by association with leaders in both great political 
parties, to acquire an intimate and defmite knowledge of public affairs 
of our great and growing country, a knowledge which has done much 
to win for him the high esteem as a citizen which he deservedly enjoys. 
Mr. Cornell is a member of the Eagles and of the Native Sons 
of the Golden West, in which organizations, as well as in all other 
relations of his life, he is patriotically helpful. 



THOMAS E. JONES 

The Jones family has been identified with the history of Wales 
since its earliest days. From time to time there were representatives 
who bade farewell to native land and crossed the ocean to America 
in the hope of benefiting by the opportunities offered by the new world. 
The branch of the family represented by Thomas E. Jones of Sacra- 
mento was established in the United States and in California by his 
father, Thomas, whose birth had occurred at the ancestral Welsh 
home on New Year's Day of 1817 and whose boyhood had been a 
period of privation and hardship destitute of educational or other 
advantages. Desirous of rising to a condition more properous and 
satisfactory, he crossed the ocean in 1840 and sought employment in 
New York City. For some years he earned his livelihood as a hotel 
employe. Upon learning of the discovery of gold in California he de- 
termined to come hither and accordingly made the trip via Mexico in 
1849 in company with a party of forty men, among them being J. Mc- 
Clatchy, the late owner of the Sacramento Bee. 

Arriving in Jackson, Amador county, as early as July of 1849, 
Thomas Jones at once began to mine, an undertaking in which he 
was successful, and he also engaged in other enterprises. From 
1871 until his retirement in 1885 he held the responsible position 
of United States internal revenue collector. Prominent in local 
politics, he served for many years as chairman of the county cen- 
tral committee of the Eepublican party and enjoyed a wide ac- 
quaintance among the representatives of that organization. His 
death occurred October 7, 1894, at the age of seventy-seven years 
and nine months. During June of 1844 he married Miss Eleanor 
Owens in New York City. Four children blessed their union, namely: 
George W., Thomas E., Mary E. and Harry W. The second of these, 



508 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Thomas R., was born at Jackson, Amador county, Cal., October 31, 
1853, and received such advantages as the public schools of that locality 
afforded. At the age of fifteen years he began to study telegraphy and 
subsequent practice made him an expert in that art. During 1871 he 
came to Sacramento as postmaster of the state assembly for the ses- 
sion of that winter. 

On the conclusion of his services in the interests of the state in 
May, 1872, Mr. Jones entered the employ of the Central Pacific Rail- 
road Company as telegraph operator at Rockland. After a few 
months, in September of the same year, he was transferred to Sacra- 
mento and here he was appointed train dispatcher, a position of great 
responsibility, which he filled with characteristic fidelity for about 
sixteen years. In recognition of his efficiency he was promoted to be 
assistant superintendent in 1891 and continued as such for twelve 
years, when, in 1903, he was chosen superintendent of the Tucson 
division in Arizona. During November of 1904 he returned to Sacra- 
mento to begin the duties of superintendent of the Sacramento divis- 
ion, from which position he was transferred in August of 1907 to that 
of special representative of the railroad at Sacramento, which position 
he now fills. As a railroad man he has exhibited painstaking atten- 
tion to every duty and intelligent comprehension of the magnitude 
of the tasks placed before the railroads of the west. His steady rise 
is due to the possession of these traits, supplementing the utmost 
tact and the greatest efficiency. 

At no time in his busy life has Mr. Jones allowed his attention to 
be diverted from his chosen calling by extraneous affairs, yet he has 
proved a public-spirited citizen, in touch with all enterprises for the 
general upbuilding, and in politics he has been a staunch Republican. 
Fraternally, he holds membership with Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. 
0. E., and Sacramento Parlor No. 3, N. S. G. W., while socially he is 
a leading participant in the functions of the Sutter Club. In Sacra- 
mento, September 12, 1878, he married Miss Elizabeth Lillian Poole, 
by whom he became the father of four children, namely: Dr. C. B. 
Jones, a graduate physician and surgeon of the University of Califor- 
nia and the affiliated colleges of San Francisco, and now a ph^^sician 
of Sacramento county; Mrs. W. B. Jordan of Sacramento; Mrs. A. D. 
Beclitel, whose husband is a physician at Victoria, British Columbia; 
and Miss Leslev H. 



CHARLES T. NOYES 

That fidelity to duty brings a merited reward finds another illus- 
tration in the life and activities of Charles T. Noyes, whose long 
service in the shops of the Southern Pacific railroad at Sacramento 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 509 

was crowned appropriately, in July of 1905, by liis appointment to 
the responsible position of superintendent. It is no easy step from 
apprentice to managing overseer. The path was filled with difficulties 
and made laborious through obstacles, which, however, gave way before 
the resistless pressure of a determined will, a resolute energy and a 
patient industry such as was exercised by the young workman. As 
the years passed by and his accurate knowledge of machinery began to 
be appreciated, he rose from his lowly place through successive promo- 
tions until finally his abilities were recognized in his appointment as 
superintendent, his present position. 

Our subject, Charles T. Noyes, was the son of Charles 
and Lucy C. (Hazelton) Noyes, both natives of Orange county, Vt., 
the father having been born January 10, 1827, a representative of an 
old and honored colonial family of New England, whose original 
members in the new world crossed the ocean at a date so early that 
no authentic record has been preserved. The trip made by the father 
to the western coast occurred during 1860, when he settled in Sierra 
county and engaged for five years as a blacksmith in the mines. From 
there he came to the vicinity of Sacramento and worked on a ranch 
owned by a brother-in-law, but in a short time he moved to Marin 
county. Thence removing to Lafayette, he there engaged in farming 
until his death in October, 1911. 

Charles T. Noyes was the eldest of four children, two of whom 
are now living. His brother, F. B. Noyes, is sheriff of Sutter county. 
Charles T. was born in Orange county, Vt., June 13, 1851. After 
having completed the course in the public schools Charles T. Noyes 
was graduated in 1869 and afterward he worked for two years as a 
laborer on the ranch of his uncle near Sacramento. During 1869 he 
went to Yolo county and secured a clerkship in a general store, con- 
tinuing there until the fall of 1870. Upon his return to Sacramento 
he began an apprenticeship to the trade of machinist in the shops of 
the Southern Pacific railroad. Thus he entered upon a long and 
honorable connection with the shop which has continued for more 
than forty years. Practically his first promotion occurred in 1884, 
when he was made shop foreman. The following year he became a 
draftsman and continued in that capacity until 1888, when he was 
again appointed shop foreman. That responsible place was filled by 
him until 1901, when he was promoted to be inspector of locomotives. 
The final and most noteworthy promotion took place in July of 1905, 
when he became superintendent of shops. The mere record of such 
a long and successful connection with one company indicates the 
rugged mentality and forceful strength of the man. 

The Republican party has received the ballot of Mr. Noyes ever 
since he attained his majority and became a voting citizen of the city 
and commonwealth. Working closely at his appointed task, he has 
not cared to take the time for public affairs and hence has avoided 



510 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

official candidacies, but we find him to be well informed regarding all 
national problems. In fraternal relations he holds membership with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His marriage took place 
August 22, 1878, and united him with Miss Marv E. Hussey of Sacra- 
mento, where they have continued to make their home in a comfortable 
cottage surrounded by the evidences of their personal thrift, culture 
and wise management. They are the parents of two children, the only 
daughter being Mrs. Lucy F. Starbuck, also of Sacramento. The son, 
George E., is a graduate of the University of California and a young 
man of fine educational attainments. The family are identified with 
the Congregational church. 



FRANK B. McKEVITT 

Among the successful business men of Sacramento, Frank B. 
McKevitt holds an honored place, having won his present commer- 
cial status by his executive ability and fitness for his work. He 
was born March 3, 1859, in Truxton, Cortland county, N. Y., where 
he spent the first eight years of his life, in 1867 moving with his 
parents, Alexander and Sarah A. (Field) McKevitt, to Clinton, 
Iowa, where he received his education. In November, 1877, shortly 
after his graduation from the Clinton high school, the family re- 
moved to Vacaville, Cal., where they engaged in fruit growing. 
Frank B. McKevitt became deeply interested in the industry and 
with others formed The Vacaville Branch Fruit Union (fruit pack- 
ers) of which he was chosen secretary. Later he organized The 
Vacaville & Winters Fruit Company and was elected secretary of 
this concern also, serving until 1892; in 1894, in partnership with 
E. F. Pinkham, he succeeded to the business of the said company, 
incorporating a new organization under the name of Pinkham & 
McKevitt. He was at once chosen vice-president, which office he 
holds at the present time. In January, 1909, he was selected to 
fill the position of secretary and manager of the California Fruit 
Distributors at Sacramento, an organization composed of fourteen 
fruit shippers whose annual outinit is over nine thousand cars. His 
predecessor in this position had been Lieut.-Gov. Alden Anderson. 
Mr. McKevitt is a director and vice-president of the San Monte 
Fruit Company, apple shippers, of Watsonville, Cal., also of the 
Kreiger Vinegar Company of Watsonville and a director of the Pajaro 
Packing Company, and is largely interested in fruit growing and 
shipping in Tulare county, being the president of the Giant Oak 
Fruit Company near Exeter. This company is the owner of five 
hundred and sixty acres of land, of which the greater part is in 
fruits, both deciduous and citrus. For several years Mr. McKevitt 




<y7-. 




'^. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 513 

was a director in the Bank of Vacaville. He is vice-president 
of the California Rex Spray Co. of Benicia, manufacturers of lime 
and sulphur spray compounds, and is president of the Florin Basket 
Co. of Florin. 

Mr. McKevitt is a member of the Sutter Club of Sacramento 
and the Union League Club of San Francisco. In fraternal cir- 
cles he is known as a Woodman of the World and a Mason; he is 
past master of Vacaville Lodge No. 134, F. & A. M., is a member 
of Vacaville Chapter No. 81, R. A. M., past commander of Vaca- 
ville Commandery No. 38, K. T., and a member of Islam Temple, 
N. M. S., of San Francisco. 

July 18, 1883, Mr. McKevitt 's marriage took place in San Fran- 
cisco uniting him with Miss Laura A. Walker, who was born in Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa. They have four children: Thama A., now Mrs. W. Gr. 
Wood of Sacramento; Frank B., Jr., who is manager of the Pink- 
ham & McKevitt corporation at Vacaville; Hazel, now Mrs. J. V. 
McClatchy, of Sacramento; and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. McKevitt and 
their charming family have ever enjoyed the highest regard of their 
many friends. 

The connection of the McKevitt family with the horticultural 
interests of California is well and favorably known. Both Al- 
exander and F. B. McKevitt have always taken an active interest 
in the building up of the industry, securing the highest quality of 
fruit, as well as taking deep interest in securing a high market price 
to reward the industry of the grower. The name is familiar to all 
fruit growers in California through the fact that the "McKevitt 
Cling," recognized as one of the best white cling stone peaches, 
was named for Alexander McKevitt, and is one of the two standard 
varieties of the white cling peach in California. It is interesting 
to note that the elder McKevitt discovered this peach growing on the 
ranch which he inirchased, and after he introduced it it received his 
name. As Mr. McKevitt is widely interested in fruit in Southern, 
Central and Northern California there are few men who have a 
more thorough knowledge of fruit growing or are better posted con- 
cerning the shipping and marketing of California fruits through- 
out the United States and Canada, and it is little wonder that he 
was selected by the California Fruit Distributors for the respon- 
sible position of manager. 



JAMES S. HUNTRESS 

The pine forests of Maine through which merrily flow the clear 
streams of the north on their course to the ocean were familiar to 
the early experiences of James S. Huntress, who claimed Maine as 

31 



514 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

his native commonwealth and the year 1835 as his natal date. The 
family, although belonging to the honored aristocracy of New England, 
possessed little means and it was not possible for him to enjoy the 
educational advantages which his ambitious soul desired. At a very 
early age he was apprenticed to the trade of a mason and thencefor- 
ward he depended upon his own etforts for a livelihood. When nine- 
teen years of age he started out for himself and it was then that he 
made tlie long journey to California, which continued to be his home 
from that time until his death more than forty years later. During 
the long period of his identification with the west he devoted much 
attention to mining interests and made his home in Nevada county, 
where he died at Grass Valley June 22, 1907, mourned by the large 
circle of acquaintances whose friendship he had won through kindly 
disposition, unwavering integrity and large business ability. His 
high reputation in the community where he had lived so long furnished 
abundant proof that he had lived worthily and exhibited in his char- 
acter the principles of trutli and honor. As he was true and honor- 
able in intercourse with others, so likewise he was loyal and true to 
his country, ever seeking to give his influence to movements for the 
general welfare and especially eager to aid enterprises for the benefit 
of his county and commonwealth. A staunch believer in Repulilican 
principles, he took a prominent part in the workings of that party in 
Nevada county and was counted a local leader; at the same time 
narrow partisanship found no place in his life, but he gave to others 
the same freedom of political opinion which he demanded for himself. 
The marriage of James S. Huntress took place in 1868 and united 
him with Miss Mary S. Huitt, who was born in Arkansas but in infancy 
was brought across the plains by ox teams to California by mem- 
bers of her family and ever since has resided in the state. Subse- 
quent to the demise of her husband she removed to Sacramento and 
now owns a comfortable home at No. 1421 Twenty-fifth street, where 
she dispenses a cheerful hospitality to friends of the capital city, as 
well as to the other friends from Nevada county during their occa- 
sional visits to town. In addition to the loss of her husband she suf- 
fered another bereavement in the death of her only son, William C, 
but she is fortunate in having four daughters, all women of educa- 
tion and culture, and their congenial companionship fills the afternoon 
of her life with tranquil enjo>nnent. The second daughter, Emma M., 
who is married to Charles Single and makes her home at Grass Valley, 
is the only member of the family not residing in Sacramento. The 
eldest daughter, Mrs. Alice Webster, has lived in the capital city ever 
since her marriage, and the same statement may be made concerning 
the two youngest daughters, namely: Mabel, Mrs. Arthur Rapp; and 
Martha, Mrs. Lewis Clauson. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 517 

JESSE WARREN WILSON 

It has been the fortunate fate of Sacramento to attract to its 
citizenship men of sterling worth of character, energy of temperament 
and remarkable intensity of patriotism. These attributes have pre- 
dominated in the active business career of Jesse Warren Wilson, an 
honored pioneer of the state and for years one of the leading men of 
the capital city, the incumbent of important offices and the proprietor 
of well-known commercial enterprises. Even now, although he has 
reached an age justifying a complete retirement from all activities, he 
is still to be found working for the welfare of Sacramento, giving of 
his time and means to the expansion of local interests and favoring 
progressive projects with all of his influence as a pioneer and prom- 
inent citizen. Throughout the long period of his association with the 
city he has been a leading factor in municipal enterprises and a con- 
tributor to civic efforts, not the least memorable of such associations 
having been his service as a member of the committee (with Governor 
Stanford) that turned the first earth at Front and K streets to cele- 
brate the beginning of the Southern Pacific railroad in the state. 

A native of Clinton county, Ohio, born March 21, 1834, Jesse 
Warren Wilson was one of eight children, of whom the sole survivor 
besides himself is John W., a retired business man residing in Muncie, 
Ind. The parents were natives of Ohio, where the father, Benona 
Wilson, made a livelihood for the family through laborious efforts as 
a farmer. In addition he gave some time to the preaching of the 
Gospel, donating his services without expectation of any financial 
returns. His wife, Mrs. Martha (Long) Wilson, also died in Indiana. 
After having passed the years of boyhood in working on the home 
farm or attending the country schools, Jesse W. Wilson came to Cali- 
fornia in 1854 via the Isthmus of Panama, on the steamer George 
Law to Panama and the John L. Stevens to San Francisco, where he 
landed December 1, 1854. For a time he engaged in mining in Placer 
county. For three years he had his headquarters at Marysville, Yuba 
county, and meanwhile followed any occupation offering an honest 
livelihood. During a considerable period he teamed to the mountains. 
In the autumn of 1861, shortly before the great flood, he arrived in 
Sacramento and here he has since made his home. The first occupa- 
tion that furnished him emplo;sTTient was the driving of a hack, and for 
twelve consecutive years he engaged in that business with a number 
of teams. Next he drifted into the livery business, and for thirty years 
he carried on the Wilson stable on K street, after which for seven 
years he was the pro])rietor of the Golden Eagle hotel. Since about 
1908 he has been retired from active business cares. By Governor 
Markham he was appointed a member of the board of directors of the 
State Agricultural Society, reappointed by Governor Budd, and again 
by Governor Pardee, serving for twelve years, during which time he 



518 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

took an active part in the promotion of the building of the State Fair 
and was also superintendent of the track. 

Two years after his arrival in Sacramento Mr. Wilson established 
a home in this city, being then united in marriage with Miss Hannah 
Ryan, a native of Ireland. They became the parents of four children, 
but one of these was taken from them by death in infancy. The older 
daughter, Ida, married Edward Frazier, who prior to his death in 
1910 was a prominent business man of Sacramento. The younger 
daughter, Lucinda, is the wife of John H. Wiseman, well known in 
real estate circles. The only son, Arthur J., is a clerk in the city de- 
partment of the superintendent of streets. The family own and occupy 
a comfortable residence at No. 1417 I street, besides which Mr. Wilson 
owns considerable other property in Sacramento (principally in the 
suburbs) and he also owns an interest in the Sacramento laundry, be- 
ing a director of the company. During younger years he was actively 
identified with the Sutter Club, as well as a prominent member of 
Eldorado Lodge No. 8, I. 0. 0. F., of which he is past grand; the 
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks ; Union Lodge No. 8, F. & A. M. ; 
Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. ; Sacramento Commandery No. 
3, K. T., and Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. For years 
he has been stanchly devoted to the principles of the Republican 
party and his identification with public affairs still continues, for as 
recently as 1911 he was a candidate for trustee from the Fifth ward. 
From 1879 until 1884 he served as member of the board of county 
supervisors, for two years, 1885-87, he held office as sheriff of Sacra- 
mento county, for five years he discharged with the greatest intelli- 
gence and fidelity the duties incident to the office of fire commissioner, 
and for two years he held the position of county coroner, besides which 
at different times he has been chosen to occupy other local offices of 
trust and honor. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON NOBLE 

Industrious^ and intelligent application to agricultural pursuits 
has brought a gTatifying reward to Mr. Noble, who during the period 
of his association with ranching and dairying in Sacramento county 
has not only developed a well-improved farm, but in addition has had 
the satisfaction of realizing that his property has had a steady growth 
in value, while his annual returns have exceeded his most sanguine 
expectations at the time of his location on the property. Since the 
year 1898 he has operated two hundred and fifty acres, meanwhile 
placing the land under a high state of cultivation, putting up necessary 
buildings and maintaining an equipment both modern and extensive. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 519 

It has been liis good fortune to have the co-operation of a capable 
wife, and not a little of his substantial success may be attributed to 
her sagacious counsel and energetic assistance, while in addition he 
had for some time the aid of their son, William H., who, however, 
later turned his attention to railroading and now is employed by the 
Southern Pacific Company. 

The descendant of colonial Virginian ancestry on the paternal side 
and of substantial easterners through the maternal lineage, George 
Washington Noble was born on a farm near Oquawka, Henderson 
county, 111., January 19, 1852, being a son of George W. and Julia Ann 
(Moorhead) Noble. Their father was born in Virginia in 1813, and at 
the age of eighteen years became one of the very earliest settlers in the 
vicinity of Oquawka, where afterward he developed a typical Illinois 
farm. Throughout all of his active life he followed agricultural pur- 
suits in the same locality. His death occurred at Oquawka when he 
was eighty-five years of" age. When he settled in Illinois he was a 
mere youth and it was not until some years afterward that he estab- 
lished domestic ties, being then united with Miss Julia Ann Moorhead, 
who was born in Ohio and died at Oquawka at the age of eight-three 

years. 

The public schools in and near Oquawka afforded to George W. 
Noble fair educational opportunities and enabled him to acquire a 
general fund of important information. Starting out ^for himself at 
the age of eighteen years he went to Jackson county, Kan., and there 
followed farm pursuits for three years. Returning to Henderson 
county, he spent one year on a farm near Oquawka. From there he 
came "to Gait, Cal., in 1875, and followed the carpenter's trade, besides 
which he engaged in other forms of general labor. In April, 1877, 
he opened a barber shop in Gait, which he carried on for ten years. 
For the past fourteen years he has conducted a farm of two hundred 
and fifty acres in Dry Creek township near the village of Gait. Be- 
sides conducting the farm, he has also again opened a barber shop. 
September 30, 1880, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth, 
daughter of William Henry and Elizabeth (Zumwalt) Young, the 
former born at Lincoln, Benton county. Mo., March 10, 1818, and the 
latter born at St. Charles, Mo., March 11, 1818. 

Attracted to the west by the excitement resulting from the dis- 
coverv of gold, William Henry Young crossed the plains during the 
summer of 1852. Unlike many of the newcomers, he did not try his 
luck in the gold mines, but sought agriculture as a permanent means 
of livelihood. Settling three miles from Gait in 1853 he took up one 
hundred and sixty acres of government land. The place was in the 
primeval condition of nature. No attempt had been made at improve- 
ment. Not a furrow had been turned in the soil. His was the difficult 
task of rendering the land remunerative, but by the greatest persever- 
ance he was successful in his efforts. The raising of grain was his 



520 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

principal business, but lie also found cattle and bogs a source of 
considerable profit. Eventually be acquired eleven Imndred acres of 
raucli land and attained a position among tbe most influential ranchers 
of the entire county. His death occurred February 18, 1883, and his 
wife passed away May 5 1895, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
Their daughter, named in honor of her mother, was born at the old 
homestead in Dry Creek township, Sacramento county, March 4, 1864, 
and received her education in the public schools of Gait, but at the 
age of sixteen discontinued her studies in school and took up the 
responsibilities of a home of her own, since which time she has given 
to her husband and to their only son the most devoted energies of her 
fine mind. The comfortable home reflects her orderly spirit, and the 
friendship of a large circle of acquaintances indicates the sterling 
worth of herself and husband, both of them possessing the good will 
of tlieir associates and the warm regard of their personal friends. 



FRANK D. RYAN 

The Ryan family, of which Frank D. Ryan is a representative 
member, was founded in America by his grandfather, John C. Ryan, 
who came to Sacramento, Cal., from Ireland, around Cape Horn, 
in the early '40s and for years was in the brick manufacturing busi- 
ness at his extensive yards in this city, south of Y street and the 
railroad. The father of our subject was Frank D. Ryan, Sr., an 
attorney at law in Sacramento and well known throughout the state 
as a prominent politician. He is a past grand president of the Native 
Sons of the Golden West, past president of the Eagles and also 
of the Young Men's Institute, and past exalted ruler of the Elks. 
In his family were one son, Frank D., Jr., and three daughters, 
Estelle Regina, Ruth Marie and Irene Eleanor. Estelle is the wife 
of L. E. Starkweather of Walnut Creek. The mother was Miss Ella 
Boutwell, born near Roseville, Cal. 

The younger F. D. Ryan was born in Sacramento, which was also 
the birth city of his father. Raised under such favorable surround- 
ings, with the o]iportunities of education and culture as a foundation, 
in the capital of this naturally-favored state, he passed his youth, 
equipping himself for the serious portions and problems of life. 
After eight years spent in the Christian Brothers' College at Sacra- 
mento, he attended the city high school for two years, and then for 
three years studied in the Santa Clara College. After the years 
of excellent training at these institutions he was a year in the govern- 
ment survey. Then followed four years with the Capital National 
Bank, from which he resigned his position April 18, 1911, and imme- 







y^'7^^^^2tf^:^^^i^'^^^>«i*<l. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 523 

diately opened the Ryan's Palace of Sweets, at No. 725 K street, 
which is said to be the finest confectionery and ice cream establish- 
ment in northern California. Fitted in solid mahogany, the panels, 
frames and plate rail present a beautiful background to the walls 
which are lined with large mirrors, and the large onyx soda foun- 
tain with large mirror and mahogany background perfects the ar- 
rangement, giving the entire scheme an appearance of beauty and 
splendor. It is also equipped with richly furnished quarters in the 
balconies, which are given over for special parties or for club gather- 
ings of a social nature. The personal popularitj^ of the proprietor 
and the artistic elegance of the establishment combine to make it 
a commercial success, as well as a beautiful addition to the business 
center. 

Mr. Ryan was married October 16, 1909, to Ethel Rocca Holden, 
daughter of Frederick Holden, a native of Sacramento and in busi- 
ness as an electrician in that citv. 



HERBERT A. FAIRBANK 

An official connection with the California Fruit Distributors af- 
fords notable evidence of the prominence to which Mr. Fairbank has 
attained in the horticultural activities of the state. Further testi- 
mony concerning the same appears in his forceful association with 
the Producers' Fruit Company of Sacramento. The organization 
of this prosperous concern came as the result of his initiative. Suc- 
cess came through his laborious application and care in every detail. 
From the year 1892, when his energetic efforts made effective the 
opening of the business, up to the present time, when the company 
ships an average of seventeen hundred cars of fruit per annum, the 
history of the business has been one of steady growth and prosper- 
ous development. In the early years of the company's existence he 
held the office of vice-president, but in 1908 he was elected presi- 
dent, and this office he still holds, while in addition he has served 
from the first as manager of the concern and has handled with skill 
the constantly increasing business. 

Although he came to the west from Texas and prior to his resi- 
dence in the Lone Star state had been engaged in business in South 
Dakota, Mr. Fairbank claims Illinois as his native commonwealth. 
His birth occurred April 19, 1860, his parents having been John B. 
and Ruth B. Fairbank, being descended from Jonathan Fayerbanke, 
of Dedham, Mass., whose father came from England to Massachu- 
setts about 1631. Primarily educated in the grammar schools of 
Jacksonville, 111., he later took the regular course in the high school 



524 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and was graduated in 1876, after which he continued his studies in 
Illinois College for three years. Upon starting out to earn his own 
way in the world he went to Sioux Falls, S. Dak., and engaged in 
the wood and coal business until 1883. During the two following 
years he carried on a lumber Inisiness at San Antonio, Tex., but 
in 1885 he disposed of tlie entei-prise, closed out his interests there 
and removed to California. In San Francisco he served as secre- 
tary of the California Fruit Union until 1888, in which year he re- 
signed and removed to Sacramento, the center of his subsequent 
business activities. In this city he acted as manager of the Na- 
tional Fruit Association, a concern composed of twenty-seven eastern 
firms, organized under their above title through his personal ef- 
forts. The position with them he resigned in 1892 in order to de- 
vote his time to the organization of the Producers' Fruit Company. 
The establishment of a home of his own dates from the resi- 
dence of Mr. Fairbank in South Dakota, where at Sioux Falls, Sep- 
tember 6, 1882, he was united with Miss Lillian E. Buck, a popular 
and cultured young lady of that city. One daughter blessed their 
marriage, Gladys, now the wife of W. H. Dement and a resident of 
Berkeley. The religious s^Tupathies of the family are with the 
Congregational Church and they have contributed with constant 
generosity to the missionary movements of the denomination. In 
his political views Mr. Fairbank always has supported the Repub- 
lican party, but at no time has he sought official honors or aspired 
to the activities incident to public life. Of recognized culture and 
breadth of mind, he has been a welcomed guest in the most select 
circles of the community. The Sutter Club has received his sup- 
port as an active member and his social relations are enlarged 
through membership in the Union League of San Francisco. The 
Masonic Order has received his sympathetic support in the varied 
philanthropies that mark its existence, he being a member of the 
Knights Templar and Shrine, while in addition he has maintained 
fraternal associations with the Woodmen. 



HUBERT J. HUMBERT 

An engineering ex])erience extending into different portions of 
the United States and Mexico has established the reputation of Mr. 
Humliert as an exjiert in his specialty and gives to him a standing 
abundantly justified by his talents. While his association with the 
business interests of Sacramento covers a comparatively brief period 
only (he having come to this city during the year 1908), already he 
has won tlie ])restige connected with occui)ative alulity and the in- 
fluence established by a ])revi()us gratifying record. It was his good 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 525 

fortune in youth to receive excellent advantages and thus his natural 
talent found rational development under the supervision of eflficient 
instructors. After he had completed the studies of the St. Louis 
schools he matriculated in the Polytechnic of that city and there took 
a thorough course in engineering, so that he received the training nec- 
essary to the success of later labors. His parents, Frederick and 
Augusta (Ochs) Humbert, gave him every advantage within their 
means and in the city of St. Louis, where he was born January 11, 
1871, he received the training so indispensable to the most complete 
mental development. 

As an erecting engineer connected with the St. Louis branch 
house of the New York City firm widely known as the De La Vergne 
Machine Company, Hubert J. Humbert acquired a valuable experience 
in his chosen occupation. During 1895 he resigned from that position 
and engaged with the Consumers' brewery in St. Louis, where he 
held the position of assistant engineer for eighteen months. Next he 
transferred his services to the Anheuser-Busch brewery of St. Louis 
in whose large plant he served as assistant chief engineer for seven 
years. When finally he resigned from that company he went to Mexico 
and became chief engineer in a brewery at Monterey. Two years were 
spent in Mexico and he then returned to the States, where in New York 
City he engaged as erecting engineer with the De La Vergne Machine 
Company, continuing in that very important place until 1908, the year 
of his location in Sacramento. Here he engaged with the Buffalo 
brewery as assistant chief engineer, a position that he' has filled with 
the intelligence, fidelity and efficiency characteristic of him in every 
business connection. In addition he is manager and a director of the 
Sacramento Pump Manufacturing and Supply Company, engineers, 
machinists and founders, operating a large plant at No. 1800 R street, 
and carrying in stock a complete assortment of centrifugal pumps for 
all jnirposes as well as refrigerating plant supplies. The company 
has as its president H. I. Seymour, while R. McFlwaine is secretary 
and trea;surer. 

The discharge of personal business duties has left Mr. Humbert 
little leisure for participation in public affairs, but in every place of 
his residence, whether east or west, he has kept in touch with civic 
progress, has contributed to municipal prosperity and has been a fac- 
tor in the general welfare. Politically he votes with the Republican 
party in general elections, while fraternally he is identified with the 
Masonic fraternity and Legion of Honor. When he came to California 
and settled in Sacramento he brought with him his cultured young 
wife, whom he had married in St. Louis November 26, 1896, aud who 
bore the maiden name of Lena Dieterle. Their position since has 
been one of prominence among the most refined circles of Sacramento 
society, where their worth, education and attainments make them hon- 
ored sruests. 



526 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



GEORGE TT. MAYER 

Exceptional success in the management of the interests con- 
signed to his supervision proves that Mr. Mayer possesses talent of 
an high order. His long retention with and frequent promotions by 
a company of vast influence and worldwide enterprises prove that, 
in entering its service after having engaged temporarily in other 
activities, he found a congenial occupation and one well suited to 
his ability. The experiences of early life were not different from 
those of other youths who, uncertain of their own preferences in 
occupative employments, accept any available opening until they 
prove their own abilities and ascertain their own inclinations. It 
was not long, however, before the desired opjiortunity came to him 
and since that time he has won steadily increasing recognition in the 
line of his specialty. At this writing and since October of 1910 he 
has acted as manager of the Sacramento branch of the Standard Oil 
Company and as special agent for the famous organization he has 
won considerable prestige throughout the state. 

A graduate of the high school of Reading, Pa., his native city, 
Mr. Mayer has supplemented the study of text-books by habits of 
thoughtful reading and observation, so that he now possesses a fund 
of information and a general knowledge unsurpassed by many uni- 
versity graduates. Travel throughout his native country and abroad 
has added to his mental outlook and broadened his judgment, giv- 
ing to him a cosmopolitan culture that renders his presence a dis- 
tinct acquisition to the most refined circles of society. For a tiine 
during young manhood he engaged as bookkeeper with a large firm 
in Reading, but dissatisfied with the position he left it and took up 
a more remunerative engagement as traveling salesman for a large 
cigar manufacturer. Meanwhile he had acquired great proficiency 
in music and his high standing in that art led to his selection as 
musical director in one of the most prominent military colleges of 
the east, where he remaned until 1900, the year of his first asso- 
ciation with the Standard Oil Company. 

First as clerk and then as bookkeeper, Mr. Mayer passed two 
years in the San Francisco office of the Standard Oil Company. 
During 1902 he had the distinction of being chosen the first specialty 
salesman on the Pacific coast and as such he continued for two 
years. In 1904 he was sent to South America in the interests of the 
house. Returning to California in 1905 he was sent immediately 
to Honolulu for the purpose of establishing the company's busi- 
ness on the Hawaiian Islands. Several years were devoted to the 
interests of the company at that distant point and it was not until 
March of 1909 that he had the work so systematized as to render 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 529 

longer residence nnneeessary. Coming again to San Francisco, he 
soon was sent to Tacoma, Wash., in the interests of the company 
and after several months was transferred to Sonth America for 
the purpose of looking after very important interests of the com- 
pany which were just developing in tliat country. Returning to 
San Francisco in 1910 he went to San Jose as special agent of the 
local branch, and after four months he was transferred to the Sac- 
ramento office as manager of all of Northern California, Southern 
Oregon and east to the Utah line. In this responsible position he 
has made good and his efficiency is a matter of common knowl- 
edge among officials in charge of the western work of the Standard 
Oil Company. With all of his business cares he has found leisure 
for prominent participation in Masonry and is a member of the vari- 
ous bodies, including the Knights Templar, Ancient and Accepted 
Scottish Rite, and is a life member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., San 
Francisco. Locally he is a member of the Sutter Club, the Cham- 
ber of Commerce, and various other bodies. Politically he has 
been independent, voting for the man and the principle rather 
than for any certain party. In religion he has been an attendant 
of the Episcopal Church and a generous contributor to the phil- 
anthropies and missionary movements of the denomination. 



WILLIAM A. JOHNSTON 

To be reckoned among the influential and successful citizens of 
a community requires both industry and good business judgment and 
seldom does a man retain his position without the possession of innate 
honesty and regard for others. The fact that throughout his career, 
which was cut short August 14, 1911, William A. Johnston received 
naught but esteem and friendship from his many associates through- 
out Courtland and Sacramento county in general, bears witness to the 
altruism and unwavering honor which formed the leading attributes 
of his character. His father, William Johnston, who was born in 
Wilkinsburg, Allegheny county. Pa., eight miles from Pittsburgh, emi- 
grated to (California as a meml)er of a train comprising three hundred 
people in 1849, a year whose experiences were engraven upon the mem- 
ories of those who answered the summons of the western gold fields. 
After mining in Eldorado county about a year with varying success, 
he purchased a squatter's claim consisting of a quarter-section sev- 
eral miles south of Sacramento, and engaged in farming, his executive 
ability and good citizenship playing a prominent part in the progress 
of the community. As a Granger, he occupied the liighest chairs in 



530 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the state organization and twice served as delegate to the National 
Grange. For some years he was president of the Grangers' Co-Opera- 
tive Business iVssociation, and from the time of its founding until 
his death he served as vioe-]:>resident or president and director of the 
People's Savings Bank of Sacramento. He was one of the officers of 
Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M. From 1871 to 1873 he served as a mem- 
ber of the Legislative Assembly, and from 1878 to 1882 as a member 
of the state Senate, of which body he was chosen president pro tern. In 
1883 he received membership in the State Board of Equalization and in 
his earnest and single-hearted service to the public won unanimous com 
mendation. As a staunch Republican he rendered material support 
to his party and both in public and private life was deemed a man of 
broad and generous principles, his death in 1905 being the occasion of 
sincere sorrow on the part of his many friends and colleagues. His 
wife, Elizabeth Hite, was a woman of rare tact and unfailing sym- 
pathy and in all her husband's interests expressed the deepest con- 
cern, her death, which also occurred in 1905, depriving the household 
of its mainspring of affection and tenderness. 

William A. Johnston was born November 11, 1858, at Hood, 
then called Richland, upon his father's Sacramento county farm and 
supplemented a grammar and high school education by a course in the 
Pacific University at San Jose, graduating in the class of 1882. For 
a time he assisted his father, who presented him in 1892 a tract of 
one hundred acres, which the young man stocked with cattle and 
horses, also continuing agricultural pursuits. Later he added to 
his holdings one hundred and three acres, and by means of keen 
business judgment and firmness of pur]^ose in all his dealings he won 
a place among the largest stock raisers in the county. The new town 
of Hood is laid out on a part of this place. 

On September 5, 1885, Mr. Johnston was married to Miss Lizzie 
Richards, who was born in Sacramento county, her death occurring in 
April, 1890. Two years later, on July 3, 1892, at Clarksburg, Yolo 
county, he married for his second wife Miss Carrie Connor, a native 
of Courtland, Sacramento county, Cal., whose parents Hamilton S. 
and Amanda (Wilson) Connor, were natives of New Hampshire and 
Iowa respectively. Her father came to California via Panama in 
1858 and her mother crossed the plains with her father, George Wil- 
son, making the journey with ox-teams in 1852, the trip consuming six 
months. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Johnston had three children: Mrs. 
Matie Hollenbeck, whose husband rents from Mrs. Johnston the one 
hundred and three-acre tract belonging to the estate; Glenn William, 
who is a student in Atkinson Business College, Sacramento; and 
Dwight, who attends the Richland public school. 

Mr. Johnston was a Re])ublican of progressive spirit, and was 
a consistent and energetic membei- of the Franklin Christian Church. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 531 

His widow has many times proved herself capable of the trust left 
her, not only giving a mother's attention to her ambitious children, 
but managing her affairs with unquestioned business ability. 



ISAAC J. TRAINOR 

For twenty years and more connected with the ice business in 
Sacramento and vicinity Isaac J. Trainor, senior partner of the firm 
of Kane & Trainor, has experienced a career of personal endeavor 
and well merited success which has marked him an exemplary and 
valued citizen of his community. His is the story of a self-made man. 
Born in Broderick, Yolo County, Cal., September 18, 1861, he is 
the son of H. C. and Rose (Toland) Trainor, natives of New York 
state and Boston, respectively, who were pioneers of California. 
The son was reared in Sacramento, where he received his education 
in the public schools. His first employment was on a survey corps, 
with whom he worked for two years, and then for twelve years he trav- 
eled extensively, selling goods all over the Pacific coast. On March 23, 
1893, he embarked in the wholesale and commission business in connec- 
tion with the Union Ice Company and the National Ice Company, and 
then for ten years was junior partner in the firm of Kane & Trainor, 
which business he was largely instrumental in organizing. Mr. Kane 
passed away in December, 1909, and soon afterward W. H. Quaas 
became a member of the concern. In connection with the two above 
mentioned companies they also handle the Buffalo Brewing Com- 
pany's ice. To the details of this business Mr. Trainor has always 
given close attention, having brought to the task the experience 
gained in a valuable business career which had taught him the pe- 
culiarities of men of all classes. 

February 6, 1895, Mr. Trainor married at Sacramento Anna 
Stephenson, a daughter of C. H. Stephenson, D.D.S., of this city, 
a young lady of many accomplishments who has developed into a 
matron of many attractions and much usefulness in the community 
in which their lot is cast. Dr. Stephenson died December 25, 1905, 
regretted by a wide circle of acquaintances. While Mr. Trainor 
is not in the ordinary sense of the word a politician, he is deeply 
interested in public affairs and well informed concerning them, and 
he consistently supports such men and measures as he believes prom- 
ise most for the public good. 



532 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 



CHARLES S. ROBB 

Although by no means one of the earliest settlers of California 
nor a pioneer in the accepted meaning of that term, Mr. Robb claims 
the honor of having been identified with the state ever since the year 
1871. With the exception of a brief period of railroad emplojnnent in 
Nevada, he has remained in the state ever since the time of his ar- 
rival, and he dates his residence in Sacramento from 1875, when he 
established a home in this city and entered upon a residential connec- 
tion with the town that has continued up to the present time. Rail- 
roading has been his chosen occupation in life, and until his retire- 
ment from the service he was counted one of the most popular and 
efficient conductors on the Southern Pacific system, for his long ex- 
perience, innate courtesy and broad intelligence admirably qualified 
him for the many responsibilities of the position. 

Born in McHenry county. 111., January 8, 1848, Mr. Robb is a son 
of William Scott and Rowena (Whittemore) Robb, natives of Peter- 
boro, N. H., and New York state respectively. As a boy he attended 
public and private schools in the home neighborhood, and when 
eighteen years of age he began to give his entire attention to the task 
of assisting in the cultivation of his father's farm. During October 
of 1870 he married Miss Candace Snyder, a young lady who was born 
in Cuba, N. Y., but from the age of thirteen was reared in McHenry 
county. 111., and who enjoys with him the warm esteem of their circle 
of acquaintances. Shortly after his marriage and when twenty-three 
years of age he came to California and settled at Emigrant Gap, 
Placer county, where he engaged in mining for six months. From 
there he went to Reno, Nev., and secured emplo\Tnent with the Central 
Pacific Railroad Company. Returning at the expiration of one year 
to Emigrant Grap, he continued to work as fireman on the Central 
Pacific road for two years, with headquarters at that point. Next he 
was transferred to a run out of Sacramento as brakeman and after 
eighteen months he was promoted to be conductor on a freight train. 
When the name of the road was changed to the Southern Pacific he 
continued among the old and valued employes, and in recognition of 
efficiency of service received promotion from conductor on a freight 
route, where he had been for seven years, to the charge of a passenger 
train. From that time until his resignation in January, 1909, he con- 
tinued among the most trusted and honored of the employes of the 
company. 

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Robb consisted of two daughters, the 
younger of whom. Miss Mary, resides with her parents at the family 
home, No. 2030 Twenty-third street, Sacramento. The older daughter, 
Myrtie Rowena, is the wife of D. W. Carmichael, a prominent real 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 535 

estate agent residing in Sacramento. For years Mr. Robb took a 
very warm interest and an active part in the Order of Railway Con- 
ductors. Politically lie lias been staunch in his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, but owing to the nature of his life occupation it never 
was possible for him to hold official positions or identify himself 
prominently with public affairs, hence his association with the city 
has been that of a private citizen only, one who is desirous of ad- 
vancing the general welfare and who possesses a firm faith in ultimate 
civic prosperity. During the period of his railroad service he invested 
in oil lands and real estate, and since his retirement he has devoted 
considerable attention to the supervision of these interests. 



EDWARD TWITCHELL 

The pioneer instinct has been strong in the Twitchell blood. It 
was that which led the first representatives of the name in America 
to leave the comforts of European civilization and identify them- 
selves with the stern environment of New England, The same love 
of the frontier appeared in the history of a New England couple, 
the husband, Capt. Timothy Twitchell, from New Hampshire and 
the wife, Susan (Watson) Twitchell, from Vermont, who gave up 
home and friends and sought the unknown territories of the south, 
there to make a temporary home in the ancient city of Pensacola, 
Fla. During the sojourn of the family at that point a son, Edward, 
was born November 8, 1828. There were two other sons, George 
and Amos, equally talented as the one previously named, but their 
ability led them into different lines of activity and one became a 
very successful physician, the other a scientist. Capt. Timothy 
Twitchell was a seafaring man; as early as the '20s he sailed around 
Cape Horn to the California coast, as well as up to the shores of 
Alaska, trading in hides, horns and tallow, and he is known to 
have put in at the Bay of Monterey. 

Concerning the early life of Edward Twitchell little is to be said. 
It presented the same round of struggle, the same lack of advan- 
tages, the same deprivation of comfort and the same willing endur- 
ance of hardship which characterized the lives of the people during 
the early half of the nineteenth century. No break came in the 
monotony of labor and isolation until the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia. That event changed the entire life of the young man in 
Florida. An expedition was organized comprising people from his 
part of the southeast. Joining the party he traveled by boat to 
Mexico and then rode on horseback across that country, taking boat 



om HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

on the Pacific side and sailing north to the harbor of San Francisco 
in August, 1849. The trip, though necessarily one of great hardship 
and i)rivation, was not without its share of pleasure and interest to 
the young man whose previous knowledge of the world had been 
limited to his own little corner thereof. 

While it was primarily for the purpose of mining that Mr. 
Twitchell came to the west, we find that the occupation did not 
engage his attention for any protracted period. Even when at the 
cam]^s he found the trade of a carpenter more profitable than looking 
for gold. Having learned and had experience as a civil engineer in 
New Hamjjshire in 1848, under a celebrated surveyor, upon his 
return to Sacramento he liecame deputy to Gen. Horace Higley, 
surveyor-general, and for twenty-five years he remained in the office, 
meanwhile working under General Houghton and others. For a 
time he was a surveyor and miner in the White Pine district, in 
Nevada. During the early days he did considerable surveying in 
Sacramento, Berkeley, Alameda and Oakland, and at one time owned 
]iro]ierty in these cities, as well as in Fresno and Yolo counties. 
While in the government employ he made the first survey of Lake 
Tahoe, also surveyed in New Mexico and Arizona, surveyed and 
named Twitchell Island, and had other important expeditions. For 
many years he owned a large tract of land on Sherman Island. In 
his last years he had retired from business cares, but still took part 
in civic affairs and gave earnest support to movements for the 
local advancement. He died February 8, 1912. He was a member 
of Sacramento Society of California Pioneers. 

The marriage of Mr. Twitchell and Margaret Woodland was 
solenmized in Sacramento December 20, 1870. They became the 
parents of three children. The only son, Edward W. Twitchell, 
M, D., is a prominent physician of Sacramento. The elder daughter, 
Blanche, is the wife of James H. Jennings, son of an honored pio- 
neer of San Francisco and himself a well-known resident of that city. 
The younger daughter, Ethel, married Prof. W. D. Briggs, who is 
connected with the English department of the Leland Stanford Uni- 
versity at Palo Alto. Mrs. Twitchell was born in Louisiana, but 
at the age of six months she was brought by her parents across the 
plains to California, the journey covering four months. The family 
traveled up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, thence joined an 
expedition overland, and finally arrived at Fort Sutter during 
August of 1849, and Sacramento has been Mrs. Twitchell 's home 
ever since. Not long after arriving her father, James W. Woodland, 
who was the first assessor of the city of Sacramento, was shot and 
killed during a squatters' riot that occurred on the corner of Third 
and J streets, Sacramento, he having taken no part in the trouble, 
but happening to turn the corner just as the parties came together, 
and a stray -bullet hit and killed him. The fact that he had just 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 539 

left his lioiiie after the birth of an infant son added to the sad 
event. Later E, B. Crocker bought the old AVoodland homestead 
and on the ground he erected a building now known as the Scudder 
House. When Miss Woodland began housekeeping in her own home 
as the bride of Mr. Twitchell, her mother, Mrs. Jane (Alexander) 
Woodland, joined her there and afterward remained an inmate of 
the Twitchell residence, where she died in 1905 at the age of eighty- 
six vears. 



ISIDOR SCHAD 

Among those many able sons of Switzerland who came to this 
fertile land to build up their own business and live free, independem 
lives is Isidor Schad, a member of an old and much respected family 
in that country. From an early age he showed himself to be a cap- 
able, industrious lad, always eager to do better, larger things, with an 
exceptional trait of adapting himself to any kind of work which pre- 
sented itself. 

Born September 13, 1857, in the canton of Solothurn, which is in 
the northwestern part of Switzerland, he there attended school. When 
he was fourteen years of age he was brought to the United States by 
his parents, who located in Eldorado county, Cal., and here he at- 
tended school until he reached the age of sixteen, learning the English 
language. Ambitious to do for himself, he soon found work on the 
Pierce ranch in Solano county, a property comprising thousands of 
acres, where he labored for about seven years, meanwhile acquainting 
himself with the different phases of the work and learning the country 
and its customs. He left this employment to join his brother Thomas 
on the old homestead in Eldorado county, as his father at that time 
needed them on the farm, and he remained there until after his 
father's demise. It was in 1888 that he located in Sacramento and 
bought out a restaurant ; in the following year his brother Thomas pur- 
chased an interest in the business, and their interests have since been 
conducted under the name of Schad Brothers. Their place became 
popular and dependable and was continued at No. 309 K street with 
increasing success for twelve years. Subsequently they maintained a 
similar place at No. 424 K street, on the present site of the large 
department store of Weinstock & Lubin. The latter place was con- 
ducted for eight years, and in the meantime Isidor Schad purchased 
and operated the Fashion stables. He has always been a lover of the 
horse, and although the stable has been sold he still keeps a few fine 
specimens. During his years of business activity Mr. Schad has 
worked steadily to bring his varied interests to the point of prosperity. 



540 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

and in 1908, with the satisfaction of having won a hard-fought battle, 
the brothers retired from the restaurant business in order to devote 
their time to the development and reclamation of their land on Sher- 
man island and to looking after their large real estate holdings in 
Sacramento. Besides the interests above mentioned, Mr. Schad and 
his brother i)urchased a half interest in the St. Francis hotel, which 
they still own and wliicli is proving a profitable investment. 

Mr. Schad is serving his eighth year as a trustee and secretary of 
Eeclamation District No. 341, on Sherman island, having been a 
landowner on the island since the project was started to reclaim the 
ten thousand acres. He also owns land in and is trustee of District 
No. 1002, where the owners are reclaiming seven thousand acres of 
land twenty miles south of Sacramento. A Eepublican in politics, Mr. 
Schad is one of the most public-spirited and zealous citizens in the 
city. In fraternal circles he unites with the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, in which he is most popular. 

Mr. Schad was married to Augusta Grossherr, a native daughter 
of Sacramento, where they make their home, among many sincere 
friends, who ever find a most hospitable welcome at their home. His 
onlv child is named Eleanor. 



THOMAS SCHAD 

The name of Schad is one that is very popular and well known 
in the city of Sacramento, members of that family having been as- 
sociated with its business life for a quarter of a century or more, and 
always exhibiting characteristics that have been trustworthy, honor- 
able and persevering. Thomas Schad and his brother Isidor have 
united their interests in this city to such an extent that the}^ are gen- 
erally known as the Schad Brothers, and as such are proprietors of 
the well-known St. Francis hotel here, which is one of the largest 
hotel buildings in the city. 

Like his brother, Thomas Schad is a native of Solothurn, Switzer- 
land, having been born there June 4, 1866. He was quite young when, 
in 1871, he was brought by his parents, Jacob and Ida Schad, to Eldo- 
rado county, Cal., where he grew to manhood, attending the local pub- 
lic schools and afterwards helping his father on the homestead in that 
county. It was after his ])arents' death that he came to Sacramento 
and became interested with his brother in business and real estate 
operations. He has become most successful, owning a large amount 
of real estate and being partner with his brother in the ownership of 
the large ranch on Sherman island. After nineteen years of deter- 
mined effort in the conduct of the Palace restaurant, in which they 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 541 

were successful, the brothers purchased a half interest in the St. 
Francis hotel, which is also proving a successful venture. The latter 
interest does not consume all of Mr. Schad's time, for he is also 
actively interested in the improvement of the real estate which he 
owns with his brother, including the reclamation of a ranch in District 
No. 1002 south of Sacramento. 

For his wife Thomas Schad chose Daisy Hunger, formerly of 
Placerville, and they have one child, Thomas Schad, Jr., who is a 
student at the Christian Brothers college in Sacramento. Mr. Schad 
is a stanch Republican in his political views, taking a deep interest in 
the cause and welfare of his community and country, and giving of his 
time and means whenever needed. He is an active member of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

■ It is fitting to add that the St. Francis hotel, which the Schad 
Brothers own and of which Thomas Schad is the manager, is modern 
and up-to-date in every particular, equipped with all convenience for 
the comfort of their guests, and situated in a very central and beauti- 
ful part of the city. 



SIDNEY GILL THORP 

The associations of childhood and youth were such as to famil- 
iarize Mr. Thorp with machinery of all kinds, for he passed his 
early life in the great manufacturing town of Manchester, England, 
where he was born December 6, 1883, and where for a long period 
representatives of the name had been identified with the avocations 
that brought fame and prosperity to the city. He was the only son 
of John and Ann (Harding) Thorp, natives of Yorkshire and 
Cheshire respectively. From his earliest recollections he was inter- 
ested in the operation and control of machinery and as soon as he 
had completed the studies of the city schools he began to serve an 
apprenticeship to the machinist's trade. Under the direction of the 
firm that made the original t^qie of a certain kind of cotton-spinning 
machinery, he studied the intricacies of the occupation and acquired 
considerable efficiency as a workman. To complete the trade, how- 
ever, required an apprenticeship of seven years and he was eager to 
come to America; therefore at the expiration of five years he relin- 
quished his connection with the firm and cast in his destiny with 
the far west, coming in 1903 to Sacramento, where he has since re- 
sided. During the first four years of his association with this city 
he was employed in the machine shop of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road and later he spent two years as a draughtsman with the same 
company. 



542 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

In the meantime a desire to acquire a knowledge of some other 
occupation bad been formulated in tbe mind of Mr. Tborp, who 
in December of 1909 retired from tbe railroad service and allied 
liimself witb tbe Weinstock-Lubin Company, proprietors of one of 
tbe largest department stores of Northern California. For a time 
he held tbe position of floorwalker. In order that he might famil- 
iarize himself witb the art of salesmanship be later served in various 
retail departments and with accurate precision studied the different 
stocks. When qualified for greater responsibilities be was promoted 
to be assistant superintendent of the establishment and in this posi- 
tion be has a general supervision of all of the employes in the 
establishment. In business he is proving himself to be efficient, intel- 
ligent and capable, attentive to tbe smallest details, yet grasping 
in their entirety tbe largest plans made by the company for the 
development of the concern. An unfailing courtesy and attention 
to the wishes of customers characterize him, while a progressive 
temperament leads him to promote tbe latest improvements adopted 
in tbe business world. Not only is be progressive and popular in 
commercial circles, but socially he also has a high standing and as 
a member of tbe Sutter Club bis name has been associated with prom- 
inent civic enterprises and select social functions of tbe capital city. 

Tbe marriage of Sidney G. Thorp was solemnized in Grace Pro- 
€atbedral, San Francisco, by Bishop Nicholls, January 11, 1911, 
and united him witb Miss Ethel Gillett, a graduate of the Leland 
Stanford University and one of tbe most popular and promising 
young ladies in Sacramento. Mrs. Tborp is a daughter of Hon. 
James Norris Gillett, who was born at Viroqua, Wis., September 
20, 1860, came to California in 1884 and settled at Eureka. From 
1897 to 1899 he represented the Eureka district as state senator. 
During 1902 be was elected to congress and at Washington bis 
service was so effectively beneficial to the state of California that 
be was re-elected, bis second term ending in 1906. The next year 
witnessed bis election on tbe Republican ticket as governor of Cali- 
fornia and be continued as chief executive until 1911, meanwhile 
devoting considerable attention to the securing of tbe Panama Expo- 
sition for San Francisco and also aiding to secure an appropriation 
of $18,000,000 to construct the state highway from tbe Oregon bor- 
der to the boundaries of Mexico. Since tbe expiration of bis term 
as governor he has devoted bis attention largely to the preparation 
for what promises to be tbe greatest exposition tbe world has ever 
known, besides looking after his varied interests, making bis home 
in Oakland. Mr. and Mrs. Tborp are members of St. Paul's Epis- 
copal Church and not only lend their influence and support to tbe 
philanthropies of tbe congregation, but to all worthy movements 
for the betterment of tbe conditions of tbe citizens of their adopted 
city. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 545 



GEORGE WASHINGTON PIIPPLE 

Well known in Sacramento as the proprietor of the Superior 
Garage, George W. Hippie has acquaintances in all parts of the civil- 
ized world, and has had an experience in some respects unique. He 
was born in St. Paul, Minn., August 3, 1877, and spent his childhood 
at Glencoe, that state, and in the public schools of that town he 
received his education. After leaving school he was for three years 
a hotel clerk in Minnesota and Iowa, and later was identified for 
some time with the business interests of his sister, becoming her 
manager after the death of her husband. On both continents she was 
known as "Papinta" the Fire Dancer. For eight years he traveled 
with her wherever she booked, all over the civilized world, and re- 
mained with her until her death. She appeared in the leading theaters 
in America and on the Eastern continents. For thirty- two consecutive 
weeks she appeared at Hammerstein's, New York, which was a longer 
engagement than that of any other artist in her line. She was billed 
sometimes as the Myrriad Dancer and was the first dancer to use 
electrical effects. She died in Germany November 21, 1907, while 
on one of her professional tours. 

After his sister's death Mr. Hippie returned to Contra Costa county, 
Cal., where she had owned a valuable stock ranch of one hundred and 
sixty acres and which she had bequeathed to him. For two years he 
carried on the ranch, which was devoted to the breeding of thorough- 
bred horses, but subsequently he sold both ranch and stock. It was 
in the fall of 1910 that he established the enterprise of which he is 
now the owner, known as the Superior Garage and located at Nos. 
1209-1215 J street, Sacramento, where he transacts a general garage 
and auto-vehicle business. His establishment is one of the best known 
and one of the largest in Northern California and under his popular 
yet conservative management his business is constantly increasing. 
The garage is 80x160 feet in dimensions, and is thoroughly equipped 
in every particular. Mr. Hippie is distributing agent for the Marion 
automobile, and has the agency of this make of car in eleven counties 
in California. 

In his political s:^Tnpathies Mr. Hippie is a Republican. Frater- 
nally he affiliates with Alamo Lodge No. 122, F. & A. M., of Walnut 
Creek, and he is also identified with Martinez Chapter No. 31, R. A. M., 
and Onward Lodge No. 106, K. of P., of Oak Park. 



546 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



DAVID AHERN 

The Celtic origin of tlie family appears not only in the name of 
Mr. Ahern, but also in the cheerful energy, the genial tact and the 
physical alertness with which he fills the responsible office of county 
sheriff. However, while claiming Ireland as the home of his ancestors 
and Sacramento as the center of his personal business activities as 
well as his home from boyhood, he is a native of an old southern 
city that wielded a wide influence in the prosperous era prior to the 
Civil war. The imperishable memories of childhood cluster around 
the Old Dominion and the then flourishing city of Richmond, where 
he was born September 22, 1859, being a son of John and Katharine 
Ahern. The family had been established in the new world by the 
father, who, born in county Cork in 1830, left Ireland in early life 
and crossed the ocean to America, where he hoped to find better op- 
portunities for advancement. For some years he was employed in 
the Tredical Iron Works in Virginia and made Richmond his home, 
but in 1864 he came via Panama to California and settled at Sacra- 
mento. For many years, indeed, almost until his demise in 1900, 
he engaged in construction work along the lines of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad. 

After having attended public school between the years of six 
and thirteen, David Ahern then turned his attention to the learning 
of a trade and the earning of a livelihood. As an apprentice he 
learned the trade of a horse-shoer under John Doyle, with whom he 
continued for thirteen years, meanwhile developing into a skilled 
and capable blacksmith. When finally he left the old shop it was 
to embark in blacksmithing for himself and from that time up to the 
present he has continued at the head of a large shop of his own. The 
demands of the slio}) have been constant. The necessity of earning 
a livelihood and the desire to accumulate something for old age kept 
him at unceasing toil until finally he allowed public affairs to interest 
him, thus creating a fortunate diversion in his life of hard work. 
During 189o-94 he served acceptably as fire commissioner. From 1906 
until January, 1911, he represented the first district as a member of 
the county board of supervisors, having been elected on the Demo- 
cratic ticket. 

The satisfaction afforded to the people through the loyal, clean 
and conscientious service of Mr. Ahern in the office of supervisor 
led to the mention of his name as a candidate for the shrievalty by 
his intimate friends, Init was fought by the bosses of both ]iarties. 
In spite of this, however, he received the nomination in the Demo- 
cratic convention and although the county is nominally twenty-five 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 547 

hundred Republican, he received a majority of one thousand, the 
fight being won on his record as a public official. 

Since his election he has given his time to the exacting duties 
of sheriff, in which he has proved to be a strict upholder of the law, 
an impartial administrator of justice and a successful guardian of 
the peace. Various organizations have had the benefit of his mem- 
bership, included among these being the Sacramento Turners, Elks, 
Eagles and the Young Men's Institute. By his union with Miss Mar- 
garet 'Toole of Sacramento, solemnized December 22, 1891, he has 
an only daughter, Kathaleen, who is a graduate of the Sacramento 
high school, and is popular among the younger social circles. 



PHILIP SCHELD 

To those who but casually observe the mere fact of success the 
life of Philip Scheld reads like a romance, but the student of human 
nature readily detects that there is less romance in his career than 
tireless industry and persistent application. It is the testimony of 
his friends that his large degree of success comes from personal 
application to the duty in hand. Step by step with the most labor- 
ious energy he rose from a position of commercial insignificance to 
a high standing among the business men and the bankers of Sacra- 
mento. It has been his interesting experience to witness the devel- 
opment of the capital city. Here he first landed during the latter 
part of March, 1850; here he spent infrequent intervals of labor dur- 
ing the pioneer era; and here, still in the pioneer period of the 
'50s, he identified himself with the brewery business that by his own 
industry and sagacity brought him a fortune. Here later he rose 
to an influential position among the bankers and in 1901 was elected 
president of the Sacramento Bank, whose early growth he had pro- 
moted through his wise services as a director. 

The town of Giessen in the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany, is the native place of Philip Scheld, and October 13, 1827, 
the date of his birth into the home of John and Kate Scheld. For 
several successive generations the heads of the Scheld family had 
followed the wheelwright's trade and this likewise remained the 
life occupation of John Scheld, but in addition he conducted a small 
farm. From the age of six until he was fourteen Philip Scheld at- 
tended the government school of his home town and after leaving 
school he helped his father on the farm. June 4, 1845, he and his 
brother, Henry, took passage on the sailing vessel, Neptune, at 
Bremen and on the 11th of the next month thev landed at Philadel- 



548 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

phia, where Henry worked as a cabinet-maker and Philip found 
employment in a bakery for several years, later going to Baltimore. 

News of the discovery of gold in California caused Henry Scheld 
to join a party of twenty-four young emigrants, who came west via New 
Orleans, Monterey, Durango and Mazatlan, thence by sailing vessel 
to San Francisco. For years he engaged in mining, but afterward 
settled in Eureka and became one of the most successful business 
men of that town. Shortly after he landed in the west he sent a 
letter to his brother, Philip, in Baltimore, advising him to come 
immediately and the advice was taken without delay. To this step 
Mr. Scheld attributes much of his good fortune, for the west pre- 
sented opportunities that were not possible to residents of the east. 
February 4, 1850, he left Baltimore on the steamer Philadelphia, 
and proceeded to Panama. His personal effects were conveyed across 
the isthmus on the back of a mule, but he was obliged to walk the 
greater part of the distance. On the west coast of the isthmus he 
took passage on the ship California, which cast anchor in the harbor 
of San Francisco on the 24th of March. From that city he paid 
$16 for the river trip of one and one-half days on the steamer Hart- 
ford to Sacramento, whence he traveled with a team of four oxen 
to Coloma, Eldorado county. Meanwhile his brother had left that 
place and no one knew his whereabouts, but by chance they met 
several weeks later at Volcano, where a company was attempting to 
flume out Volcano Bar. 

With another young emigrant, Daniel Troy, as a partner, Mr. 
Scheld contracted to do the baking for a hotel at Coloma, but they 
soon found the proprietor was in an unfortunate financial condition. 
In the end they were obliged to take the hotel as their only wages. 
There they continued Imsiness until the need of larger quarters 
obliged them to build a larger house. Later they erected the Sierra 
Nevada hotel, which is still running. All of the supplies for the 
hotel were purchased in Sacramento and hauled to Coloma by wagon. 
On the day of the great fire he was buying in Sacramento as usual, 
but had started on his return trip before the fire broke out, so that 
he did not leai-n of the disaster until the next day. Shortly after- 
ward he sold his interest in the hotel and removed to Sacramento, 
where he underwent the hardships incident to the great flood of 
1852. For a time he engaged in teaming between Sacramento and 
the mines, but finally, in 1853, he bought a brewery on East M street, 
rebuilt the plant and developed the Sacramento Brewery, which is 
one of the most profitable properties of the kind in the state. 

The marriage of Philip Scheld took place April 7, 1858, and 
united him with Miss Margaret Fritz, who had settled in Sacra- 
mento during the lu'ovious year. She was a native of Germany and 
was born near Mayence on the Rhine. The only child of their union, 
Adolph, is a prominent citizen of Sacramento and a director in the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 549 

Sacramento Bank. Since 1857 Philip Scheld has been identilied with 
ihe Turn Verein. In 1863 he joined Confidence Company No. 2, 
Volunteer Fire Department of Sacramento, and when the need of 
volunteer work no longer existed he became a member of the Ex- 
empt Firemen. Besides his large interests in and around Sacra- 
mento, he invested heavily in Southern California property and still 
has valuable holdings in Los Angeles county. For thirty-three years 
or more he has been a stockholder and director in the Sacramento 
Bank and when W. P. Coleman passed away in 1901 he was chosen 
to succeed to the responsible ottice of president. Notwithstanding 
his advanced years he still maintains an active interest in the man- 
agement of the bank, which benefits constantly by his wise counsel 
and shrewd insight into affairs. 



EDGAR M. SHEEHAN 

The president of the Sacramento Valley winery is one of the 
native sons of the capital city whose rising success furnishes evi- 
dence as to local possibilities and as to his own inherent qualities of 
mind. The twentieth century has marked an advance in the instal- 
lation of new industries and the expansion of old-established plants. 
Out from a past of commercial lethargy has arisen a present of 
activity. Growth is the keynote of present upbuilding and the creed 
for future development. The winery takes rank among the recent 
accessions to the business life of the city, having been organized in 
May of 1910 by Mr. Sheehan, who has been the only manager as well 
as the first president of the concern. With an excellent location, a 
conservative management and a necessary amount of capital, future 
development is certain. There is therefore every reason to believe 
that the winery will develop into one of the most successful plants 
of the kind in this portion of the state. 

As the name indicates, the Sheehan family comes of Celtic an- 
cestry. The first representative in California, T. W. Sheehan, was 
born in Countv Cork, Ireland, in 1844, and at a very early age crossed 
the ocean to Maine, where he found emplo^Tuent at Augusta. From 
that city he left in 1862 for service as a soldier in the Union army. 
With his regiment he participated in a number of fierce battles and 
remained at the front until after peace had been declared. After 
he had received an honorable discharge from the army he came to 
California in 1866 and settled in Sacramento, where he secured em- 
ployment as a carriage-painter. Later he served as a deputv sheriff 
until 1871, when he engaged as a bookkeeper with the Sacramento 



550 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Union, a popular daily of the capital city. Worth and fidelity won 
recognition in the newspaper office and he was promoted to be 
manager, which responsible position he filled until his retirement 
from all business activities in 1905. The following year occurred 
his death. During early manhood he had married Mollie F. Lynch, 
a native of New York. Among their family of five children Edgar 
M., born in January of 1871, was first in order of birth. As a boy 
he attended the public schools and completed his studies in the high 
school in 1888, when he entered into business affairs. 

A valuable experience while connected with the Sacramento 
Union came to Mr. Sheehan through his service as a reporter on 
the daily and a contributor to the editorial department. After a 
time he was delegated to travel for the paper and still later he was 
given a position in the business department. Through these various 
positions he gained much valuable information not only concerning 
the operation of a great daily, but also in regard to general business 
matters. In 1904 he accepted a place with the California winery as 
head of the publicity department, but resigned the ensuing year from 
that department in order to enter upon the more important duties 
of general manager and vice-president. In an official capacity his 
service was most helpful to the business and in addition the expe- 
rience enabled him to successfully organize the Sacramento Valley 
winery, which he manages with notable skill and comprehensive 
alertness. 

The environment of boyhood, the influences of the home and the 
relations to the church, were such as to cause Mr. Sheehan to identify 
himself with the Roman Catholic faith in his very early life and 
from that time to the present he has been devoted to the cause, 
generous to its philanthropies and loyal to its doctrines. His wife 
was formerly Miss Virginia Milne, whom he married in Sacra- 
mento April 25, 1908. In political views he holds to Republican 
principles and gives his ballot to the nominees of that party. The 
Sons of Veterans have numbered him among the active members 
of their post in Sacramento, while his social and fraternal relations 
have been further enlarged through an influential connection with 
the Sutter Club. 



WILHELM R. H. SCHEUNERT 

With the experience acquired through residence in Germany, 
the land of his birth, and in America, the chosen home of maturity, 
Mr. Scheunert gives his preference to the land of the free and par- 
ticularly is he devoted to the great western country. As the chosen 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 551 

place of bis home aud the center of his business activities, be cher- 
ishes the utmost loyalty to Northern California, with whose pro- 
gress he has been familiar for a long period. Although now more 
than sixty years of age he retains much of the physical alertness 
and all of the mental acumen characteristic of earlier life. Not only 
is he probably one of the oldest commercial travelers in this part 
of the state, but in addition he ranks as one of the most successful. 
In the line of his specialty he has built up a large trade in Northern 
California and Nevada. By so doing he has enlarged the business 
of the wholesale cigar factory in Sacramento, where his brother, 
Emil, remains to superintend the city trade. 

Through a lifetime of exceptional activity Wilhelm Scheunert, 
Sr., held a prominent position among the business men of Zduny, a 
town of Prussia, not far distant from the borders of Russia. Not 
only did he own and ojjerate a flour mill in the village, but in 
addition he managed other important enterprises and also served 
efficiently as city trustee, being indeed a citizen of such prominence 
that his demise was mourned as a public loss. His wife, Wilhelmina. 
also resided in Zduny until her death. Their son, Wilhelm R. H., 
was born in Prussia November 10, 1849, and attended the national 
schools of Germany, as well as private institutions of learning in 
his native kingdom. Following the usual custom of the country he 
was sent to serve in the army. It was at the time of the Franco- 
Prussian war and he therefore saw service not only in camp, but 
also on the battle-field. During 1870-71 he was honorably discharged 
with the commission of sergeant. 

Almost immediately after his return home from the wars Mr. 
Scheunert began to make preparations to emigrate to the new world. 
Without any means except sufficient for traveling expenses, he 
started on the long ocean trip to New York City and this was fol- 
lowed by the journey across the continent to San Francisco, where 
he found employment. In a few months he came to Sacramento 
and secured work as a barber. Eighteen months later he went to 
Virginia City, Nev., and embarked in the cigar business, but in 
1875, after the big fire, he removed his business headquarters to 
Sacramento, the center of all subsequent activities* on his part. Since 
1876 he has been identified continuously with the cigar business as 
a manufacturer and jobber. He organized the business as Scheunert 
Bros., Inc. With him in business is his brother, Emil, born in 
Prussia in May of 1858, educated in Germany and California, and 
employed for a time in a dry-goods house that specialized in ladies' 
furnishings. For several years he engaged extensively in farm pur- 
suits in Mexico, but owing to the yellow fever he was forced to 
leave that country. After a visit of a few months at his old German 
home he returned to Mexico to close out his affairs and then joined his 
brother in Sacramento, where since he has engaged in the cigar 



552 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

business. Fraternally lie holds membership with various organ- 
izations, including the various degrees of Masonry up to the Nobles 
of the Mystic Shrine. The older brother has been connected prom- 
inently with the Knights of Pythias as well as other societies. In 
1878 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Goepel, daughter 
of Herman Goepel, who in the early days was a well-known resident 
of Sacramento. 



JOHN LESKER PATTERSON 

Within three miles of Folsom lies the well improved fruit farm 
which has been the home of Mr. Patterson for a considerable period 
and which through his well-directed efforts has acquired a reputation 
for productiveness and profitable operation. In coming to Orangevale, 
for such is the name of the district, he first made a visit of inspection 
from his Nebraska home and later removed to the property he still 
owns. Continued identification with the locality increases his faith in 
the soil and his devotion to the higher development of the community. 
While he has inspected many other parts of the state and at one time 
remained for two years in San Joaquin county, he believes Sacra- 
mento county to be the peer of all and the center of a vast horticul- 
tural section whose possibilities as yet are only partly appreciated. 

Of Pennsylvanian birth and parentage, John L. Patterson was 
born at Uniontown, Fayette county, February 14, 1859, and at the 
age of eleven years, in 1870, he accompanied his parents to Iowa, set- 
tling upon raw land in Madison county. While helping his father he 
was also given fair schooling, and not only completed the grammar 
grade, but also attended a high school and later took a course of 
study in the Baptist college at Pella. For a time he engaged in 
teaching school. During young manhood, in 1884, he removed to 
Nebraska and settled at Kearney, Buffalo county, where he bought 
and still owns residence property. While still in Iowa he had learned 
the trade of a stationary engineer and knowledge of the occupation 
enabled him to 'operate an engine with success for five years. He also 
taught in the Kearney Industrial school for six years. 

During the period of his residence at Kearney Mr. Patterson met 
and married Miss Adelaide Stout, who was born and reared in New 
York state; her death occurred in 1903 and her body was interred in 
Folsom cemetery. Surviving her are the two daughters born of the 
union, Irma and Ona, who are attending the local schools. The 
family came to California during 1897 and settled at Orangevale, 
wliere Mr. Patterson had bought property on a previous trip to the 
west. The place had been planted to fruit trees, but there were no 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 555 

other improvements. His first task was the building of a substantial 
house. Later other improvements were made and adjacent property 
was purchased, until now he owns sixty acres, all in fruit. Six and 
one-half acres are in oranges, seven acres in prunes and the balance 
in pears, almonds, olives and grapes. From 1898 until 1900 he acted 
as superintendent of a ranch of two thousand acres and meanwhile 
made his home on the property, which is situated in San Joaquin 
county, but in 1900 he resigned the position in order to take up the 
personal supervision of his Orangevale ranch. In addition to im- 
proving this property he has bought and sold real estate and has 
promoted many enterprises for the benefit of the locality. A move- 
ment which received his early and constant support was that looking 
ioward the starting of a bank, and it was characteristic of him that 
he should be among the first to subscribe to the capital stock. Since 
then he has continued a stockholder in the Bank of Folsom and now 
serves as a member of the board of directors. He is president of the 
Orangevale Water Company, which is installing a new system of 
piping to supply water for irrigation and domestic use in the colony. 
The present wife of Mr. Patterson, whom he married in 1905, was 
Mrs. Nora (Raper) Gibbons, who was born in Placer county and 
reared in Colusa county. She was educated in Pierce Christian col- 
lege at College City, graduating in 1887 with the degree of B. S. 
Her parents were Robert and Frances (Allen) Raper, who crossed the 
plains in 1864 and settled in Colusa county. The father is now living 
in Orangevale, but the mother died in 1909. After her graduation 
Miss Raper became the wife of 0. J. Gibbons, and of that marriage 
three children were born, as follows: Aris, of Oakland; Robert L., a 
graduate of the State Agricultural school at Davis and now horticul- 
tural inspector of Sacramento county, and Ruth, who is attending high 
school in Sacramento. Politically, Mr. Patterson believes in Repub- 
lican principles, and is progressive in his tendencies. Ever since 
young manhood he has been interested in educational progress and no 
one in his district maintains a closer affiliation with such work than 
does Mr, Patterson, who believes that the public schools are the most 
important factors in our national development. He and his wife are 
active members of the Orangevale Grange, of which he is past master 
and Mrs. Patterson treasurer, and these progressive organizations 
they have not only promoted, but they have also organized them 
whenever possible. While living in Nebraska Mr. Patterson became 
associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Kearney 
of which he is past grand, and he is also past chief patriarch of the 
encampment, as well as a member of the Uniform rank of the order, 
in Nebraska. Mrs. Patterson is president of the Orangevale W. C. T. U. 



55(1 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



JAMES RUTTER 

A study of the lives and activities of the pioneers of Sacramento 
county discloses no name more worthy of honorable mention than that 
of the late James Rutter, who was identified with California as a per- 
manent resident from the year 1852 until his death. An early acT 
quired knowledge of the trade of carpenter proved helpful to him 
after he left his native country and crossed the ocean to the United 
States, for this occupation and kindred pursuits enabled him to be 
self-supporting from the first. Notwithstanding the fact that he had 
reached an age justifying his complete retirement from all business 
cares and the further fact that he had accumulated a competency 
through his arduous undertakings in the past, he continued to the 
last actively interested in all life's activities, personally overseeing 
his varied enterprises and showing the same persevering energy char- 
acteristic of him during earlier years. 

Descended from a long line of Anglo-Saxon ancestors, and himself 
a native of Cornwall, England, James Rutter was born August 15, 
1827, and received such advantages as English free schools afforded. 
As he came toward manhood and studied conditions at home he saw 
no prospects for the future, and the depressing conditions of labor in 
his native land led him to seek the better opportunities of the new 
world, where he landed in New York City May 15, 1849. It was not 
his intention to remain in the eastern metropolis, and he soon took 
his way westward to Buffalo. There he boarded a lake vessel bound 
for Chicago. On his arrival in that then insignificant city he found 
conditions unattractive and the demand for workmen small, so he pro- 
ceeded to St. Louis, where he found temporary emplo;sTnent. Next he 
filled a ])Osition in Quincy, 111., and from there removed to Galena in 
1851. The following year he came across the plains by ox-teams, ac- 
companied by his young wife (this being their bridal tour), the trip 
consuming the entire summer, but fortunately bringing no accidents 
or disasters. In Octol)er, 1851, he was married in Galena, 111., to 
Miss Thomasine Penberthy, a native of Cornwall, England. She was 
reared in England and when eighteen years old, in 1848, came with 
her parents to Galena, 111. Of this union three children were born, 
only one of whom is living. She is Agnes E., the wife of L. M. 
Landsborough of Florin. They have five children, Thomas R., Leon- 
ard B., Amy L. (Mrs. McCraney), William Lloyd and Georgia I. 

For a period of six years after his arrival in California and his 
taking up of active labors Mr. Rutter followed the carpenter's trade 
in the city of Sacramento. During 1858 he removed to Florin, a small 
village southeast of the capital city, and here he made his home until 
his death, meanwhile becoming the owner of one hundred and eighty 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 557 

acres of valuable land and improving a homestead attractive in ap- 
pearance and productive in returns. To him belongs the distinction 
of having planted the first vineyard in Sacramento county. He 
further has the distinction of having shipped the first raisins out of 
the county and sent the first grapes to the eastern markets. Years 
ago, when methods of irrigation were crude, he put in the first pump- 
ing plant in the entire state and this same undertaking, which was 
watched by the citizens with considerable skepticism, proved so satis- 
factory that others soon followed his example. In making new de- 
partures in agriculture or horticulture he indeed proved a pioneer. 
Fond of experimenting, he made a special study in early daj^s of the 
soil, the climate and the crops best suited thereto. Some of his ex- 
periments cost him considerable sums and yet proved impracticable, 
but so many of them were successful that in the end he reaped large 
returns from his new undertakings. Nor was the work helpful to 
himself alone. Other pioneers, studying his methods, imitated 
his plan of cultivation and found in him an authority concerning hor- 
ticultural subjects. Thus he acquired prominence unsought. In his 
desire to promote the welfare of the country he gave freely of time, 
means and influence, and in his declining days he reaped the rich re- 
ward of years of self-sacrifice and intelligent endeavor. 



HUGH J. SMILEY 

On the other side of the world, in Australia, in the city of Mel- 
bourne, Hugh J. Smiley, long of Sacramento, was born November 
25, 1858, a son of Rankin and Catherine Smiley. His parents went 
from England to Australia in 1857. His father attained eminence 
there in politics and long held the office of Immigration-General, and 
now lives in London ; . his mother has been dead many years. The 
son was educated in public and private schools in Australia and in 
1882 came to the United States and located in San Diego, where he 
was for a year in the real estate business with his uncle. From 
San Diego he went to San Francisco and identified himself with the 
interests of another uncle who was in the stock business. In 1884 
he came to Sacramento and entered the plumbing shop of the South- 
ern Pacific Railroad, where he learned the plumber's trade. He was 
then placed in charge of the air-brake department of the coast di- 
vision with headquarters in San Francisco. After having been in 
the employ of that corporation for twelve years, he devoted two 
years to the installation of the water system in the Tesler coal mines 
near Livermore, Cal. Then he engaged in the plumbing business 



558 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in Sacramento, buying a fine property on the lower Stockton road at 
its intersection with Cypress avenne, where he erected a home and 
a shop. He now owns four houses in this neighborhood, some prop- 
erty near Stockton and sixty acres of land in Mexico. 

In 1892 Mr. Smiley married Miss Ada L. Fassett of Sacramento 
county, daughter of the Hon. Louis H. Fassett, of Sacramento county, 
who filled the office of supervisor two terms and represented his dis- 
trict one term in the ('alifornia Assembly. They have one son. Earl 
B., born September 19, 1891, a graduate of the Sacramento high 
scliool, who is associated with his father in business. Mr. Smiley 
affiliates with the Eagles, the Odd Fellows, the Grange and the 
Fraternal Union of America, and Mrs. Smiley and their son are 
members of the Baptist Church. 



JOHN F. COOPER 

Romance often found its way into the privations and perils expe- 
rienced by the pioneers of the west and it was not lacking from life's 
activities with Mr. Cooper as boy, youth and man, nor has its pleasant 
glow wholly faded from the gold-tinted horizon of his memories as, 
retired from the strenuous tasks of former years, he finds leisure to 
reflect upon the past and enjoy its many interesting recollections. 
From the far-distant past there come to him memories of the family 
home at Lexington, Ky., where the father, Archibald H. Cooper, M. D., 
engaged in the practice of medicine for a considerable period and 
where his own birth had occurred December 17, 1840. Genealogical 
records indicated that the family had been established in America 
during the colonial era and descended from English ancestors, but the 
American representatives fought on the side of the colonies during 
the Revolution. Their devotion to the country has been imitated by 
every generation of descendants and patriotism is a family char- 
acteristic. 

The Kentucky doctor had established a home of his own during 
early manhood and had chosen as his wife Miss Elizabeth A. Mc- 
intosh, a native of Kentucky, descended from Scotch and English 
progenitors and like himself a representative of a Revolutionary fam- 
ily. Her death occurred in 1854, two years after her arrival in Cali- 
fornia. One of her sons had died of cholera while they were crossing 
the plains and that boy, Louis, lies in an unknown grave. Another 
son, David, a soldier in the Civil war and in the Indian struggles along 
the western coast, died in Sacramento in 1901 and was buried with 
Grand Army honors. A daughter, Laura, died in 1907 and her hus- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 561 

band, George F. Nourse, passed away the following year. Shortly 
after the discovery of gold in California the children of this family 
had seen their father and uncle depart for the west and later re- 
ceived word that they had started stores at Mud Springs and Dia- 
mond Springs, to both of which places they had given their names. 

Deciding that he would remain in the west the doctor sent his 
brother-in-law, John Mcintosh, back to Kentucky to bring the balance 
of the family across the plains. A large company of emigrants was 
gathered together. Twenty-seven wagons were required for the 
people and supplies. The boy of twelve years, John F. Cooper, rode 
the entire distance on a little white mule and he vividly recalls the 
hardships of the journey, the dangers from cholera, the perils from 
Indian and Mormon outbreaks and the countless vicissitudes marking 
such an expedition. The party was unusually fortunate and after a 
quick trip of three and one-half months arrived safely in California 
August 27, 1852. The majority of the relatives took up residence in 
Colusa county, but John F. Cooper's family made their headquarters 
at Sacramento. His second memorable experience was while serving 
as cabin-boy on board the ship. Witchcraft, from San Francisco to 
New York by way of the Horn. At New York he shipped for return 
passage on the clipper Swordfish. Upon his return to the west he 
collected fares on the steamer Clinton, plying between Oakland and 
San Francisco. 

While at Stockton in 1854 the young lad was fortunate in winning 
the friendship of Prof. W. L. Wright, head of the department of 
mathematics in Yale College. The older man took an interest in the 
self-reliant youth and aided him in his efforts to secure an education. 
Nor was this the extent of his benefactions. He had previously bought 
the Rough and Ready Island ranch and at his death he willed one-half 
of the estate to young Cooper, who thus found it possible to attend 
the Benicia high school for three years and later completed his educa- 
tion in the Sacramento schools. Meanwhile he learned the trade of 
a printer and worked in every department of the business with the 
Sacramento Bee and Repnbliean. A life-long fondness cherished for 
music found expression when he took up its study under Professors 
Winter and Mansfeldt. Under their superior instruction he became 
proficient in ])oth vocal and instrumental music. The organization of 
the Philharmonic Society was largely the result of his energetic efforts 
and for many years he was honored with its presidency. Besides hav- 
ing charge of music in the Sacramento public schools, he was organist 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church for eight years, held a similar 
position in the Presbyterian Church for twelve years and at the 
Jewish Synagogue for seven years. One of the results of his efforts 
was the formation of the Sacramento chorus of one hundred and fifty 
voices which were added to the San Francisco chorus of fifteen hun- 



562 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

• 

dred voices for the Camilo Urso Concert under the leadership of Carl 
Zerahn. 

After over thirty-five years as proprietor of a music store on J 
street, Sacramento, in 1893 Mr. Cooper sold these interests. As evi- 
dence of his influence in nnisical circles it may be stated that his suc- 
cessors incorporated the business under the title of the Cooper Music 
Company, the name being considered one of the valuable assets of the 
house. Since he relinquished his associations with musical affairs Mr. 
Cooper has bought and improved a number of fruit farms, but these 
he has sold from time to time. In former years he owned interests in 
mines in Mexico, California and Nevada. For a time he made his 
headquarters in San Francisco, where with his brother-in-law, George 
F. Nourse, he started the Overland Freight and Transfer Company in 
1873. The company collected freight for the railroads and shipped to 
Australia, China, Japan and other foreigii points. Even up to the 
present the business is still flourishing, but Mr. Cooper sold his interest 
and returned to Sacramento because the San Francisco climate proved 
unpleasant to him. Through his personal efforts the Capitol Sacra- 
mento Transfer, Van and Storage Company was incorporated in 1899 
and in 1902 he purchased his partner's interests, thereupon becom- 
ing sole proprietor of the concern. While he still manages the busi- 
ness he has practically retired from business cares, and he has also 
retired from the fraternal activities that once engrossed much of his 
time, for in former years he was an active member of the Knights 
of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, Foresters of America, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and other organizations. 

The marriage of Mr. Cooper and Miss Joanna Powelson, a native 
of Philadelphia, Pa., was solemnized in Sacramento October 19, 1869. 
Mrs. Cooper is the daughter of a California pioneer who died while 
still in young manhood. Afterward her mother became the wife of 
Captain Cunningham, a Mississippi river captain of the early days, 
but later until his death a cai^tain on a Sacramento river steamboat. 
When a girl Mrs. Cooper studied music under Mulder Fabri, a world- 
famous instructor. No expense was spared in the cultivation of her 
rich soprano voice and she became one of the most popular soloists 
in Sacramento. Her two daughters. Misses Laura and Ruby Cooper, 
are also accomplished musicians and prominent in musical, literary, 
golf, tennis and other club affairs of the city. 



LOUIS IT. STEWART 

It may be said that the entire life of Louis H. Stewart, the man- 
ager of the Sacramento branch of the Central California canneries, 
has been passed in or near a fruit cannery. Born in Healdsburg, 




"^ 




=4 

\ 



^ 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 565 

Sonoma county, during the year 1868, he was the son of Joseph E. 
and Harriette (Fiero) Stewart, and in this vale of fruitage and 
bloom known as the Valley of the Sotoyome, he practically finished 
his school days and childhood at seventeen, and was prepared for 
work. He found his first job in T. S. Merchant's fruit canneries in 
that place, and held it for five years, a portion, or the latter portion 
of that period being the foreman of the establishment. In 1890 
he was employed with Miller & Hotchkiss, fruit canners and packers, 
also in Healdsburg, and he remained in that place until 1894. His 
next change was to Geyserville of that county, a warm-belted fruit 
region, where he took charge of the Walden & Co. fruit canneries 
until 1901. He then removed to Sacramento, became foreman in the 
Sacramento branch of the Central California canneries, and two 
years after was appointed manager. 

Mr. Stewart is as successful as a manager as he was as a fore- 
man. The same care in detail and the same faithfulness in all the 
obligations that ever burden the business man receive his closest 
attention. Under his direction are three hundred and fifty people 
busy handling their part of the great pack of fruit that passes 
through those canneries every season. He was married in San 
Francisco February 22, 1893, to Miss Effie "Willis, and their chil- 
dren are Freda, Norma, Charlotte and Willis. The family have a 
pleasant home at No. 1228 street. Fraternally the father is an 
Odd Fellow and in religion is a Baptist, two characteristics believed 
in the west to make for the best citizenship. Also, he is Repub- 
lican in his politics, but this does not detract from his civic perfec- 
tions, as he aids all movements for the upbuilding of the city, where 
his business interests are centered. 



JOHN STUDARUS 

About the middle of the nineteenth century John Studarus left 
his native place in St. Gall, Switzerland, and crossed the ocean to the 
United States, settling in West Virginia, where he married Marv 
Reich. On their farm in Hancock county, that state, a son, John, Jr., 
was born April 12, 1852. No part of the world at that time so deeplv 
engrossed the attention of men as did California, and the Swiss family 
soon determined to cross the continent to the unknown regions of the 
west. The necessities of such a long journey were loaded in a wagon, 
and with an ox-team for motive power the ''prairie schooner" slowly 
bore the family across the vast expanse of unsettled country until 
finally the destination was reached in safety. The trip had con- 



566 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

sumed inoie than six months of the year 1853, and they located in 
Eldorado county, continuing there until 1855. Settlement was then 
made near Perkins, Sacramento county, the father eventually acquir- 
ing title to vast tracts of raw land near Mills Station. He proved a 
successful farmer and horticulturist, and his ranch became valuable 
with the passing of the years. Believing tlie soil and climate favored 
horticultural efforts, he experimented with the raising of fruit and 
was one of the pioneers in that industry in the whole valley. Both 
parents died on the old home place. Nine children were born of their 
marriage, and all but one are living in California. The eldest of the 
children, Mrs. J. Broder, of Folsom, crossed the plains to this state. 

John Studarus was next to the oldest of the parental family, and 
the old homestead in Sacramento county has been familiar to him 
from his earliest childhood years. Upon it he learned needed lessons 
in agriculture and from it he was sent during the winter months to 
the country school of the district, where he received a fair education. 
After he reached the age of twenty-two he began working on ranches, 
and during two years saved $900 from his wages. At the expiration 
of that time he turned his attention to the shipping of cobblestones to 
Sacramento and found that business quite profitable. Later he bought 
two hundred and fifty acres near Mills, and for four years he de- 
voted himself to the improvement of the place. Coming from there 
into the village of Mills, he bought five acres of ground and established 
a mercantile business, besides which he built and conducted a hotel. 
For years he has served as postmaster of Mills, and always has sup- 
ported Republican principles. 

The erection of a large business house in 1911 has given Mr. 
Studarus excellent advantages for the management of his mercantile 
establishment, and, by a division into different rooms, he has an 
abundance of space for the care of the mail and the other duties de- 
volving u])on a postmaster. On the completion of the new store and 
before it had been stocked with merchandise, the owner gave a ball 
and lianquet, to which he invited the people of the entire country. A 
free entertainment was given, and the guests came from miles in 
every direction. Many of the guests were young people whose only 
desire was the enjoyment of the banquet, but there were also present 
not a few of the older people, some of whom had been acquainted with 
Mr. Studarus since his boyhood years and had enjoyed his friendship 
through all the intervening era. Fraternally he has been connected 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1885. His marriage 
took place at Mills December 25, 1879, and united him with Miss Sine 
Lauridson, who was born and reared in Denmark. They became the 
parents of four sons, but one of these, John, Jr., died when only two 
years of age. Howard passed away in 1909, at the age of nineteen 
years, when he had just completed the high school course in Sacra- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 567 

mento. Lawrence, a young man of excellent education, is now em- 
ployed in Seattle. Henry, a graduate of Heald's Business college, 
San Francisco, who is married and lives at Mills, assists his father 
in the management of the business. 



BENJAMIN WELCH 

The earliest period in which cognizance can be had concerning 
the Welch family found them identified with Yorkshire, England, and 
genealogical records show that they became transplanted in the north 
of Ireland, where several successive generations lived and labored. 
Prior to the first struggle with England they crossed the ocean to 
the settlements along the Atlantic coast. The first representative 
of the name in New England was James Welch, a brave soldier in 
the Revolutionary war and a man whose noble attributes of charac- 
ter gave to his descendants an inheritance of incalculable yalue. 
Among his children was a son, James, who followed the sea and 
acquired ample means through the persistency of his efforts and 
the sagacity of his judgment. By marriage he became connected 
with one of the most ancient families of New England, his wife, 
Lucinda Brackett, having traced her ancestry to Scotch forbears 
who settled along the Atlantic coast as early as 1636. The Brackett 
family was closely related to George Cleves, the famous pioneer of 
the city of Portland, Me., and an early settler whose vision of the 
future was prophetic. 

On Peaks Island in Casco bay near Portland, Me., Benjamin 
Welch was born in August, 1827, a grandson of James Welch, the 
Revolutionary soldier. At the age of sixteen he began to work in 
the Portland" Locomotive and Car shops, a plant engaged in build- 
ing motive power for the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad (after- 
ward known as the Grand Trunk). For five years he served an 
apprenticeship or worked for wages in the shops under the super- 
intendency of Horace Felton and John Sparrow. In the spring of 
1852 he came to California via Greytown and the Nicaragua river. 
The ship on which he sailed north cast anchor at San Francisco on 
the 26tli of March and he found employment in that city. March 4, 
1855, he left San Francisco for the Kern river mining district and 
also visited mines in the San Joaquin and Bear valleys. Next he 
entered the employ of the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company 
as a car-builder and for seven years he remained with them, mainly 
at their Folsom shop. Later he assisted in the construction of the 
San Jose road and made his headquarters at Seventeen-Mile house. 



568 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Through a personal friend, T. D. Judah, chief engineer of the 
Central Pacific Railroad, Mr. Welch was engaged by Mr. Pluntington 
as car master and general superintendent of construction. The first 
shop which he built was 20x150 feet in dimensions and gave employ- 
ment to six men during the first year. With additions 130x130 this 
shop was used until 1867, when a shop 60x200 feet was erected. The 
next year a building was constructed 90x230 feet, with an L 90x40 
feet, which was soon followed by another, 100x200, and the round- 
house. At a cost of $2400 he built in 1865 his famous snow-plow, 
which was in successful use for many years. Another of his im- 
portant tasks was the reconstruction of the American river bridge 
which had been destroyed by fire. During 1869 he completed the 
invention of a framer and tenon machine, which saved much time 
and labor in the construction of cars. The tourist car, which later 
came into general use throughout the world, was constructed in 1870 
after his plans, the original models and later improvements having 
been exhibited at the Railroad Exposition in Chicago held during 
1884. The Pullman Company adopted the models and carried on 
the manufacture of the cars. Mr. Welch continued for years at the 
head of the shop employing about two thousand workmen and when 
finally he retired to private life it was with the highest reputation 
for success in his chosen field of activity. 

In connection with railroad affairs Mr. Welch held many posi- 
tions of honor and trust. For many years, beginning in 1870, he 
was a member of the Car Builders' Association. The committee on 
brakes, of which he was a member, held a session at Burlington, 
Iowa, that continued for thirty days in 1886, then met again the 
following year. Among the most staunch of his friends in railroad 
circles was A. J. Stephens, master mechanic and superintendent of 
motive power. Other railroad men of high ability reposed in him the 
fullest confidence and he enjoyed intimate personal relations with 
many of the master spirits in railroad development of that day and 
generation. To friends and workmen as well he has been known 
for years as Uncle Ben, a familiar title that was given him in rec- 
ognition of his kindly spirit, friendly nature and generous helpful- 
ness. Early in manhood he became a Mason, identifying himself 
successively with Union Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M. ; Sacramento 
Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. ; Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T., and 
Sacramento Council No. 1. The benevolent principles of the order 
received exemplification in his own philanthropic temperament. 

The marriage of Benjamin Welch occurred January 4, 1860, and 
united him with Mrs. Ellen Marsh, nee Boobar, a native of Maine. 
Their union was blessed with four sons who attained years of ma- 
turity, namely: George Henry, Walter Hatch, Frank Cummings and 
Benjamin Bradford. The eldest of these, George H., was born in 
Sacramento August 5, 1861, and received his education in the public 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 571 

schools of Howes Academy. During 1881 he began to work in the 
car-builders' department of the Southern Pacific Railroad and there 
learned the trade. From 1886 until 1888 he acted as assistant fore- 
man of the same department in Los Angeles, after which he served 
for four years as a car-builder in the Oakland division. During 1892 
he was transferred to Ogden, Utah, as assistant foreman of the car- 
builders' department, from which place in 1894 he was transferred to 
y/adsworth, Nev., as foreman of the same department. October 7, 
1895, he returned to Sacramento and since then has held the re- 
sponsible position of gang foreman in the car-building department. 
Through his long association with the Southern Pacific Railroad he 
has proved trustworthy, intelligent and capable and has added pres- 
tige to an honored family name. 

The Masonic order, whose ennobling principles appealed strongly 
to the elder Welch, also has the active co-operation of George H. 
Welch, who is an influential member of the blue lodge and a faithful 
exponent of the philanthropic creed of the fraternity. In addition, 
he has been actively connected with the Knights of Pythias. Politic- 
ally he has given steadfast allegiance to Republican principles. ^ In 
religion he is of the Protestant faith and a contributor to various 
church enterprises. By his marriage, September 9, 1884, to Miss 
Small of Oakland, he is the father of three children. The eldest son, 
Edward N., is now proprietor of a garage in Sacramento. The other 
son, Ben, is ten years the junior of his brother and is now a student in 
the Sacramento" schools. The only daughter, Helen, is the wife of 
Frank McCormick, and resides in Sacramento. 



ISIDOR COHEN 

Adventurous experiences in many localities came to an end with 
the permanent settlement of Mr. Cohen in Sacramento, which place 
had won his liking during previous brief sojourns and thus became 
the eventual inducement affecting his decision to establish here a 
permanent business headquarters. Like the majority of the German 
people, his talents have led him into different lines of merchandising 
and in his youthful years, when he had no capital whatever, he earned 
a livelihood through the strenuous existence of a peddler. Through 
all of his changes of residence and his variations in forms of work, 
he has retained his deep devotion to the Jewish religion and his love 
for the race of which he is a member. This does not prevent him 
from being a true and loyal citizen of his adopted country. His in- 
terest in national issues is constant and his belief in Republican prm- 



572 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO (X)UNTY 

ciples leads him to support that party in all national campaigns. 

Near the city of Posen, Germany, Mr. C^ohen was horn April 17, 
1843, heing a son of S. and Sarah Cohen, whose residence in the father- 
land continued until death. His early educational opportunities were 
small indeed, for the necessity of self-support forced him to leave 
school to take up occupative lahors. The trade which he learned, that 
of a baker, occupied him until he left Germany at the age of seventeen 
and came via Hull, England, to America, settling in New York City 
and securing work as a baker. Next he took up peddling and thus 
earned enough to pay his passage to California in 1863, when he 
traveled via Nicaragua and there took the Moses Taylor to San 
Francisco and thence came to Sacramento. As a peddler he visited 
the i)rincipal mining camps of P]ldorado county. In about six weeks he 
returned to San Francisco, where for one year he sold fruit at the 
Metropolitan theatre. Ui)on his return to Sacramento he bought a 
cigar and fruit store, but this he sold at the expiration of about 
twelve months, returning thereupon to New York City via Panama 
and resuming business pursuits there with a partner. A year later 
he removed to Williamsburg, N. Y., where for two years he carried 
on a store. Next he engaged in merchandising in Chicago, 111., after 
which he was similarly occupied successively at Silver City, Idaho, 
for six montlis, and then located in Virginia City, Nev. A few months 
later he was burned out in the big fire of 1875 with a total loss, after 
which, in January, 1876, he became a permanent resident of Sacra- 
mento and began anew. 

As an assistant in the establishment owned by his brother, Ben- 
jamin Cohen, a dealer in carpets and oil cloth, Mr. Cohen remained 
for nine years, meanwhile saving his earnings so tliat finally he was 
able to buy out a cigar store on J between Fifth and Sixth streets. 
Two years after he had bought the business he disposed of it and 
spent three inonths in Euro])ean travel. Upon his return to Sacra- 
mento he ])ouglit from Edward Busch the present cigar store at 
No. 326 J street, and at this place he since has conducted a jobbing 
and retail business in cigars and tobacco. In all of his travels and liis 
sojourns in various ])arts of the country he has retained his devotion 
to the tenets of the Golden Rule, and has been a liberal and active 
contributor to various charities, both private and institutional. Fra- 
ternally he is connected with the Elks, the B. B.'s and the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, while in politics he is a staunch Republican 
and a patriotic sup])orter of the institutions of his adopted country. 

There is no ostentation, no attempted dis])lay or show in the acts 
of Isidor (^ohen. By hard la))()r and close attention to his own busi- 
ness, he lias a('(|uir('(l a modest fortune. The s])irit of true, gen- 
uine ))hilantlir()))y seems to have been born iu him. His dee]) interest 
in the welfare of the ])Oor little orphans has made him a central figure 
in the bestowal of ])ermanent charity for the care of the helpless 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 573 

orphan children of this commnnity. The Orphans' Home is largely 
indebted to his beneficent acts for its existence. He established com- 
fortable quarters for the boys at the earliest stage, and later founded 
an orchard, and garden, where the older boys and girls might learn 
the art of agriculture ; also provided choice cows for their dairy. The 
expense of conducting each and all of these is borne by Mr. Cohen. 
Recently he conceived and put into execution the idea of having those 
orphans old enough to work, cultivate the gardens and orchards, 
and after the products necessary for the use of the home, the surplus 
should be sold and the proceeds credited to the producers on their own 
account. These amounts are given to the producers in proportion to 
their earnings, and placed in a savings bank to the credit of each. 
The first statement of accounts showed that ten or twelve had bank 
accounts ranging from $5 to $20 each. There is no man in this com- 
munity who has a more charitable heart than Mr. Cohen, who now 
devotes his entire income to pure and unselfish charity. 



PETER A. FITZGERALD 

On our Independence Day, in 1865, Peter A. Fitzgerald, who was 
to become an American citizen, a leader in American enterprise and a 
director of American thought, was born in Ireland. He was educated 
in Ireland, Scotland, England and France. He came to the United 
States in 1888 and, locating in San Francisco, took up educational 
work, teaching special branches to private pupils. Later he taught in 
the Christian Brothers college at Oakland one year and in the Chris- 
tian Brothers college at Sacramento one year. In the period 1891- 
1901 he was a clerk in the freight department of the Southern Pacific 
railroad at Sacramento. Then he was called to the management of 
the California winery, with which he was employed one year. Later 
he was for five years with the John Breuner Company and then for 
one year with the Ruhstaller brewery as traveling agent. Resigning 
that position, he was for several months in 1908 in business in Tono- 
pah, Nev. Later he became the owner and is the editor and publisher 
of the Yolo Independent, a weekly newspaper, in Sacramento. The 
Yolo Independeut was started in 1895, and has been published as a 
weekly paper ever since, devoted to the interests of Yolo county. Mr. 
Fitzgerald edits the paper on strictly independent lines, taking up 
measures of reform, progress and all methods for the advancement 
of the moral, educational and commercial importance of the com- 
munity. 

The lady who became Mr. Fitzgerald's wife June 26, 1898, was 



574 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Miss Mollie F. Walsh, a native of Ireland, who came to Sacramento 
in 1887. She has borne her husband two children, Gerald and Ger- 
aldine. Politically Mr. Fitzgerald is an independent ; he affiliates with 
the Royal Arch chapter, and he and his family are communicants of 
the Catholic church. Devoting his time exclusively to newspaper 
work, Mr. Fitzgerald is in a position to give his public spirit full 
swaj', and there is no good work for the uplift and benefit of his 
community that he does not aid with his time, means and influence. 



WILLIAM BARTON BRADFORD 

A study of the Bradford genealogy indicates that the family were 
identified with the pioneer element in every portion of our country. 
Beginning near the shores of the Atlantic they followed the westward 
drift of migration and always were to be found in the vanguard of 
civilization, developing land, building up villages and aiding in the 
transformation of forest or prairie into regions of productivity and 
scenic charm. Some remote ancestor had erected a mill on one of 
the Connecticut streams and around it were built a few houses, thus 
starting a hamlet known as Bradford Mills, but later called merely 
by the title of Bradford. There occurred the birth of George Brad- 
ford in 1790 and there he early learned lessons of endurance of hard- 
ship and self-reliance in labor. The location and period alike pre- 
cluded educational opportunities, yet he was fortunate enough to 
attend a neighboring school for some years prior to the age of thirteen. 
After that his information was gained solely by experience, reading 
and observation. 

When the great valley of the Mississippi was in the infancy of 
its development George Bradford traveled along much of its length 
and studied its possibilities. Settling in New Orleans he began to 
operate keel boats on the river and for some five years continued to 
do a freighting business with his small crafts. At the expiration of 
that period he disposed of his interests in tlie south and settled at 
Wasliington, Daviess county, Ind., where he soon acquired varied com- 
mercial connections. For a time he owned a mill. The distilling 
business also engaged his attention. Mercantile pursuits contributed 
to the variety of his occupations, while the ownership and cultivation 
of land kept him in close touch with the most important occupation 
of the county. While living at Washington he met and married Miss 
Mary Bruce, a native of Mason, Ky. During 1856 he followed his 
sons to California and after having made the trip via Panama to San 






V 




-^ 

-^ 

^ 




^ 




HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 577 

Francisco he proceeded to Sacramento, where he made his home 
until his death. 

Born in Washington, Ind., February 10, 1826, William Barton 
Bradford spent the years of boyhood in attendance upon the country 
schools of the period and in helping with the work on the home farm. 
Possibly he might have settled on an Indiana farm and passed his 
entire life in that state had it not been for the discovery of gold in 
California. As soon as he had heard the exciting tales brought by 
messengers from the far-distant mines he decided to come to the west 
and the year 1849 found him en route for Panama, whence he came 
to San Francisco. His first experience as a miner occurred at Geor- 
gia's bar on the American river in 1850 and proved not especially 
encouraging. An unprofitable summer in the mines was followed by 
return to San Francisco and a trip on the ocean from there to Port- 
land, Ore., where he remained for one year, returning in the fall of 
1851 via the Oregon trail to Sacramento, where he bought a team and 
engaged in the hauling business with his brother, James B.. for 
eighteen months, with headquarters at Diamond Springs. 

An experience of six years in the teaming business was followed 
by the removal of Mr. Bradford to Yankee Jim's, but later he came- 
back to Sacramento and bought a livery barn on Eighth and K streets. 
His ventures had proved so successful that when he resumed mining 
he had a large sum with which to work. However, an experience in 
the mines at Last Chance proved so disastrous that he lost $45,000 
within eighteen months. It was then necessary to start anew. Dissolv- 
ing a long-continued partnership with his brother he bought one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in the fall of 1859. During the following year 
he bought a team, drove to Aurora and engaged in the general mer- 
cantile business for three years. Following 1864, however, he resided 
continuously on the ranch which he bought in 1859 and which lies near 
Bruceville, Sacramento county, operating it until his death, August 
17, 1912. A specialty was made of the grape industry, one hundred 
and twenty acres being in vineyard and the balance of the ranch, forty 
acres, in pasture. To an unusual degree he met with success in the 
development of his vineyard and the sale of the annual product. The 
reputation of his grapes extended throughout the surrounding country 
and the crop always commanded the highest market prices. 

The first wife of Mr. Bradford was Jennie Smith, a native of 
Minnesota and his faithful helpmate from their marriage in 1872 
until her death in 1900. Later he was united with Mrs. Amanda (Hall) 
Utter, a native of Newport, Ind., and a woman of attractive qualities 
of heart and mind. She was a widow of Dowty Utter, with whom she 
crossed the plains in an overland stage in 1860 to Sacramento county. 
Mr. Utter engaged in farming near Franklin, this county, and here he 
passed away in 1870. Four children were born of this marriage. As 
earlv as 1849 Mr. Bradford was initiated into Masonry and he was 



578 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

one of the very oldest members of the blue lodge in his county. Dur- 
ing* young manhood he voted with the Republican ])arty. At the time 
of the Civil war he was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln, whom 
he twice supported in presidential elections. He continued to vote 
the Re])ublican ticket until 1896, when his views concerning the silver 
question led him to cast his ballot for William Jennings Bryan. Re- 
ligious movements had his generous support and enthusiastic interest. 
From the year 1880 lie was connected with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and he gave to the denomination his zealous co-operation and 
the influence of his consistent character and upright life. Mrs. Brad- 
ford has been no less interested in religious progress and advancement 
than was he, and by her life and benefactions continues to bear testi- 
mony of her faith and interest in the work of the Church. 



PLEAS G. MIKLE 

With the development of that progressive suburb of Sacramento 
known as Oak Park the name of Pleas G. Mikle is intimately associ- 
ated. To him belongs the distinction of having bought the first prop- 
erty west of Thirty-fifth street, of having erected the first brick build- 
ing in the suburb and of having operated the first hotel or restaurant 
in the place. Tlie association with the new addition, begun in the 
incipiency of the movement, has continued up to the present time and 
has brought him some discouragements but also many successes. The 
only heavy loss which he has ex])erienced since coming here was in 
connection with the destruction of his hotel property by fire August 
13, 1911. At the same time the catastrophe destroyed his moving- 
picture theater in an adjacent building. The loss of .$15,000 would 
have discouraged many a man to the point of complete retirement 
from business, but Mr. Mikle was not so easily disheartened. Without 
even a momentary hesitation he decided to rebuild and to invest 
$15,000 in a fireproof theater, for he believed no location would prove 
more advantageous for such a building than the one in which already 
he had met with both success and losses. 

In view of the fact that Mr. Mikle has made his own way in the 
world from the age of eleven years, his jiresent high standing fur- 
nishes silent testimony as to his energy and capability. His parents, 
Martin B. and Delia (Marcum) Mikle, died many years ago, and after 
he had spent the first eleven xears of his life on the farm in Wayne 
county, Ky., where he was born, he started out to earn his own liveli- 
hood. Without education or friends or means, he had many discour- 
aging experiences in youth. Life to liim ))resented few joys. The 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 579 

burden of toil fell upon him at an age when the majority of lads are 
attending school or enjoying wholesome recreations, but it was his 
lot to drift from farm to farm, working at first for board and cloth- 
ing. After a time he learned the blacksmith's trade and this he 
followed for two years with the street car company of St. Louis. 
After coming to California in 1890 he made brief sojourns in San 
Diego and San Francisco and then spent twelve years in the black- 
smith department of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Sac- 
ramento, resigning that position in order that he might identify him- 
self with the new addition of Oak Park. Here he operated a hotel 
for twelve years, until it burned to the ground in 1911, and here he 
has identified himself closely with all movements for the local up- 
building. In addition to his property at this point he owns real estate 
in other parts of Sacramento. In fraternal relations he has been a 
worker with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he 
votes with the Democratic ticket in national elections, but in local 
campaigns he supports the best men, irrespective of their partisan 
views. 

The new Mikle theater has a frontage of one hundred and twenty 
feet on Thirty-fifth street. Oak Park, and while erected mainly for 
the exhibition of moving pictures, it also is provided with facilities 
for vaudeville. Competent critics pronounce this theater to be one of 
the safest playhouses in California. Absolutely fireproof from the 
ground up, it has the further advantage of being provided with exits 
six feet wide on both sides of the building, as well as in the rear, 
while there are also exits from the front of the theater. The operat- 
ing box from which the pictures are thrown is a model of fireproof 
construction. It is made of reinforced concrete lined with hollow til- 
ing, and is built with every precaution for the safety of the patrons 
of the theater. The mechanism is so perfected that the slightest spark 
of flame will close the operating doors, thus smothering the flames 
completely in the box. AH of the wiring is laid in conduits, which 
does away with the danger of fire from grounded electric sparks. A 
complete fire equipment is also on hand, ready at an instant's notice 
to provide for any emergency. 

The color scheme of the interior of the theater is dark red and 
green, with wainscoting of a beautiful blue tint. More than five hun- 
dred chairs of handsome design, built with steel uprights, were pro- 
vided, these being the latest improved opera type, noiseless, ample 
and comfortal)le. In opening the theater the management purchased 
two of the finest motion picture machines on the market. These are 
known as the Motiograph and are of the latest 1912 models, project- 
ing pictures that practically are perfect. The machine is fitted with 
automatic shutters that close at the first sign of fire, a feature that 
adds greatly to their expense, but is abundantly comiiensated for by 
the feeling of security possible to ]iatrons. The stage is of ample 



580 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

height and width to render possible the production of vandeville or 
even of stock pieces, while dressing rooms on either side of the 
stage and retiring parlors for the patrons of the theater complete the 
luxurious equipment of the new and popular playhouse. 



J. P. DARGITZ 

Varied enterprises have engaged the versatile talents of J, P. 
Dargitz at different periods of his useful and honorable career, but 
since his removal to Sacramento during 1910 he has devoted himself 
almost wholly to three very important movements, viz. : the organization 
and upbuilding of the California Almond Growers' Exchange, which 
he served three years as secretary and manager ; the California Cured 
Fruit Exchange, organized in December, 1912 ; and the Sacramento Clay 
Products Company. The latter is the successor of the Silica Brick 
Company, which was organized in 1910 and which he served as secre- 
tary and as director and which expended more than $100,000 in the 
task of construction and preparation for the opening of their immense 
plant. In 1912 they organized the Sacramento Clay Products Com- 
pany, which took over the entire Silica Brick plant and of which 
Mr. Dargitz became vice-president and director. Among the various 
manufacturing institutions of this city the Sacramento Clay Products 
Company is one which promises very large results in the future 
development of the city and contiguous territory. About two years 
were devoted to construction work on the parent plant at a vast 
expense, in order that the finest possible facilities and most modern 
equipment might be provided for its successful operation. The fac- 
tory now employs a large force of men and is turning out front 
(or face) lirick and fire brick, as well as hollow building blocks and 
partition tiling. With a modern plant and a desirable location from the 
standpoint of superior quality of clay and easy access to markets, the 
company has every prospect for a gratif;\ang growth. The reduced 
price at which the superior output can be furnished to builders and 
contractors in Sacramento will have a positive and large influence 
upon the permanent character of all future building operations in the 
capital city. 

Nor is the Sacramento Clay Products Company more important 
in its chosen field of endeavor than the California Almond Growers' 
Exchange in its special enterprises, and both owe much of their favor- 
able promise to Mr. Dargitz. The latter organization was incorporated 
during Mav of 1910 and has its principal office at Nos. 425-426 Ochsner 
Building, Sacramento. Co-operative in purpose, its aim is to increase 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 583 

production and development as well as to secure the more satisfactory 
preparation of almonds for the markets. Before the company was 
established the almond marketing for California growers had been 
conducted largelj^ through the dried fruit packing houses of San 
Francisco, who used this as a side line and frequently for the purpose 
of making friends among the trade, whom they could induce thereby 
to purchase large quantities of dried fruit. These packers secured 
the ahnonds ready for market from the grower and then after adding 
more or less profit for themselves, paid brokers to sell the almonds 
to the wholesale trade of the country. The wholesale trade or jobbers 
in turn distributed to the retailers and the retailers finally sold to the 
consumers. A large portion of the cost to the consumer was made up 
of profits to various people, through whose hands the almonds passed 
after they left the grower and before they reached the consumer. 
The markets also were juggled so that the price was unstable 
and not uncommonly growers would receive from ten to twenty per 
cent difference in price for the same grade and quantity of almond 
on the same day, because they happened to live on different sides of 
the same county road and were not equally posted as to what the 
buyer wanted to do. The speculative feature of the business was 
therefore equally detrimental to the grower, the trade and the con- 
sumer, and this is probably one of the reasons which has helped to 
make the organization a vital force in the community prosperity. 

At present sixteen districts of the principal almond growing sec- 
tions of the state are organized and these are tied together in a mar- 
keting organization known as the California Almond Growers' Ex- 
change. The president of this concern for three years, B. F. Walton, 
of Yuba City, is one of the oldest farmers and best-known business men 
of the state. He was succeeded as president by George W. Pierce, of 
Davis, a prominent orchardist. The manager, J. P. Dargitz, has devoted 
a number of years to a study of the almond question from a standpoint 
of the markets as well as from its productive features. As a result of 
his study he has become a local authority on the subject. During 1910 
the exchange controlled thirtj^-five per cent of the crop of the state and 
by this means was enabled to steady the market, also had a very large 
effect in maintaining prices and establishing a solid foundation for the 
future of the business. For 1911 the exchange handled at least fifty per 
cent of the crop of the state. The output was marketable promj^tly 
and the growers received the highest prices ever obtained, while the 
good will of the trade was secured. In 1912 the largest crop of al- 
monds the state ever produced was marketed at satisfactory figures 
and was sold in forty-eight hours. The business has been handled 
sagaciously, so as to please the trade as well as the growers. T. C. 
Tucker, the efficient sales manager, under Mr. Dargitz, has made two 
trips throughout the country and as far as New York, introducing the 
business and bringing the trade in touch with the producing end of the 



584 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

almond industry. His experience with the ('alifornia Fruit Growers' Ex 
change in Chicago and with the California Fruit Exchange in Cali- 
fornia, before coming to the Almond Growers' Exchange, has given 
him a general grasp of the field and situation, and he naturally succeeded 
to the management in December, 1912, when Mr. Dargitz retired. The 
work of this organization has stimulated almond planting until 
the nurseries of the state are not able to supply the desired trees 
in sufficient quantity for ]ilanting and the future of the industry prom- 
ises very bright indeed. 

In November, 1912, the producers of dried fruits in California 
were being forced to sell their products at less than cost or not able to 
sell at all. With the success of the almond growers before them they 
naturally turned to J. P. Dargitz to help them out and at their urgent 
solicitation he left the Almond Growers' Exchange December 1, 1912, 
and became manager of the California Cured Fruit Exchange, just 
organizing. Its success in the few months since has been amazing to all 
interested and it bids fair to prove one of the greatest movements for 
the benefit of the producers of dried fruit ever started in California. 

The manager of the Exchange is a member of an old eastern 
family and was born in Mansfield, Ohio, September 8, 1859, being a 
son of Marion and Tabitha J. (Mykrantz) Dargitz. During early 
boyhood he was a pupil in the public school at Ashland, Ohio, but 
in 1870 the family removed to Clarence, Iowa, and until 1876 he was 
a student in the grammar and high schools of that place. Afterward he 
taught for five years in Union county, Iowa. Leaving the schoolroom for 
the railroad business, he became an agent on the Iowa division of the 
Chicago, Burling-ton & Quincy Railroad and afterward was promoted 
to be traveling auditor. The life of a railroad man, however, soon 
proved unsatisfactory and he determined to seek a different field of 
activity. Going to Chicago, he matriculated in the Chicago Homeo- 
pathic Medical College and after four years of study was graduated 
in 1889 with the degree of M. D. and an excellent standing. For 
three years he i)racticed medicine at Wellsville, Allegany county, 
N. Y., after which he removed to Waukesha, Wis., and conducted a 
homeo])athic sanitarium. During 1893 he removed to the Pecos valley 
of New Mexico and not only practiced medicine, but also bought 
land which he developed into a fine farm. In leisure hours he devoted 
himself to a correspondence course in Bible study. 

The greater climatic and other advantages offered by California 
led Mr. Dargitz to this state in 1896 and here he taught school, prac- 
ticed medicine and preached the Gospel in Modoc county for eighteen 
months. Afterward he devoted himself exclusively to ministerial 
work for a time and served as pastor of the Christian Church at 
Lakeport, Lake county, until 1900, when he resigned the charge in 
order to enter the state work of the church as an evangelist. During 
1904 he retired from active ministerial and evangelical labors in 



..^i!i^ak«£lc:&iU&:^ ' 




^t^^^tA^ ^- ^. 




HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 587 

order to take up colonization activities. His attention had been drawn 
to the _sii]ierior cjualities of the soil in the San Joaquin valle}^ and he 
had bought eight hundred acres near Acampo. There he established 
the Christian colony and devoted his attention to making known the 
attractions of the location to eastern people, desirous of engaging in 
horticultural work in California. When he severed his connection 
with the colony in 1910, it was for the purpose of removing to Sacra- 
mento and devoting himself to the upbuilding of the almond industry, 
also to the promotion of the Silica Brick Company. In politics 
he is a Republican of the progressive type. His marriage occurred 
May 25, 1881, and united him with Miss Clara McDuffie, a native of 
Union county, Iowa, where the ceremony was performed. They are 
the parents of three children, of whom only the youngest, Miss Doro- 
thy, remains at home. The eldest, Mrs. Florence Botts, resides at 
the Christian colony, where the family own valuable landed interests. 
The only son, Jesse L., also has a family home and fruit orchard in the 
colonv. 



HARRY A. NAUMAN 

Identified with the business interests of Sacramento since 1889, 
and recognized as one of the leading men of affairs in the city, Mr. 
Nauman came to the west in 1886 after a brief period of clerkship in 
large cities further toward the east. From the first he found much 
in Sacramento to interest him. The location of the place he considered 
exceptionally favorable, and in opportunities it compared so favorably 
with other places of his temporary sojourn that he determined to make 
his permanent home in the city. Since then he has witnessed its 
growth and contributed to its upbuilding. As a man of business, 
familar with commercial enterprises and progressive in temperament, 
he has exercised an influence among associates and has won the 
esteem of those with whom he has had business dealings. 

Born in Manheim, Lancaster county. Pa., August 23, 1864, Harry 
A. Nauman is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Reiff) Nauman and 
descends from an old family of colonial prominence and German stock. 
His advantages were those otfered by the public schools of Pennsyl- 
vania. During 1882 he started out to earn his own way in the world 
and since then he has depended solely upon his own efforts. For two 
years he held a clerkship in Pittsburg, Pa., then in 1884 went to 
Kansas City, Mo., where he clerked in a dry goods store until 1885. 
Later he spent a year in Denver, Colo., as a clerk in a dry goods store. 
Coming further west, he settled temporarily in San Francisco and 

34 



588 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

earned his livelihood as a salesman in a furniture store. Eighteen 
months were spent in San Francisco and a similar period in Stockton, 
Cal., where he also enga.^ed as a salesman. Upon his arrival in Sac- 
ramento during- 1889 he found emplojniient as salesman in the furni- 
ture store of Ingram & Bird, with whom he continued for fourteen 
years, meanwhile winning a host of warm friends through his uni- 
form courtesy and acconnnodating disposition. When he finally re- 
signed as salesman it was for the purpose of starting in business for 
himself, and the firm of Bath & Nauman soon became well-known 
undertakers of Sacramento, where they continued until 1909 in a 
profitable partnership. Since then Mr. Nauman has been alone in 
business, his undertaking parlors being located at No. 1811 G street. 
The marriage of Mr. Nauman and Miss Clara Ault was solem- 
nized in Lebanon, Pa., August 18, 1892. They are the parents of three 
children. The daughter, Clara, is a graduate of the Sacramento high 
school. The sons, Harry A., Jr., and C. Wesley, are now students in 
the local schools. Politically, Mr. Nauman votes with the Republican 
party and supports its principles with characteristic earnestness. 
From 1905 until 1909 he held office as city trustee, representing the 
Seventh ward. His fraternal associations are numerous and include 
membership in the Odd Fellows lodge and encampment, the Knights 
of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, Moose, Foresters of Amer- 
ica and Ancient Order of United Workmen, in each of which, with the 
exception of the encampment, he is past officer. With his family he 
holds membership with the Central Methodist Episcopal church. 



JOSEPH W. JOHNSON 

Historical records indicate the early identification of the Johnson 
family with the American colonies and the long association of the 
name with New England. With the spirit of expansion characteristic 
of the nineteenth century the generations then resident in the east 
became scattered throughout the entire country, and one worthv mem- 
ber of the family exchanged the stern and rigorous climate of Maine 
for the balmy breezes of the southland. In him were the necessary 
requisites of the pioneer, physical fortitude in hardships, rugged 
health, tireless energy and an abilitv to adapt himself to any outward 
circumstance. As a bov he had been familiar with scenes along the 
Kennebec river near the city of Augusta, Me., and he was born at 
Hallowell, February 22, 1817, son of Samuel Johnson, who was a 
native of Scotland and served under Gen. Andrew Jackson throughout 
the Seminole war. He married Miss Moody, also a native of Scotland, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 589 

and they became tlie parents of Joseph W. Johnson. With the en- 
thusiasm of youth he had left the scenes of early years and had sought 
the then undeveloped state of Arkansas, where he had settled in 
Hempstead county, near Washington. There he met and married Miss 
Pauline K. Fontaine, a native of that state, born January 21, 1824. 
The young couple settled on a farm and took up agriculture in the 
primitive manner in which it then was conducted. Into their humble 
farm home came children to bless with their presence and brighten 
with their hopes. Death, too, came into the home and took an infant 
son, Michael J. Two children comprised the family when in 1852 the 
journey across the plains was begun. One of these, born November 
8, 1848, near Washington, Ark., became one of the most successful 
educators of Sacramento, and forms the subject of this article. The 
other, Hon. Mat F. Johnson, at one time held the office of superior 
judge of Sacramento county. 

The journey across the plains required six months and was filled 
with hardships. Not only was there a scarcity of feed for the ox- 
teams, but the travelers themselves were on short rations. To add to 
the difficulties, Indians in the neighborhood of the expedition threat- 
ened the lives of the emigrants. With a feeling of deep gratitude 
the family at last found themselves safeh^ under shelter in Los An- 
geles. They selected a location at El Monte, twelve miles from Los 
Angeles, where they remained from the fall of 1852 until the fall of 
1856, meanwhile engaging in farming and stock raising. The father 
was a man of deep religious spirit and splendid education for his day. 
For years he did not limit his attention to agriculture, but preached 
the Gospel as opportunity afforded, and taught school in many local- 
ities. After leaving El Monte he made a brief sojourn at Watson- 
ville, Santa Cruz county, and in 1858 settled in Sonoma county, whence 
the following year he removed to a farm at Cacheville, Yolo county. 
The flood of 1862 caused him heavy losses in stock. During 1861 he 
taught school in Colusa county. The same occupation engaged much 
of his attention throughout his remaining years. During the latter 
part of 1869 he began to teach in Sonoma county. Next he taught in 
Lake county. Returning in 1871 to Sonoma county, he taught at 
Fulton until shortly before his death, which occurred April 16, 1879. 
His wife passed away November 7, 1874. Besides their son who died 
in Arkansas, they lost two other sons, John Llewellyn having died at 
Franklin, Sacramento county, at the age of two years. Charles lived 
to maturity, and at the time of his demise, November 27, 1899, he was 
manager of a mercantile business at Portland, Ore., where his wife 
and three children still make their home.- The sons still living are 
honored and successful. Julian, who was born at El Monte, is prin- 
cipal of the Sutter grammar school in Sacramento; George, born at 
Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, has charge of the bonded warehouse 
at St. Helena, Napa county, and Edward, born in Sonoma county, is 



590 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

connected with a telephone company in Oregon, having his head- 
quarters at Porthmd. 

Upon the completion of the studies taught in Sonoma college, a 
Presbyterian institution of learning, Joseph W. Johnson entered upon 
educational work, to which he since has devoted his life and in which 
he has met with signal recognition. For a time he taught in Point 
Pleasant school district, for two years he was connected with the 
schools of Modoc county, and for four years he had charge of the 
schools of Cloverdale, Sonoma county, after which he was engaged 
to teach in Sacramento. Since June of 1879 he has been principal of 
the Harkness school. His long retention in the position furnishes 
ample testimony as to the efficient character of his services and his 
devotion to educational work in this city. He possesses the rare qual- 
ity of imparting knowledge clearly, easily and effectively, so that 
those who study under him are mentally enriched by his ability as an 
instructor. Among other teachers, as well as among the patrons of 
the school, his standing is the highest and his reputation the most 
enduring. Aside from his duties in school he has found leisure for 
association with a number of organizations of note, among these being 
the Sequoia Camp of Woodmen of the World, Columbus Chapter of 
the Eastern Star, Sacramento Lodge No. 40, F. & A. M., Capital 
Lodge No. 87, I. 0. 0. F., and he is past noble grand member of Occi- 
dental Encampment No. 42, I. 0. 0. F., having been chief patriarch, 
and is a member of Confidence Lodge No. 78, K. of P. and is past chan- 
cellor commander. 

The marriage of Professor Johnson took place June 13, 1872, and 
united him with Miss Belle Campbell, who was born in Pettis county, 
Mo., and who died December 7, 1909. There were two daughters in 
the family, of whom Miss Belle, a member of the Saturday club and 
a popular society woman, now presides over her father's home. The 
other daughter, Edna Pauline, married H. Taubner Goethe, a farmer 
and stock-raiser living in Napa county, where he owns four hundred 
acres of choice land. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Goethe consists of 
two children, Edna Elefa and Taubner Johnson. 



FRANCIS R. McKENZIE 

The immediate subject of this notice is manager of Henry's Law 
and Collection Company, at No. 606 I street, Sacramento, Cal., one 
of the oldest and most reliable institutions of its kind in the city. 
Francis R. McKenzie was born at London, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 
1880. His father, Roderick McKenzie, was a pioneer there, and rep- 




>^<^-^^.^ 




HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 593 

resented one of tlie old and honored families of that province; and 
bis mother, Jane (Simmons) McKenzie, was descended from ancestors 
of high social and business standing. 

In the public school and high school of his native city, Mr. Mc- 
Kenzie was carefully educated. His first venture into business life 
was in connection with the enterprise of one of the leading wholesale 
clothing concerns of London, and his career at Sacramento dates 
from the year 1899. In the year last mentioned Mr. McKenzie be- 
came identified with Henry's Law and Collection Company, for the 
management of which he showed a peculiar adaptability that early 
marked him for the success he has achieved. In 1909 he purchased 
the business, and since then has been the sole owner. In 1906 he 
married Miss Annie Davies, of Florin, Sacramento county. Frater- 
nallv he affiliates with the Elks. 



WILLIAM LADD WILLIS 

William Ladd Willis was born in New York City, the son of 
Charles T. and Jane S. Willis. One great-grandfather, on his father's 
side, was L^man Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and the other, who lived at Newton, N. J., spent his for- 
tune in raising and equipping a troop of horse for the patriot army, 
and was a friend of General Washington. The latter passed through 
Newton on his way north in 1779 and stopped to take dinner with his 
friend. It happened that it was the time of christening the son of his 
host, and Washington became one of the sponsors, and the boy was 
named George Washing-ton Willis. The mother of the subject of this 
sketch was the daughter of one of the early merchant princes of New 
York, Thomas S. Walsh. 

Charles T. Willis died when his son was seven years old, and the 
family moved to Unionville, N. Y., where the son grew to manhood. 
His school education was gained at various academic institutions and 
at Troy (N. Y.) university. In the winter of 1860-61 he embarked in 
wholesale business in New York City, but the Ci\dl war breaking out 
in the spring the general dejiression of business and the failure of 
many western firms to whom his firm had extended credit, forced him 
to close up his business at a heavy loss. He embarked in various 
lines for some years, and in 1871 came to Sacramento county, where 
he engaged in farming near Elk Grove, and teaching, until 1892. He 
then became a member of the editorial staff of the Ttecord-TJniou, and 
continued the association for thirteen years. In 1879 he was tendered 
an appointment on the county board of education, of which he re- 



594 HISTORY OF' SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

mained a member for twenty-three years, or until his removal to 
Auburn, where he resided for nearly two years and then returned to 
Sacramento, this city having been his home ever since. 

In 1886 Mr. Willis was selected by the state board of education to 
compile the state speller, which had been in use in the schools for 
twenty years. He also assisted in the compilation of the first set of 
state readers. In the past four years he has been connected with the 
Carraichael Company in the real estate business. In 1872 he married 
Mrs. Emily Haines of Middletown, N. Y., by whom he had three chil- 
dren, Mrs. Jennie L. Brothers, now of Berkeley; Mrs. Clair Morrill, 
of Suisun, and William B. Willis of New York, an architect in the office 
of McKim, Mead & White. 



JOSEPH EDWARD WALKER 

The city of Sacramento numbers among its prosperous and 
enterprising citizens Joseph Edward Walker, whose place of busi- 
ness, located at Nos. 1018-20-22 Fifth street, is one of the most flour- 
ishing places in the city today. He is the son of John L. Walker, 
a native of New York City, who early moved to Calumet, Mich., 
where Joseph E. was born. 

John L. Walker was for seventeen years a timber contractor 
for the Calumet & Hecla Copper Company, at Calumet, Mich., whither 
he had removed, and at the end of that period he went to Neihart, 
Mont., where he was the timber contractor for different coal com- 
panies in the state. He is now living retired in Sacramento, his 
wife having died in Montana. Before her marriage she was Agnes 
Mosher, whose birth occurred in Montreal, and to her union with 
John L. Walker there was born a family of eight children, of whom 
Joseph E. was the fifth in order of birth. 

On November 25, 1883, Joseph Edward Walker was born in 
Calumet, Mich., whence he removed with his parents to Neihart, 
Mont. After completing the course in the public schools he learned 
the trade of baker in Neihart, going from there to Arizona, where 
he followed the trade of baker and cook, and for one year was with 
the Greene Consolidated Copper Company, at Cananea, Mex., in 
this capacity. From there he went to Los Angeles about 1902, hold- 
ing positions with several of the leading hotels and cafes there. 
Next he was chef in Eureka, Cal., until the rush to Goldfield, Nev., 
when he decided to remove thither, and opened a restaurant in the 
new camp. Such was his success there that he later ran two bus! 
nesses of this kind, also having restaurants at Manliattan, Ely 
and Wonder. It was in 1908 that he finallv located in Sacramento 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 595 

as bis permanent place of residence, and starting the restaurant 
which he called the Gilt Edge Cafe in the old Newburgh mill on 
Fifth street, he built up a most prosperous business, selling it out 
a 3^ear later at a good profit. This place has been remodeled into a 
business place from the old mill place, but it remained for Mr. 
Walker to use his energy and excellent taste in fitting it for a cafe, 
such as he finally owned. After selling this place he opened the 
Bon Ton Cafe on K street, which proved a profitable undertaking, 
and a year later he sold it for $12,000, this in itself indicating the 
exceptional ability Mr. Walker had for conducting and building up 
a business of this sort. Since New Year's Day, 1912, he has con- 
ducted the Walker's Cafe, having remodeled the building on Fifth 
street, where it is located, and by placing new fixtures and giving 
it the finishing touches which only an experienced hand like Mr. 
Walker's could accomplish, he enjoys most satisfactory returns. It 
is now the largest cafe in the city, giving proof of his close applica- 
tion to the details of the work and his unusually clever executive 
ability. He has profited by his more than ten years' experience in 
this line of work in many progressive cities in the country, and was 
quick to see the opportunity of a fruitful field for his labors in the 
city of Sacramento. 

Mr. Walker's first marriage occurred in Eureka, Cal., when he 
married Miss Kittie McGrath, a native of Eureka. Her death oc- 
curred twenty months after her marriage in Goldfield, Nev. In July, 
1908, he married in Ely, Nev., Miss Carrie Rindahl, born in Michi- 
gan, and to this union has been born one child, Naomi. Mrs. Walker 
is a popular member of the Ladies of the Maccabees, while her 
husband unites with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also 
the Order of Eagles. A staunch Republican in political principle, 
he is actively interested in all civic movements for the advancement 
of the general welfare, and as the successful and progressive pro- 
prietor of his most profitable business fills the place of a patriotic 
citizen. 



GEORGE MOORE TAVERNER 

The president of the Bank of Elk Grove, who also enjoys the 
distinction of having been one of the original promoters and founders 
of this prosperous institution, claims identification with the Native 
Sons of the Golden West by reason of his lifelong association with 
Sacramento county, where his birth occurred January 23, 1877, in 
the liome of Thomas Moore and Esther Ann Tavernor. The Anglo- 
Saxon lineage of the familv is indicated bv the genealogical records. 



596 HISTORY OF 8ACEAMENT0 COUNTY 

wbicli furnish authentic proof concerning the identification of many 
successive generations with England. The shire of Devon was the 
native phice of Thomas Tavernei and April 5, 1833, the date of his 
birth. English schools afforded him fair educational opportunities 
and prepared him for the task of self-support. While his kindred 
were content to remain amid scenes familiar to their entire lives, 
his own aspirations turned toward America and in 1850 he crossed 
the ocean to the new world, locating first in St. Thomas, Ontario. 
Only a few years had passed since the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia and the tide of emigration still flowed toward the Pacific 
coast in great volume. Induced to join the pioneers of the west, 
he came via the Horn to San Francisco in 1852 and thence to Sac- 
ramento county, where he settled at Elk Grove. 

The sturd}', persevering nature of the young Englishman was 
dis|)layed in his determination to acquire land. Although he came 
without moneyed capital, his was the no less powerful capital rep- 
resented by a determined ambition and willing hands. The wages 
of his work as a rancher were frugally saved. Little by little he 
accumulated a small sum of money. This was invested in raw land. 
From that small beginning he rose to a })osition among the largest 
land-owners in Sacramento county, where at the time of his death, 
January 10, 1893, he held the title to twenty-eight hundred acres. 
The unusual success won l)y his ])ersistent efforts proved his fine 
qualities of mind and his energy of character. Throughout all of his 
life he adhered to the doctrines of the Church of Phigland, in which 
faith he had been reared in the home land. Politically he voted 
the Re])ublican ticket after he l)ecame a citizen of the United States. 
Deeply interested in Masonry, he held membership with Elk Grove 
Lodge, Sacramento Chai)ter and Council, also the Sacramento Com- 
mandery, K. T., and for years he was a leading worker among the 
Masons of Sacramento county and a generous contributor to the philan- 
thro]iies of the order. 

The marriage of Thomas Taverner took place in Sacramento in 
1873 and united him with Miss Esther Ann Hirst, a native of Lan- 
cashire, England, by whom he became the father of four children. 
The two daughters are Mrs. C. V. Upton, of Elk Grove, and Mrs. 
C. L. Bader, of Sacramento. One son, John T., is now in Nevada, 
while the other son, George M., has spent his entire life in and near 
Elk Grove, having in early life engaged with his father in the rais- 
ing of sheep, which he followed alone after the death of that parent. 
Eventually he disposed of his flocks and October 24, 1910, effected 
the organization of the Bank of Elk Grove with a capital stock of 
$25,000, a considerable ])ortion of which is held by himself. As a 
financier he is keen and capable, progressive yet duly cautious, and 
the institution of which he is the head has proved a distinct help 
to the commercial development of the town. Ever since attaining 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 597 

his majority he has voted with the Republican party. For some 
years he has been prominent in Elk Grove Parlor of Native Sons, 
in which now he officiates as past president. Like his father, he 
is an admirer of Masonic principles and a contributor to the philan- 
thropies of the order, in which he ranks high among the members of 
Elk Grove Lodge, No. 173, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, 
Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., Sacramento Council No. 1, 
Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T., Isaac Davis Lodge of Per- 
fection No. 4, A. & A. S. R., and is also a member of Islam Temple, 
N. M. S., of San Francisco. 



JOHN L. WOODS 

Genealogical records indicate a long and honorable citizenship 
of the Woods family in Maryland, where descendants of the original 
settler still are to be found prominent in business and active in public 
affairs. Several branches of the family have been transplanted from 
the early eastern headquarters into various portions of the west, and 
one of these branches is worthily represented by John L. Woods, an 
honored pioneer of California. It has been his privilege to witness 
the development of the west since the year 1852, when he first came, a 
boy of ten years, from his native city of Baltimore in company with 
his |)arents. He recalls the appearance of Sacramento in 1852, prior 
to the fire and the great flood, and as he contrasts its aspect then 
with its present beauty and its substantial construction he realizes 
afresh the magnitude of the transformation wrought by the intelligence 
and enterprise of the citizens. When he was sent to the schools he 
found them occupying buildings poorly constructed and illy equipped, 
while the method of instruction was far inferior to that of the present 
century. It will therefore be seen that he had few advantages from 
an educational standpoint, yet he impresses a stranger as a man of 
broad information and varied knowledge. His father, John Lee 
Woods, who was born in Baltimore in 1816, had enjoyed excellent ad- 
vantages in tluit cultured city, but when he exchanged a city home 
for frontier existence he was unable to prevent his family from under- 
going hardships and privations, with few of the advantages his am- 
bitious spirit craved for them. AVhen he died in 1897, at the age of 
eighty-two, it was witli the realization that the removal to the west 
had proved to the distinct advantage of the famil>' in their ultimate 
enjoyment of the great prosperity that came to the country. His 
wife passed away in 1896, at the age of eighty-three years. 

Although a blacksmith bv trade, John L. Woods devoted much of 



598 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

his active life to mining, and he has worked in the mines of California, 
Colorado, Montana and Alaska, meanwhile experiencing many hard- 
ships and at times incurring actual danger from the hostility of the 
Indians. This was particularly the case while he mined in Montana 
during 1866, at which time the enmity and the attacks of the savages 
reached their climax. Considerations of health led him to discontinue 
mining many years ago, but he still owns an interest in a very valu- 
able mine at Grass Valley. Upon leaving the mines and coming to 
Sacramento in 1886, he embarked in the mercantile business on 
Fourth street and continued in the same place for five years. Upon 
selling out the business he began to manufacture cider, and for twenty- 
two years he conducted a large business in that line, meanwhile fur- 
nishing the most of the cider sold in San Francisco. It was his 
custom to sell to wholesale firms, which entailed less annoyance than 
small sales to retailers. While he still owns the business, he no 
longer gives it his personal attention, having practically retired from 
all active cares. During 1872 he married Miss Mary Higgins, who 
was born in Ireland and died in California. Of their five children the 
sole survivor is Mary, the wife of Robert E. O'Neal and the mother 
of one son, Robert Lee O'Neal. His second marriage took place in 
1891 and united him with Mrs. Josephine C. Lewis, who was born in 
New York and accompanied her parents to California at an early age ; 
her father, Michael Van Norman, died in February of 1897, while her 
mother, at the age of eighty-nine, is still living. In her family there 
are five generations now living, while Mr. Woods proudly claims four 
generations on his own side. As he has been devoted to his family 
and true to his friends, so also he has been loyal to the commonwealth 
of his adoption and the land of his birth. At the opening of the 
Civil war in 1861 he offered his services to the Union, and was ac- 
cepted at Auburn, Cal., where his name was enrolled as a private in 
a California regiment of volunteer infantry. The regiment was not 
called to the east, hence saw only little of active service. Upon the 
organization of the Grand Army of the Republic he became interested 
in its philanthropies and patriotic enterprises and for years he has 
been prominent in Sumner Post No. 3, of which he served as com- 
mander at one time. Fraternally he has been a member of the For- 
esters and an officer in the local camp. 



JAMES ALLEN WILDER 

The honor of lifelong identification with California and the dis- 
tinction of influential association with the agricultural interests of 
Sacramento countv mav be claimed bv James Allen Wilder. In ad- 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 599 

dition, he is proud of the fact that his father, Benjamin Wilder, was 
one of the pioneers of that memorable year of 1849. The family of 
the mother, who bore the maiden name of Elitha C. Donnor and who 
was born in Spring-field, 111., October 11, 1832, was even more early in 
its efforts to reach the coast, and the sad fate of their expedition 
aroused a wave of sjonpath}^ throughout the entire world. They had 
started for the coast in 1846, when Mrs. Wilder was a girl of fourteen. 
Unfortunately, delays prevented them from completing the journey 
ere cold weather commenced. They were confronted by the fear of 
being obliged to spend the winter on the east side of the mountains. 
Their alternative was the attempt to cross the Sierras. They chose 
the latter, and most of the party perished in the snows of the moun- 
tains, but this young girl was one of the survivors who, almost starved 
and well-nigh exhausted, reached the American settlements on the 
12th of March, 1847. She had been snowed up in the Sierras for 
months. During 1854 she became the wife of Benjamin Wilder, who 
was born in Ehode Island March 27, 1821, descended from colonial 
residents of New England. 

The schools of Ehode Island and those of Springfield, Ohio, af- 
forded Benjamin Wilder exceptional advantages for that day, and 
when only seventeen he was able to successfully teach school, which 
work he pursued for the ensuing five years. At the age of twenty- 
two he traveled south to New Orleans and secured employment as a 
bookkeeper, but in 1848 he returned to Springfield, Ohio. The news 
concerning the discovery of gold in California caused a change in his 
plans, and he forthwith began to prepare for a trip to the coast. 
From 1849 until 1852 he worked in the mines, and then for two years 
he ran an old-fashioned stage coach out from Sacramento to Jackson, 
Amador county. During 1855 he began to be interested in the stock 
business and in 1856 he bought a Spanish grant comprising five thou- 
sand two hundred and twenty acres, but unfortunately he lost the 
place in 1861, all being wrested from his possession with the excep- 
tion of one section of land. Discouraged by his ill luck, he returned 
to the mines, where he remained about ten years. Again, in 1872, he 
resumed agricultural pursuits, and this time he settled in Franklin 
district, Sacramento county, where he engaged in raising grain and 
stock until the infirmities of age necessitated his withdrawal from 
active labors. His death occurred in 1898 at the old homestead. His 
wife still continues to reside at the old family home, having been a 
resident of California for sixty-six years. 

During the sojourn of the family at Camp Pocahontas, a mining 
camp in Eldorado county, James Allen Wilder was born March 25, 
1862. As a boy he lived at Placerville, the same county, and attended 
the public schools. When his father settled on a farm he began to 
assist him in the cultivation of the land and the care of the stock. 
Eventually he was trusted with greater responsibilities and long before 



600 HISTORY OJ^^ SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

his father's demise he had relieved him of the greater share of the 
heavy tasks on the farm. Since the death of his father he has con- 
tinned farming operations for himself, owning two hundred and fifty 
head of cattle as well as other stock, besides which he is also running 
his mother's place of four hundred and eighty acres of land. Sep- 
tember 6, 1911, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Ora Mary Bryant, 
who was born at Fort Scott, Kan., and has made California her home 
since 1890. Upon the farm he has made improvements as needed, and 
the property now ranks as one of the best-improved in the vicinity 
of Bruceville. Having worked with steadfast devotion on the farm, 
he has had no leisure for participation in public affairs, and has taken 
no part in the same aside from voting the Republican ticket. The 
only fraternity in which he has become an active member, the Knights 
of Pythias, receives his cordial co-operation in benevolent and civic 
enterprises. 



LLOYD G. WARREN 

In view of the fact that he is still at the beginning of what prom- 
ises to be an exceptionally useful career, the success that already has 
rewarded the purposeful and intelligent efforts of Mr. Warren easily 
places him among the most efficient business men of Sacramento, 
where as president and manager of the Warren Lumber Company he 
holds a leading association with a growing commercial concern of the 
capital city. It has been a matter of surprised comment among new 
acquaintances to observe in him a most accurate judgment as to the 
relative merits of different qualities of liTmber and a keen discrimina- 
tion in the making of })urcliases for his yards. Such qualifications as 
he possesses would lead to eventual success in practically every line 
of enterprise, but indicate especial adaptation for his chosen calling, 
in the pursuance of which he is winning the confidence of customers 
and the regard of other men of business. 

The Warren family was established in the west many years ago 
and claims identification with commonwealth activities from the period 
of pioneer privations and hardships. Mr. Warren himself is a native 
of San Francisco and was born April 23, 1890, into the home of 
Samuel I. Warren, an industrious workinginan of the western metrop- 
olis. The religious associations of the family governed the education 
of the son, who was instructed not only in common branches of study, 
but also in the history and doctrines of the Roman Catholic church, 
and he has been a lifelong member of that denomination. After he 
had completed the coui-so of study in St. Ignatius college he began 
to earn his own livelihood, securing employment in 1906 with the Bel- 





^^^^<L__ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 603 

lingliam Bay Lumber Company. From a very humble position he was 
quickly promoted to a post of greater trust and responsibility. When 
he left that company it was for the purpose of going to Washington, 
and there he engaged with the commission house of W. R. Grace & 
Co., at Seattle. During March of 1910 he resigned and immediately 
afterward organized the commission firm of L. G. Warren & Co., 
which he managed until August of the following year. Upon selling 
out the business he removed to Sacramento and purchased the inter- 
ests of the Tiernan-Dinning Lumber Company. The name was changed 
to the Warren Lumber Company, of which he is the president and 
manager, his large business talent being devoted with intense earnest- 
ness to the problem of increasing the sales of the company and en- 
hancing its popularity among customers through the strict adherence 
to the most honorable business methods. He is also engaged in the 
automobile tire business as proprietor of the Republic Rubber Com- 
pany of Sacramento, handling the Republic tire. 

In Sacramento Mr. Warren was united in marriage with Miss 
Gertrude Casey, a native of this city, and they have a daughter. As a 
baritone Mr. Warren has had considerable experience in amateur 
opera, playing the leading parts in ''Mikado," "The Gondoliers, 
''King Zim of Zanzibar," and also taking the part of Pontius Pilot 
in the Passion Play production given in San Francisco in October, 
1909. Giving his attention very closely to business, it has not been 
possible .for Mr. Warren to enter the arena of political activity, yet 
he has kept posted concerning national issues and has been stanch in 
his allegiance to the Democratic party. 



EDWARD E. REESE 

Three generations of the Reese family have been identified with 
American history and have contributed their quota to the material 
upbuilding of the west. When David Reese was a child six years 
of age he accompanied his parents from Wales, their native land, to 
the new world, landing in New Orleans, from which point they went 
to St. Joseph, and from there traveled overland to Utah and settled 
on raw land in the vicinity of Salt Lake. The next removal was 
made in 1862, when the family came to California in a "prairie 
schooner" drawn by oxen. As the years passed by David Reese 
became one of the most prominent citizens of Sacramento county 
and wherever known he was honored for those sterling traits of 
character that attracted all. Every avenue of frontier activity 
reaped the benefit of his tireless enthusiasm and intelligent interest. 



604 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Largely through his instrumentality was effected the organization 
of the California Fruit Union, in which he served as a director and 
which had as its aim the direct shipment of fruit from grower to 
eastern consumers. Later he organized the Florin Fruit Growers' 
Association, this being the first concern of the kind organized in or 
near Florin. 

Business activities and personal friendships cemented by years 
of intimate association brought also to David Reese their share of 
political prominence and local leadership in the Republican party. 
During 1902 he was elected sheriff of Sacramento county on the 
Republican ticket. At the expiration of the first term he was re- 
elected, this time on an independent ticket. Prior to the expiration 
of the second term his death occurred in February of 1910. In fra- 
ternal affairs he had been prominent, holding an influential position 
with the Elks, Improved Order of Red Men, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, the Grange and the Fraternal Brotherhood. Crowned 
with success in his personal affairs, he left at his death a valuable 
estate, which included twelve hundred acres of land located in various 
parts of California. 

At the time of his removal to the state David Reese was un- 
married and later he was united with Miss Mira Kilgore, a native 
daughter of California, and now a resident of Sacramento. They 
became the parents of four sons and two daughters, the youngest 
of whom, Miss Nellie, remains at the old home with her mother. The 
other daughter, Ethel, is the wife of Frank Didion, who holds a 
position in the D. 0. Mills bank in Sacramento. Percy D. is asso- 
ciated with the Palm iron works in the capital city. John K., also 
a resident here, is engaged in the real-estate business. Frank L. 
is a veterinary surgeon in Colusa. Edward E., who was the oldest 
child of the family, was born in Sacramento county August 2, 1880. 
He entered the University of California and com]ileted his educa- 
tional preparation for business responsibilities, graduating in 1903 
with the degree of LL. B. He then returned to Sacramento to 
serve as a deputy sheriff under his father. After three years in 
that capacity he was made under-sheriff and continued as such until 
the death of his father, whom he succeeded by appointment, filling 
out the unexpired term of one year. Since his father's death he has 
managed the estate. During the session of the state legislature in 
the thirty-ninth general assembly and the special session following 
he was employed as a bookkeeper to the sergeant-at-arms. Like 
his father he is staunchly Republican in political views and like 
him also he has membership with the Fraternal Brotherhood, Benev- 
olent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. In addition he is connected with Sunset Parlor No. 26, 
N. S. G. W. 

The marriage of Edward E. Reese was solemnized April 29, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 605 

1906, and united Mm with Miss Pearl Howard, a native of Sacra- 
mento and a daughter of M. A. and Annie Howard, the former an 
influential citizen, a leading politician and for thirty years or more 
a well-known hotel man of the capital city. Mr. and Mrs. Reese are 
the parents of two children, namely: Dorothy, born February 5, 
1907;. and Howard E., November 18, 1910.- For three years Mr. 
Reese was a member of the Hospital Corps of the Second Regiment, 
N. (1. C. At the time of the disastrous San Francisco fire Mr. 
Reese served for thirty-one days as a member of the hospital corps 
of the California National Guard and his services were distinctly 
helpful in aiding to bring order out of chaos as well as civic and 
personal hope out of the general gloom. 



JOHN AUGUSTUS SWINNEY 

Orphaned by the death of his mother when he was four years old 
and by the death of his father when he was fifteen, John Augustus 
Swinney was obliged to take up the battle of life when still a young 
boy, and his subsequent career shows that he made a good and 
valiant fight and won success, to which he is undoubtedly going on 
to other successes decisive and notable. Mr. Swinney was born at 
Red Bluff, Cal., June 27, 1869. In his home neighborhood he at- 
tended public school, thus gaining the basis of the education which 
has helped him to such achievement as he has made. Beginning as 
a boy to work at ranching he was thus employed for several years. 
In 1891 he came to Sacramento and entered the service of Arthur F. 
Dray, for whom he worked eight and a half years. The succeeding 
nine years of his life were devoted to the business of the Burns coal 
and wood yard. On May 8, 1911, he formed a partnership with Wil- 
liam Reed, and they are conducting a large business, which promises 
much for the future. Serving faithfully as he has done in every 
department of such a venture, Mr. Swinney is peculiarly fitted to take 
the general management of the concern, and in all that he does for 
the advancement of the enterprise he is ably aided by his partner. 

In Sacramento Mr. Swinney found not alone business triumph. 
He found, as well, a wife, in the person of Elizabeth Windrick, a 
native of Sacramento county, whom he married in 1899. He is a 
member of Loyal Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., of Sacramento, to all important 
interests of which he is devoted. In his political a*'filiation he is a 
Republican, ardent in support of the men and measures of his party. 
His interest in the city and county is such that he is a citizen of very 
helpful public spirit. 



606 PIISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



8T. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY 

There is assuredly uo more important element in the progress of 
a community, in its welfare and moral standing, than education, and 
in this particular there are few if any states in the Union which are 
equipped with such splendid schools of learning and culture as Cali- 
fornia. In Sacramento there is located a private school which has 
contributed no small amount to the development of educational 
jDrogress, and this school, which is known as St. Joseph's Academy, 
ranks among the best-equipped, having for its teachers the most cul- 
tured and intelligent ladies in the Sisterhood. It is a ladies' semin- 
ary, and has a career which dates back to the early history of Sac- 
ramento. 

On October 2, 1857, Rev. Mother Mary Baptist Russell of St. 
Mary's hospital, in San Francisco, was interested in founding the St. 
Joseph's convent and school, located at Seventh and K streets, the 
site now occupied by the postoffice. A few years later she was en- 
abled to purchase the block between F and G streets on Eighth and 
Ninth streets, and here was erected a large building which served for 
both grammar and primary schools. The systematic conduct of these 
schools early commanded recognition and the attendance so increased 
that larger and more commodious quarters were required. In 1872 
the present large building was erected and in 1875 it was incorporated 
under the name of St. Joseph's Academy. 

The courses include primary, grammar, high school and academic 
studies, and there are various departments which embrace business 
and commercial courses, music, painting and embroidery, every op- 
portunity being afforded to the ambitious and clever student to develop 
latent talents and acquire the culture and knowledge which go to 
create the charming and refined personality. There are now about 
four hundred pupils in attendance, and the school is presided over by 
the Sisters of Mercy, who not alone provide the intellectual training 
which as a matter of course is an essential part, but also add the 
requisite of a quiet, refined manner and unselfish Christian living 
which has proved the superior element that has influenced their pupils. 
The school is beautifully situated and every precaution is taken to 
insure a healthy environment for the girls, the best-known methods 
being followed in every particular, and it is needless to say that the 
graduates rank among the most accomplished and intellectual women 
of the state. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 609 



FRANK J. BETHEL, D. D. S. 

Familiarity with every department of dentistry brings to Dr. 
Betbel an enviable position not only in the city of Sacramento, 
but also throughout the entire valley. Enjojdng early educational 
advantages of a high order, he supplemented these by later inde- 
pendent researches .and thus gained a critical knowledge of his 
chosen profession. Indeed, it may be stated with justice that he 
owes his splendid mental attainments to self-culture rather than to 
university training, although he received exceptional advantages in 
one of the most popular state educational institutions of the central 
west. Not content to be only a practitioner of past methods, he has 
continued to be a diligent student of dental progress and has kept 
in touch with every modern phase of development in the science. 
As a result of years of intense application, supplementing an active 
practice and broad experience, he has become a specialist of note and 
is accorded an unsurpassed reputation as a diagnostician in dentistry. 

Born in Mapleton, Bourbon county, Kans., June 13, 1868, Dr. 
Bethel passed the days of youth in his native county, where he at- 
tended the public schools of Fort Scott. Very early in life his 
aspirations were turned toward the dental profession. It became 
his ambition to acquire a practical knowledge of the science. With 
that object in view he matriculated in the Iowa State University 
at Iowa City and there continued his studies until he graduated in 
1890 with tiie degree of D.D.S. The first two years of experience 
were gained while engaging in practice at Denver, Colo., from 
which city he came to California and opened an office at Bakersfield. 
During the five and one-half years of his residence in that city he 
built up a large practice and won a high reputation for professional 
skill. A later identification with San Francisco was followed in 1903 
by removal to Seattle, Wash., where he engaged in practice for six 
years and meanwhile won an enviable standing among his confreres 
in that growing city of the northwest. During 1909 he established 
the organization known as the United Dentists, of which he since 
has officiated as president and which ranks among the leading pro- 
fessional organizations of Sacramento. In its creation the prin- 
cipal object in view was the giving of skilled, efficient and satis- 
factory service to patrons at reasonable prices, and this has been the 
secret of the growing business and enviable, reputation. 

During the previous period of the Doctor's residence in Cali- 
fornia he was honored with an appointment. May 28, 1901, by Gov- 
ernor Henry T. Gage as a member of the state board of dental 
examiners, and he continued to devote considerable time and atten- 
tion to the duties of the office until 1903, when the necessity of 

35 



610 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

superintending some interests and investments in the state of AVasli- 
ington caused him to remove to Seattle, and he then resigned from 
the position. Throughout his active life, notwithstanding the press- 
ing duties associated with professional practice and continued study, 
he has found leisure for co-operation with Masonic activities and 
also has been a leading local worker with the Elks. While not con- 
nected with any denomination, he is in sympathy with Christian 
efforts and has contributed frequently to movements for the religious 
and moral ui^building of the community, as well as to such measures 
as will advance local educational interests. The Republican party 
has had the benefit of his ballot in national elections, but his interest 
in public affairs has not developed a partisan spirit or a desire for 
office, being rather that of the progressive and public-spirited citizen, 
whose aim is the advancement of his city along every worthy line 
of progress. 



WILLIAM M. POWERS 

Of the carpenter force of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany William M. Powers, late of Sacramento, was a well known 
member from 1886 until 1900. His health began to fail in 1898 and 
his life came to a close October 30, 1900. He was born in Illinois 
in 1839, was reared and educated there and there acquired a prac- 
tical knowledge of the carpenter's trade. In 1861, when he was 
about twenty-two years old, he enlisted in the Federal army, for 
service in the Civil war. He did gallant duty as a soldier during 
the entire period of his enlistment and received honorable discharge 
from the service. The last twelve years of his life were passed in 
the service of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, in which he 
might have remained many years longer had he not passed away 
untimely in his sixty-second year. 

In 1879 Mr. Powers married Miss Mary E. Adams, a native 
of North Carolina and a descendant of old and honored families 
of that state. She bore him four children, three of whom survive. 
His parents were natives of Maine and he numbered among his an- 
cestors New England Yankees, who in successive generations amply 
proved themselves to be devoted and patriotic citizens and success- 
ful men of affairs. With all who knew him he was deservedly pop- 
ular and many a former comrade remembers him as one who is 
ever readv with the friendlv hand in time of need. 




^^IM-^^^/^^^^^^^!^^^^- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 613 



FEEDERICK E. SHAW, M. D. 

A favorable opportunity to engage in professional activities as 
resident physician at tlie Sisters' hospital was the immediate cause of 
the location of Dr. Shaw in Sacramento, where at iirst in this posi- 
tion and later as a private practitioner he has won his way to an 
enviable standing among the men of his calling in the capital city. 
Those competent to speak with authority assert that his knowledge 
of materia medica and surgery, backed by a broad general fund of 
information in every sphere of thought, places him in sympathetic 
association with the most talented members of the profession in his 
city, while also enabling him to appreciate with delicate intuition the 
manifold openings which make the future rich in promise to students 
of the science. Scarcely yet in the prime of manhood, many years of 
professional usefulness may be predicted for him, with a growing 
reputation abundantly merited by his judicious studies of the science 
of therapeutics, by his skill in diagnosis and by his discriminating 
accuracy in the selection of remedial agencies for the relief of pain 
and the conquering of disease. 

A son of Charles F. and Mary Shaw, and a member of an old 
honored eastern family. Dr. Frederick E. Shaw was born at Haver- 
hill, Mass., September 6, 1879, and received his education in the splen- 
did institutions boasted by the old Bay state. During 1896 he was 
graduated from high school and he then studied in Phillips academy 
at Exeter, N. H., for a year, after which he relinquished the classical 
course for professional specialties. He began to take medical lectures 
in Tufts Medical college at Boston, Mass., where he remained a dili- 
gent student of therapeutics and surgery until his removal from the 
Atlantic coast to the shores of the Pacific. Immediately after his 
arrival in San Francisco he resumed the studies of his preferred 
science and availed himself of every opportunity for the enlarging of 
his mental equipment for professional work. During 1908 he was 
graduated from the Cooper Medical college and immediately afterward 
he came to Sacramento, where he and his wife, formerly Miss Lyla 
Marie Kimball, of Haverhill, Mass., have won a host of warm personal 
friends in the most cultured social circles. 

Reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic church, devoted to her 
doctrines and well-informed concerning her history, Dr. Shaw has 
been a generous contributor to her many splendid philanthropies and 
has assisted with characteristic liberality those movements tending 
toward her larger usefulness or more complete equipment for work. 
The Young Men's Institute and the Knights of Columbus number him 
among their leading members, and in the latter he now officiates as 
grand knight. Political matters have not interested him to the point 



614 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

of enlisting partisan preferences, his attitude being independent and 
his baHot favoring men and measures rather than any special party. 
In the fall of 1911 he was elected a member of the board of education 
of Sacramento, serving until July 1, 1912, when the new charter came 
into effect and abolished the old board of education. During his 
service as trustee he raised the schedule of teachers' salaries to that 
of the leading cities of the state, and established a school of manual 
training and domestic science at Oak Park. During his term he was 
also instrumental in abolishing many unsanitary conditions in the 
schools, secured the passage of a bill for building two new open-air 
kindergartens, and was active generally in building up the schools in 
all departments. The Sutter and University clubs have brought him 
into touch with many of the most influential citizens of Sacramento, 
and his participation in club activities has been constant and helpful. 
With the interest which a successful practitioner always feels in his 
chosen profession, he has interested himself in studying the latest 
developments of the science, in perusing literature pertaining to the 
subject and in keeping in touch with the work of the various organiza- 
tions to which he belongs, these being the American Medical Associa- 
tion, the Sacramento County Medical Society and the Northern Dis- 
trict Medical Association. 



FEED J. JOHNS 

The identification of many successive generations of the Johns 
family with England remained unbroken until James T. Johns in 
young manhood left Great Britain for the newly discovered mines of 
the far west. In common with the majority of the ambitious Argo- 
nauts of that period, he embarked in mining pursuits, but he continued 
in the same industry for a much longer time than many and he also 
met with a fair degree of success in his ventures. For many years 
he held a position as foreman for the North Star Mining Company, 
and meanwhile he acquired mining stock of his own, so that ultimately 
he owned large interests in two gold mines in California. Among 
the miners of the early days he had a high reputation for accuracy 
of judgment and energy of temperament. Nor was a loyalty of devo- 
tion to his adopted country less in evidence among his most pro- 
nounced qualities. At the time of coming to this country he was a 
mere lad, and it was not until 1876 that he established domestic ties, 
his marriage in that year uniting him with Miss Elizabeth Adams, 
who had the distinction of being one of the first white children born 
in the northern part of California. During the early development of 
Nevada county her father, William H. Adams, held rank as a prom- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 615 

inent man of affairs, a leading politician and for several terms the 
incumbent of the office of sheriff. 

In the family of James T. Johns there was but one child, Fred J., 
whose birth occurred at Grass Valley, Nevada county, CaL, September 
13, 1878, and whose schooling was had in the little town where he 
was born. Quite early in life he studied telegraphy and after he 
had acquired accuracy in the art he became operator at Grass Valley 
for the Western Union Telegraph Company. At the expiration of six 
years he resigned that position and began to assist liis father in 
mining affairs. In October, 1896, he came to Sacramento and turned 
his attention to the realty business as a salesman for the Carmichael 
Company, and it was not long before he had proved his value in that 
connection. It is characteristic of him that he judges real estate 
values with almost unerring precision and he possesses the further 
qualification of finding without delay the kind of property a would-be 
buyer prefers. On the 1st of April, 1909, he opened an office on K 
street for a general real estate and brokerage business, but later he 
removed to No. 1023 Ninth street, where he has every modern con- 
venience desirable in the management of his business or in the per- 
sonal comfort afforded by his quarters. Besides being associated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, for years he held official positions with the 
Native Sons of the Golden West. During 1905 he was appointed a 
member of the committee that was instrumental in promoting the 
celebration and electrical parade commemorating Admission Day in 
Sacramento. 

The marriage of Fred J. Johns and Miss Flo Robinette of Sacra- 
mento took place in this city in 1902. They are the parents of three 
children, namely: Fred R., born December 18, 1904; California, who 
was born September 9, 1906, on Admission Day, and was named in 
commemoration of this date, and Marjorie, born July 25, 1908. Mrs. 
Johns gives earnest and capable assistance to the work of the English 
Lutheran church, with which she is associated as a member, and in 
addition she is also a member of the Tuesday club. Her father, John 
L. Robinette, was the founder of the California Odd Fellow, the official 
organ of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the state, and 
was one of the leading state workers of that organization. At the 
time of his death, in September of 1899, he was so influential and so 
prominent in the order that, had his life been spared for a few more 
years, he would have received the very highest honors within the 
power of the fraternity to bestow. In his demise the order sustained 
a heavy loss and his home city also was deprived of one of its most 
loyal and patriotic men. 



616 mSTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



CHARLES WERNER 

To attain success in any field of labor the qualities of persever- 
ance and concentration are requisite, and particularly is this true 
of a career which demands the mastery and enforcement of technical 
details. In the field where he has labored for many years, Professor 
Werner has won merit which is unquestionably due him and by his 
wide circle of patrons in Sacramento and former locations is known 
as a man of sterling qualities, fully worthy of the trusts which are 
placed in his keeping. 

Born April 13, 1861, in Magdeburg, Germany, Charles Werner 
grew up in his native city and when seventeen he graduated from 
high school, whereupon he entered a college of dermatology and 
academy of coiffure, completing his studies in 1881. Fully prepared 
for the work in which he desired to engage he then went to St. 
Petersburg, Russia, and continued in business for two years, then 
going to Vienna, Austria, where he continued to follow his profes- 
sion. A year later he located in Stockholm, Sweden, from there 
going to Christiana, Norway, where he followed his profession for 
about one year. Upon receiving an excellent offer from a leading 
hair-dressing house in London, he removed to that city and during 
the succeeding two years spent his winters in London and his sum- 
mers in his employer's branch shop in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. 
In 1884 he became connected with a large and fashionable concern 
in New York City, remaining in that metropolis through the winters 
and during the summers was employed at the Casino at Newport, 
R. I. In 1889, having met with unqualified success in his profession 
and his services being desired by leading houses throughout the 
United States, he resolved to establish a business in the west, and 
to that end journeyed to San Francisco, where he spent two years 
prior to opening his present attractive quarters, equipped with all 
modern appliances necessary in the exercise of his vocation. He 
is well and favorably known as a leading hair and scalp specialist 
in the Sacramento valley, and backed by years of training and 
experience enjoys increasing success. 

March 15, 1891, Professor Werner was united in marriage with 
Miss Minnie Herberger, of San Francisco, the ceremony taking place 
in that city, and throughout the years that preceded her death, 
September 24, 1907, their mutual interests enabled them to enjoy 
perfect companionship. Mr. Werner is an active member of the 
Independent Order of Red Men and the Fraternal Brotherhood and 
maintains a deep interest in all public matters of importance. Po- 
litically he is an Independent, prompt to recognize the merits of 
prospective candidates, and as a Protestant, is sincere and practical 
in his religion. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 619 



EDWARD C. KAVANAUGH 

An association with the Native Sons of the Golden West comes 
to Mr, Kavanangh by reason of his nativity in California, where he 
was born at Michigan Blnff, Placer connty, July 29, 1872, into the 
home of Edward and Ann Kavanangh. The family descends from 
a long line of Celtic ancestry. His father, who was born and 
reared in County Kerry, Ireland, crossed the ocean to America dur- 
ing 1838 when very j^oung in years and poor in purse, but rich in 
hope and courage for the future. After twelve years as a farm 
laborer in Illinois, he was induced to cross the plains to California 
through hearing remarkable reports concerning the discovery of 
gold. Joining a large expedition of Argonauts during the spring 
of 1850 he entered upon a journey of long duration and innumer- 
able privations, but which finally reached a safe conclusion at Hang- 
town, Eldorado county. 

The country was filled with miners, some joyful over discov- 
ered gold, some disappointed concerning hopes long deferred. The 
population was cosmopolitan. Hither had come people from every 
quarter of the civilized world. As a consequence of the sudden 
aggregation of newcomers there was little attempt at law and order. 
In his old age the elder Kavanangh used frequently to narrate in- 
teresting incidents concerning the problems faced by those pioneer 
communities temporarily collected at mining camps. He himself 
did not remain long at Hangtown, but soon drifted to other min- 
ing camps and as early as 1851 became a permanent resident of 
Michigan Bluff, where his death in 1894 terminated an identifica- 
tion of forty-four years with the mining interests of the west. 

At the age of sixteen years, after having concluded the studies 
of the public schools, Edward C, Kavanaugh became interested in 
mining and for a long period he was directly or indirectly con- 
nected with that industry, but in 1893 he turned his attention in large 
degree to other activities. For two years he was engaged as clerk 
in the Forest Hill hotel in Placer county. This place he purchased 
in 1895 and conducted the inn besides managing several mines. Upon 
selling the hotel in 1904 he removed to Sacramento and embarked in 
the wholesale liquor business with J. S. Casey under the firm name 
of Casey & Kavanaugh. During May of 1911 he bought out the 
interest of his partner and has since been sole proprietor of the 
place at No. 401 J street. In addition he operates mines in Placer 
and Tuolumne counties. Throughout all of his life he has been 
a devoted and generous member of the Roman Catholic Church, 
while since attaining his majority he has given his ballot in the in- 
terests of the Democratic party. During November of 1897, at 



620 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Forest Hill, Cal., he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Mc- 
Hale, and three sons have hlessed their nnion, namely: Emmet and 
Edward, who are pupils in the Christian Brothers ( -ollege ; and Allen, 
who attends the Sacramento public schools. 



JEROME F. BRICKELL 

Two different eras in his life found Mr. Brickell a newcomer ii 
Sacramento. The occasion of his first trip to the west occurred 
during 1858, when he followed the usual tedious and even dangerous 
mode of travel across the plains and eventually landed in an as- 
piring town of tents, the temj^orary abode of a cosmopolitan throng 
of people attracted to the coast by the discovery of gold. Returning 
to his old home in the middle west during the year 1865, he passed 
many years of energetic activity in Michigan and Missouri, and not 
again did he return to the far west until he was practically about 
to retire from business activities, having disposed of his farm in 
Missouri. The second trip was radically different from that made 
forty-five years before. All of the comforts of twentieth century 
travel were his to enjoy. Nor was the city of his destination at all 
similar to the hamlet of his memor3\ No old familiar faces remained 
to greet him. Beautiful homes had replaced the temporary abodes of 
his former experiences. Substantial business blocks had replaced 
the shacks of the '50s. On every hand were evidences of wealth and 
culture. With gratification ]ie viewed the remarkable transforma- 
tion wrought by the energy of citizens during the passing years 
when the west was coming into her own. 

Among the thirteen sons and daughters forming the family of 
Thomas Jefferson and Elizabeth Brickell there are nine still living, 
and one of these is Jerome F., who was born and reared on the 
old homestead near Niles, Mich., and attended the schools of that 
city and Kalamazoo. Upon starting out for himself he came to Cali- 
fornia in 1858 and engaged in teaming between Sacramento and the 
mines of Placer county, continuing in that occupation until he re- 
turned to Michigan in 1865. Meanwhile, in 1861, he married Miss 
Mary A. Collier, who was born in Massachusetts, but accompanied 
relatives to California at a very early age and grew to womanhood 
in Placer county. For a time she taught school there. Upon his 
return to Michigan Mr. Brickell engaged in the livery business at 
Niles for five vears. Next he removed to Missouri and bou^'ht a 



HISTOKY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 621 

raw tract of two hundred and eighty acres, to the development of 
which he devoted many years of unwearied toil. When eventually 
he felt himself no longer equal to the many responsibilities connected 
with agriculture he disposed of his holdings in Missouri and in 1903 
again came to Sacramento, this time establishing a home in Oak 
Park and investing largely in property at this point. The results 
proved the wisdom of his investments. Early in 1907 the Oak Park 
Eealty Company was incorporated, with Jerome F. Brickell as presi- 
dent and Thomas E. Brickell as secretary. While still connected with 
the business, Mr. Brickell has retired from heavy responsibilities and 
is in a financial position to enjoy the fruits of his former efforts. The 
firm has handled an immense amount of real estate and has largely 
limited its efforts to Oak Park, the upbuilding of which it has pro- 
moted in a material degree. 

During the period of his residence in Missouri Mr. Brickell was 
a local leader of the Democratic party. While he was never an 
aspirant for office, he maintained a deep interest in public affairs, 
and at one time, upon the solicitation of leading Democrats of Macon 
county, he consented to accept the nomination for county treasurer. 
Duly elected to the office, he filled it for four years with marked 
efficiency. His interest in educational movements was unchanging. 
For years he served as one of the school directors of his township. 
In religion he favors Baptist doctrines and gives generous support 
to the missionary movements of the denomination. 

Edgar J. Brickell, son of Jerome F. Brickell, was born at Niles, 
Mich.-, February 17, 1867, and received a public school education in 
Missouri, later attending a college at Dixon, 111., from which he was 
graduated in 1890. After leaving college he was employed in the 
express and freight department of the Burlington Railroad Company 
for four years. Next he spent three years as a clerk in a clothing 
and men's furnishing store, while he also taught school in Macon 
county. Mo., for four years. The mercantile business at Clark, Mo., 
engaged his attention for five years, and for three years he con- 
ducted a grocery in St. Louis, Mo., from which city, in 1908, lie 
came to Sacramento for the ]nirpose of identifying himself with tlie 
Oak Park Realty Company. During February of 1911 he severed liis 
connection with the real estate firm and opened a modern grocery on 
the corner of Thirty-fourth street and Park avenue, where now lie 
has built up a growing trade, and he holds a reputation for honesty 
in all business transactions. Like his father, he is of the Baptist 
faith, and like him, also, he favors Democratic principles in politics. 
In fraternal matters he holds membership with the Knights of 
Pythias. During 1891 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth 
M. (Harkson, who was born and reared in Macon county. Mo., and 
received a fair education in the schools of that localitv. 



622 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



WILLIAM LAUGHLIN KNIGHT 

The sincere but unostentatious devotion to duty that charac- 
terized the life of Mr, Knight holds out much for the encouragement 
and emulation of young men struggling to gain a foothold in the 
business world. His the painstaking discharge of every responsi- 
bilit.y and the untiring ardor for work that forms the foundation of 
every success, whether small or great. Both in the discharge of 
civic duties and in gallant army service (for he was a captain in the 
Civil War) he proved himself equal to every emergency, dependable, 
resourceful and resolute, the possessor of sterling qualities inherited 
from a long line of New England forebears and exhibiting also the 
traits more peculiarly associated with the breezy aud bustling boom- 
ers of the west. A generation of development had transformed the 
entire Pacific coast while he was working his way with patient in- 
dustry from a lowly position on the Southern Pacific Railroad to a 
post of honor and trust, whose duties he discharged with such zeal 
and intelligence that when finally advancing years and failing health 
caused his retirement he was not only granted a pension, but in ad- 
dition he received many testimonials of praise in recognition of his 
fidelity and uprightness of character. 

Descended from ancestors long and prominently connected with 
the vicinity of Ryegate, Vt., and the son of a prosperous farmer 
who gave liberally of time and means to the cause of religion in 
his community, William Laughlin Knight was born in 1835 at the 
old Vermont homestead and there he passed the uneventful years 
of boyhood and youth. Upon attaining his majority and being thus 
free to carry out any wishes he had formed concerning future ac- 
tivities, he came to California and in 1856 settled at Diamond Springs, 
Placer county, where for some years he was employed in the in- 
terests of mining properties, his special work being the supervision 
of the irrigation ditches. As soon as war was declared between the 
the north and the south he offered his services to the Union and was 
accepted as a private, assigned to duty and stationed in the northern 
part of the state, where various sanguinary contests with the In- 
dians gave him an experience of the horrors of war. Through con- 
scientious devotion to duty and gallantry in service he won promo- 
tion from the ranks to the captaincy of Company D, Second Cali- 
fornia Infantry, and at the close of the war he was still command- 
ing his company near the Indian hunting grounds. 

Coming to Sacramento at the close of the Civil War Mr. Knight 
entered the em])loy of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as 
a brakeman, from which he received promotion to the position of 
conductor. A subsequent promotion placed him at the head of the 




^h-J) S^C^T^^Z^^^- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 625 

local ticket department, where lie had the distinction of being the 
highest-salaried employe of the companj' at the time. Later he 
became associated with the office of the traveling ticket agent and in 
that position made frequent trips to the east in the interests of 
the railroad company. After a total service with the Southern Pa- 
cific of more than thirty-nine years he was placed on the retired list 
and granted a pension, but he was not long spared to enjoy the com- 
forts of release from business activities. On the 24th of September, 
1906, his earth life came to an end with his peaceful passing into 
eternity. For years, he had been a devoted member of the Baptist 
Church and his last days were cheered by the Christian's hope,— 
cheered also by the sympathetic ministrations of a large circle 'of 
friends, prominent among whom were old soldiers of the Civil War. 
For years he had been a leading worker in the Grand Army of the 
Republic and at one time he was an officer in the George H. Thomas 
Post at San Francisco. 

Surviving Mr. Knight are his two children, Lillian and Ralph, 
both residents of Sacramento. In this city, January 24, 1867, oc- 
curred his marriage to Miss Mary D. Reid, of Broderick, Yolo 
county, daughter of James and Margaret Reid. The father, who 
owned large tracts of land in Yolo county, remained an employe in 
the boiler shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad for many years, 
but finally retired when advanced in age. At the time of his death 
he was ninety-four years old. Ralph Knight, who is head of the 
drafting department with the Southern Pacific Railroad, is a lead- 
ing member of the Christian Science Church in Sacramento and fra- 
ternally has been associated with the local lodge of Odd Fellows. 
Possessing ability and force of character, he is deservedly winning 
a high place in the citizenship of his native city. 



RAY D. McFARLAND 

The proportion of native sons of California engaged actively in 
commercial enterprises is as yet comparatively small. Even more 
rare is it to find an instance of two generations, father and son, both 
born in our state, both reared within its boundaries and both educated 
in its schools, both later following similar lines of business activity 
and impressing their forceful characters upon associates and acquaint- 
ances. Such in brief was the personal history of the late Thaddeus 
J. McFarland, a native of Vallejo, Solano county; such are the present 
prospects and the business possibilities of Ray D. McFarland, also a 
native of California, and now identified with the printing and pub- 



626 HISTORY OP^ SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

lishing business in Sacramento county, following the occupation which 
engaged the attention of liis father for a long period. 

The son of an adventurous and resourceful pioneer who had been 
attracted to the Pacific coast by tales concerning the riches of the 
mines, the late T. J. McFarland became familiar with frontier con- 
ditions at an earl\- age. As he became more mature in years he saw 
the gradual advancement of the state, witnessed the slow but sure 
development of its resources and grasped the possibilities of the com- 
monwealth. No citizen was more loyal than he and his devotion to 
the state was one of the most pronounced attributes of his character. 
Through the medium of his paper he often dwelt upon the opportun- 
ities afforded by the coast country, the attractiveness of its climate, 
the charm of its scenery and the high character of its citizenship. 
AVhile praising the loyalty of others and always disclaiming any merit 
of his own, he was entitled nevertheless to mention in the annals of 
his locality, for he was a true patriot and a progressive citizen. Early 
in manhood he had married Mary F. Dudley, who was born in Illinois 
on New Year's Day of 1861. Since his demise, which occurred in the 
year 1896, she has resided in Folsom. 

Ray D. McFarland belongs to the younger generation of rising 
professional men, for he was born January 24, 1881. An excellent 
education secured in the Folsom grammar school and the Sacramento 
high school qualified him for responsibilities awaiting him. Early 
training in a newspaper office fitted him for journalistic work, so 
that when his father passed away he was able to assume the difficult 
task of acting as his successor as editor and manager of the Folsom 
Telegraph. For several years he has been managing editor and pub- 
lisher pf The Live Stock and Dairy Journal of Sacramento, and in 
addition he serves as president of the Agricultural Publishing Com- 
pany, owning the publication and printing plant. Besides his connec- 
tion with and financial interest in the paper he owns the Bank build- 
ing and the Folsom ])ostofTice building, as well as a neat and tasteful 
cottage. 

Mrs. McFarland, formerly Miss Carrie Hansen, was born in 
Sacramento county February 21, 1887, and is a young lady of educa- 
tion and culture, a hospitable hostess, welcoming friends to her home 
with simple dignity and genuine pleasure. Together with Mr. Mc- 
Farland she is prominently connected with the local chapter of the 
Eastern Star, while he further holds membership with the Masons, 
Eagles and the Native Sons of the Golden West. The principles of 
the Rejuiblican party have received his ballot ever since he attained 
his majgrity. Political affairs are well understood l)y him, while 
his mastery of national ])ro])lems is so complete that he is regarded 
as one of the best-posted Republicans in his home town. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 627 



JACOB NELSON 

Prominent in the agricultural and educational circles of Isleton, 
Sacramento county, Cal., is Jacob Nelson, who, as a member of the 
local school board, is rendering good service to his fellow townsmen 
and to the school children of this and future generations. 

Mr. Nelson's father, Christian Nelson, was a native of Norway, 
and upon coming to America made his way to California, where he 
arrived in 1859. The family settled in Alameda county, Cal., and 
here Jacob Nelson was born in 1864. While still a babe, his parents 
moved to a ranch in the Montezuma Hills, near Denverton, Cal., and 
there he grew to manhood, receiving his education in the public 
schools. Having become familiar with the life of a ranchman, he 
adopted that as his vocation, and his ranch is numbered among the 
most productive and best in the county. In 1895 Mr. Nelson mar- 
ried Georgietta Knott, whose father, George Andrew Knott, was a 
native of Maryland. He came to California in 1852, crossing the 
plains in the manner of the pioneer emigrants of that time. His 
marriage to Janet Craib, a native of Scotland, occurred in 1858; they 
settled on Andrus island in 1865, and it is on this ranch that Jacob 
Nelson and his wife are now living. Mr. Knott died in 1899, and liis 
wife followed him in 1902. 

The lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Franklin, Sacramento 
county, includes Mr. Nelson in its membership, while the Onisbo 
Chapter No. 164, 0. E. S., claims both Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. He 
also affiliates with Isleton Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. As a farmer, Mr. Nel- 
son takes high rank in his community, and as a citizen he is ready 
at all times to encourage any proposition for the advancement of the 
interests of his community. He and his estimable wife hold the 
esteem of the entire community. 



CHARLES KIRKPATRICK DAVIS 

This prominent citizen of Isleton, Sacramento county, Cal., was 
born on his father's ranch in this county in 1861, was educated in 
the public schools and was early initiated into the mysteries of 
farming. Hugh Davis, his father, was born in Canada in 1834 and 
immigrated to Illinois, when six years of age, and there grew to 
manhood. He came to California in 1855 and located in Sacramento 
county. About two years later he took up one hundred and seven 



628 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

and thirteen one-himdredths acres of government land where his son 
Charles K. now lives. In the early days no levee had been built to 
protect the lands thereabout from the encroachment of water, and 
Mr. Davis suffered seriously from the floods of 1861 and 1862. He 
died May 1, 1871, his widow in 1909. 

It was on the ranch above referred to that Charles K. Davis 
was born. He married Hilda Johnson, a native of Sacramento 
county, Cal., and they have five children, Angle, Christene, Charles 
K. J., Marion and a child still unnamed. As a farmer he takes 
rank with the best in his vicinity. His principal crop is fruit, but 
he gives much attention to growing fine vegetables which invariably 
bring the highest market prices. Besides his ranch, he owns one 
hundred and seventeen acres of land near Walnut Grove. He has 
taken an interest in public affairs and been an active Eepublican. 
At different times he has filled township offices, notably those of 
roadmaster, tax assessor and member of the school board, and he 
is at this time and for years has been serving ably as a deputy 
sheriff. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and of the Free and Accepted Masons. 



FELTON LOWEY 

The fact of having been reared in Ohio and the additional op- 
portunities afforded b}-^ subsequent travel through almost every por- 
tion of the United States give to Mr. Lowry a comprehensive knowl- 
edge of our country. As a result of his study and observation he 
still adheres to the opinion formed many years ago that California 
stands without a rival in its resources, its climate and its material 
possibilities. Employment with railroad companies took him through- 
out the west when he was still a young man and enabled him to 
gain a broad information as to every section of the region west of 
the Eocky Mountains, but no place visited by him has offered in- 
ducements sufficient to weaken his faith in or lessen his affection 
for the commonwealth of his choice. 

Born at Zanesville, Ohio, July 20, 1838, Felton Lowry was the 
son of John and Elizabeth (France) Lowry of Pennsylvania, who 
removed to and operated a farm in Vinton county, Ohio, and he still 
has living in the Buckeye state one brother and three sisters. Not 
content to remain there but allured to the west by reports concern- 
ing its opportunities, in the spring of 1860 he bade farewell to home 
and relatives and traveled via the Isthmus of Panama to San Fran- 
cisco and came on to Sacramento. It was not his fortune to possess 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 631 

any capital nor to have enjoyed a good education, but he was a young 
man of tireless energy and force of will. To such, employment 
comes as an open sesame to their ability. He first tried his luck at 
mining at Indian Diggings, Eldorado county. Later he helped build 
a bridge at Live Oak, of which he was the toll-keeper. Subsequently 
he went to Reese River, Nev., where he engaged in carpentering, and 
while there he helped in the erection of the Reese River court house. 
During the progress of the Civil War Mr. Lowry enlisted in 
Company K, Eighth Regiment of California Volunteers, and at the 
time of the riots served in San Francisco, being mustered out at 
the close of the war. He then returned to Sacramento and resumed 
work on the Central Pacific Railroad. Beginning at the bottom he 
soon became foreman and finally became assistant superintendent 
of grading. For six years he remained with the same company. 
Meanwhile he helped to build the line to Salt Lake and reached and 
completed the end of his contract during May of 1869. In the latter 
part of the same year he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad Company, and served as superintendent of construction 
through the San Joaquin valley, remaining on that division until 
the completion of the road to its Los Angeles terminus. 

The task of grading roads in other parts of California brought 
Mr. Lowry profitable employment for a number of years. At one 
time he was dispatched to grade the road toward Imperial Junc- 
tion and the Colorado river. When he had three hundred men in 
camp as helpers the war department wired Major Dunn not to al- 
low men to tamper with the bridge at Fort Yuma or to lay rails. 
Notification was sent to Mr. Lowry, but at one o'clock in the morn- 
ing he had all of his three hundred men up and ready to assist 
him. A flat car loaded with rails was forced on the bridge and 
the rails were then thrown off. Twenty soldiers threatened to shoot 
them, but Mr. Lowry claimed that a man was under the car and it 
was absolutely necessary to throw off the rails in order to save his 
life. Under these representations the work was allowed to be con- 
tinued. In a short time the rails were laid and there the matter 
ended so far as Mr. Lowry was concerned, the officials of the road 
later taking up the question with the government employes. 

After having built more than three hundred and fifty miles of 
road for the Southern Pacific Company Mr. Lowry left its employ 
and turned his attention to other enterprises. For four years he 
acted as traveling representative for the Atlantic Dynamite Com- 
pany of New York City and during that period he traveled exten- 
sively in every part of the country. At one time he owned four 
thousand acres of range land in Kern county and maintained thereon 
a herd of some fifteen thousand sheep, but years ago the flock was 
sold and the land disposed of. During 1892, associated with Tur- 
ton & Knox, he had the contract for the building of the levee from 



632 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the Pioneer uiill to Twelfth street in Sacramento. After completing 
this, with the same men lie built part of the Central Canal in Colusa 
county. The company also built forty miles of railroad between 
Merced and Oakdale, fifty miles of road between Bakersfield and 
Asphalt, and one hundred and lift}^ miles on the west side of San 
Joaquin valley, from Newman south, and twenty-five miles between 
Burbank and Chatsworth Park, all for the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road. As superintendent for the Pacific Improvement Company he 
laid out and superintended the building of a seventeen-mile drive 
at Monterey, and alone he contracted for and built many sections 
of road for the Southern Pacific Railroad, besides which he has 
built many levees along the Sacramento river. Eventually Mr. Lowry 
retired fi'om contracting and in the twilight of his active existence 
he enjoys the comforts rendered possible by years of intelligent ex- 
ertion. He is now the oldest railroad contractor in the state. 

At Adah, Ohio, Mr. Lowry was married March 27, 1890, to Miss 
Ida Sisson, who was born in Fort Smith, Ark., but was reared in 
McArthur, Ohio. She was the daughter of George and Sarah (Syl- 
vester) Sisson, the latter the youngest daughter of a Revolutionary 
soldier, a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and a resident 
of Adah, Ohio. Four children were born of the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Lowry, Eva, Fondalite, Agnes and Georgia, all of whom reside 
with their father at No. 1610 K street, Sacramento. Politically Mr. 
Lowry is a Republican and is a member of Sumner Post, G. A. R. 
In 1912 he was a candidate at the primary election for supervisor 
of the third district, but failed of election by fifty-three votes. The 
family are communicants of the Christian Church and earnest sup- 
porters of religious and philanthropic measures. 



GEORGE THISBY 

On the old Thisl)y homestead on Andrus Island, Sacramento 
county, and the place on which he still resides, was born George 
Thisby on September 24, 1873, son of George and Rebecca (Elliott) 
Thisby. The parents came to California in 1850 via Panama, and 
as early as 1852 settled on Andrus Island. The country was wild and 
in many parts society was unorganized. The father's experience in 
some respects was remarkable; he ran the first craft on the Sacra- 
mento river and was otherwise interested in pioneer doings. He 
was descended from an old English family. 

After leaving school George Thisby, Jr., began to work on 
ranches and he was thus employed during all the years of his early 




//-^.M^ 



j-«<?-t>««/ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 635 

manhood. In 1897 he went to Alaska, where he lived a strenuous 
and adventurous life through five memorable years. Then returning 
to California, he settled down to farming on his ranch near Walnut 
Grove. In Sacramento in 1905 he married Miss Lillian Campbell, 
a native of Placer county, Cal., daughter of David Campbell, who 
is now deceased, and his wife, Mary J. (Wiley), who still resides in 
Auburn. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thisby: 
George C. and Mary Jane, aged in 1913 six years and four years 
respectivel}^ In everything pertaining to the public welfare of his 
community Mr. Thisby is deeply concerned. While he is not active 
as a politician he has been elected trustee of Georgiana school dis- 
trict and is trustee of Reclamation district No. 556. His home- 
stead is a fine ranch of two hundred and twenty-one acres, highly 
improved in every respect and devoted to the cultivation of fruits 
and vegetables. Mr. Thisby was made a Mason in Franklin Lodge 
No. 143 and is a member of Isleton Lodge No. 108, I. 0. 0. F., of 
which he is past grand. In politics he is a Republican. 



JOSEPH SANER 

For many jenrs, and indeed from the time of his immigration to 
the new world until his death, Mr. Saner was identified with the dairy 
and ranch interests of Sacramento count}". Such was his frugality, 
such his tireless perseverance and such his native shrewdness that 
ultimately he acquired large holdings in ranch lands. Not a little of 
his success was due to the sterling good sense and practical co-opera- 
tion of his wife, who since being left a widow has carried forward the 
enterprises begun by her husband and has proved the possession of 
fine business qualifications as well as an intimate and thorough 
knowledge of every detail connected with ranching. The plans which 
he laid with the hopeful spirit of middle age she is carrjdng forward 
to completion and in these impoitant tasks she has enjoyed the will- 
ing aid of her children, the eldest of whom have reached an age which 
renders genuine helpfulness possible, while the youngest are able to 
assist in the lighter tasks of the ranch. 

There were not only kindred aspirations and harmonious tem- 
peraments to unite Mr. and Mrs. Saner in a happy wedded life, but 
in addition they shared an affection for the same native country and 
the same childhood associations. Familar to their early days were 
the lofty peaks of the Alps and the simple beauty of the lakes which 
give to Switzerland an abiding majesty of landscape. Mr. Saner was 
born in Canton Solothurn, Switzerland, March 23, 1860, while the 

36 



636 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

birth of Mrs. Saner occurred September 24, 1865, her maiden name 
having been Mary Bisig. Both had few educational advantages, but 
began to labor for self-support while yet quite young. Both cherished 
longings for the liberty of America, and both crossed the ocean in 
1883, coming direct from New York City to California and settling 
in Sacramento county. Mrs. Saner saw the United States for the 
first time on the 25th of April, 1883, and on the 9th of March, 1887, 
became tlie wife of Mr. Saner, who had been employed at dairying 
for the four i)receding years. 

The young couple took up agricultural pursuits on a rented tract, 
owned by Mr. Harvey, and there they worked frugally, industriously 
and efficiently for four years. As a result of their efforts they were 
able to buy a place of their own. In 1901 they purchased the Steele 
ranch of four hundred and fifteen acres located on Dry creek, and 
three years later, in 1904, they added to their holdings by the pur- 
chase of the Davis tract of three hundred acres. Still later one hun- 
dred and eight 3^-two acres were bought, making nearly one thousand 
acres, all of which Mr. Saner managed with recognized thrift and 
intelligence. In the management of the broad acres his wife, since 
his death, October 14, 1908, has been as efficient as was he, and her 
capable mind and willing hands insure profitable returns from the 
cultivation of the land. Eight children came to bless their union, 
namely: Frieda, born December 8, 1888; Ameli, August 4, 1890; 
Joseph, April 15, 1893; Eobert, May 18, 1895; Lillie, April 3, 1897; 
Harry, May 29, 1898; William, November 28, 1899, and Evelina, De- 
cember 8, 1903. Many sorrows have come to Mrs. Saner, and her life 
has had its share of troulile, but none was more difficult to bear than 
the tragic death of her youngest child, Evelina, who was lost in the 
destruction of their home by fire, October 27, 1905. With supreme 
courage she has borne this terrible bereavement and with firm Chris- 
tian heroism she has triumphed over disaster and distress, so that 
she presents to all the example of a cheerful life and an industrious, 
optimistic temperament. 



WILLIAM A. LANGLEY 

The bicycle and motorcycle trade now engages talent and capital 
no less notewortliy than those demanded by the automobile trade, with 
which it is allied. Prominent in this line in Sacramento is William 
A. Langloy, No. 1025. Tenth street. Mr. T^angley was born in Alding- 
ton, Mass., April 9, 1873, a son of Herman A. and Eosette Langley, 
and while yet quite young was taken by his parents to Astoria, Ore., 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 637 

and there lie attended the public school until he was fourteen years of 
age. Then, young as he was, he went to Shoal Water Bay, Wash., 
and was for four years employed in a lumber mill. This brings his life 
story down to 1891, in which year he came to California and, locating 
at Lodi, engaged in the bicycle trade, operating a store there till 1900, 
when he came to Sacramento. Here he has continued in the same 
line, having the sole agency for the Excelsior autocycle and the Pierce 
motorcycle. 

The machines handled by Mr. Langley are considered as good as 
any iu the market, and so thoroughly does he understand their con- 
struction and operation that, having the confidence of the buying 
public, he is able to sell them against any and all competition. A 
feature of his business is the repairing of bicycles and motorcycles. 
In his repair department he employs only skilled workmen, and his 
materials are as good as can be obtained, while his charges are as 
reasonable as are consistent with good service and the adequate profit 
essential to the success and permanency of au}^ business of whatever 
character. 

On May 10, 1902, Mr. Langley married Miss Ellen V. Price of 
Sacramento. He is credited by those who know him well with the 
possession of an admirable public spirit which so influences him as to 
make him a liberal and helpful citizen, alive to the best interests of the 
community. In his ]iolitical affiliation he is a Eepublican. 



HEEBEET EDWAED YAEDLEY 

During the long period of his identification with his present 
line of business Mr. Yardley has developed an undertaking establish- 
ment that stands in the very front rank of institutions of the kind 
in Sacramento. When in 1893 he purchased the undertaking business 
of Clark & Booth and assumed the management of the place of which 
he remains the proprietor, he was brought into associations different 
from those of former business connections, but he proved equal to 
all emergencies and soon acquired a comprehensive knowledge of 
every detail. Personal qualifications admirably adapt him for suc- 
cessful business pursuits. Tactful in manner, accommodating in 
disposition, quick in decision and sagacious in judgment, he belongs 
to that class of citizens whose presence has been most beneficial to 
the advancement of the capital city along lines of permanent progress. 

The honor of being a member of the Native Sons of the Golden 
West comes to Mr. Yardley through his birth in Yolo county, where 
his parents, James and Elizabeth Yardley, had established a home on 
the then frontier. The death of both of the parents in their early 



638 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

maturity left the son, who was born in January of 1868, an orphan 
ere he was old enough to fully comprehend the great loss incident 
to such a bereavement. An aunt, Mrs. W. H. Wright, residing in 
Sacramento, took him into her home and sent him to the grammar 
school and later to the high school, so that he was prepared for the 
responsibilities of self-support. When only fifteen years of age he 
secured a clerkship in the drug store owned by Frederick Kolliker, 
and for ten years he continued in the same establishment, meanwhile 
receiving merited promotion from time to time. When finally he 
resigned his connection with the establishment it was for the pur- 
pose of starting a drug store of his own, and that business he con- 
ducted on Eighth and J streets until 1893, when he sold out and 
entered the undertaking business. 

With his wife, who was Miss Russia Lubeck, and whom he 
married in Auburn, this state, in 1896, Mr. Yardley occupies a posi- 
tion of accepted prominence in the social circles of Sacramento. 
Various organizations, fostered by the most cultured citizens of the 
town, have received his co-operation and intelligent aid. Notwith- 
standing the pressure of business duties he always has taken the 
leisure necessary for a study of national issues and political condi- 
tions. In general elections he gives his support to the Republican 
party. The Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows receive 
his hearty assistance in their progressive projects for fraternal up- 
building, while socially he belongs to the Sutter club. An expert 
marksman and fond of hunting as a recreation, he enjoys the pastime 
in company with other members of the Glide Gun club. Perhaps no 
organization has enlisted his sympathetic co-operation in larger de- 
gree than Masonry. For years he has been a disciple of the order, 
a participant in its philanthropies and a believer in its uplifting 
principles of brotherhood. Beginning with the blue lodge, he rose 
through the various degrees until he became associated with the 
Knights Templar and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and as such he 
maintains a leading part in Masonic affairs in his home city. Mr. 
Yardley is a man of wide enterprise, giving generously of his time and 
means toward every enterprise that has for its object the upbuilding 
of his. adopted city, in which he has achieved a marked degree of 
success in his individual as well as public undertakings that he has 
fostered. 



THOMAS EMORY BRICKELL 

The well-known Oak Park real estate man whose name appears 
above is a brother of Jerome F. Brickell and has lived in Sacramento 
since 1906. He was born in Niles, Mich., a son of Thomas Jefferson 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 641 

and Elizabeth Brickell, was educated in public schools and was grad- 
uated from the Niles high school in 1877. After leaving school he 
was for a time an assistant to his father. When he was only nine- 
teen years old he came to California and located at Truckee, where 
he was for three and a half years manager of a general store. 

From Truckee Mr. Brickell went to Spokane, Wash., where he 
lived twenty-five years, variously employed, but always busy and 
prosperous. He operated one farm seven years and was secretary 
and treasurer of the Fidelity Mortgage Company of Spokane ten 
years. When he came to Sacramento in 1906 he helped his brother 
incorporate the Oak Park Realty Company. Politically he is a 
Democrat and at different times in Washington and California has 
been offered important public offices which he has refused to accept, 
yet while his personal ambitions have impelled him to this course he 
has been active and influential in political work. Since 1880 he has 
been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for 
a time he affiliated with the Modern Woodmen. He is a helpful mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. As a citizen he is public- 
spirited to a degree that makes him very useful to his community. 
It is probable that he inherits some of his rather remarkable busi- 
ness ability from ancestors who made their mark on civilization of 
their time and locality. 

Miss Clara Vincent became Mr. Brickell 's wife pnd they have 
had three children, two of whom survive : Harry, of San Francisco, 
and Lilah E., at home ; the oldest child, Emory, who was chief clerk in 
one of the departments of the Southern Pacific railroad, having died 
aa:ed twentv-four vears. 



ROBERT RARER 

As a rancher for many years in Colusa county and later as a horti- 
culturist in Sacramento county, Mr. Raper has gained a thorough 
knowledge of the soil in this section of the state and also of its 
adaptability to varied products. Himself a pioneer of the '60s, hav- 
ing crossed the plains a number of years prior to the spanning of the 
continent by the first railroad system, he has witnessed the progress 
made by the west during the past one-half century, nor has his own 
part in the slow work of agricultural evolution been insignificant or 
unworthy of honorable mention. On the other hand, he was one of 
the large number of patient tillers of the soil without whose intelli- 
gent efforts and imwearied industry the present degree of prosperity 
could not have been reached. 

While Illinois was vet a frontier state and the large steamers on 



642 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the Mississippi formed the principal means of transportation for the 
people of the north and south, Robert Raper was born in Fayette 
county, January 3, 1839, and was reared in Hancock county. The 
educational advantages which he enjoyed were excellent for those 
days. Later he enlarged his fund of information through close read- 
ing and self-culture. Early in manhood he established a home of his 
own, being united in marriage April 18, 1861, with Miss Caroline F. 
Allen, a native of Henry county, Iowa. The young couple began 
housekeei)ing on a farm, but soon they began to be interested in re- 
ports concerning California, and it was not long before they decided 
to seek a home in the far west. During the summer of 1864 they 
traveled across the plains with a wagon and mules and notwithstand- 
ing the hostility of the Indians they reached their destination without 
delays or attacks. 

Shortly after his arrival in Colusa county Mr. Raper rented a 
tract of raw land on which he raised wheat and barley. Later he 
bought four hundred and twenty acres of unimproved land and this 
he cultivated for a number of years. When he disposed of that place 
he purchased three hundred and twenty acres, which he cultivated for 
several years. Meanwhile he l)egan to realize the need of better 
educational advantages for his children, and desiring to live where 
he could send them to first-class schools, he sold his country home, 
moved to College City, bought a lot and built a residence. For about 
twelve years he engaged in farming near the town, but continued 
meanwhile to occupy the village home until the children had com- 
pleted their studies. 

The World's Fair attracted Mr. and Mrs. Raper to Chicago dur- 
ing the summer of 1893, and they enjoyed the splendid exhibits from 
their own state, as well as from other parts of the country and other 
regions of the world. Desiring to see something of the east, they 
traveled on to New England and found much to interest them there. 
After they had visited several of the most important eastern cities 
they spent some time among old friends in Iowa and Illinois, thence 
coming back to California, which seemed more desirable than ever 
before as a place of residence. Their enjoyment of the east did not 
lessen their affection for the home of their choice. Prior to that trip 
they had sold out in Colusa county and bought ten acres at Orangevale, 
three miles from Folsom, Sacramento county, which tract he had 
planted to apricots, almonds and prunes. On his return from Chicago 
and the other cities of his visitations, Mr. Raper built a substantial 
house on the place and made other improvements. Shortly afterward 
he bought two adjacent tracts, thus giving him forty acres altogether, 
of which ten acres are in Tokay grapes. Another tract is utilized for 
hay and pasture. 

The only son of Mr. Raper is 0. L. Raper, a prosperous farmer of 
Glenn county. The eldest daughter, Nora M., is the wife of J. L. Pat- 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 643 

terson, a promineut rancher of the Orangevale district. The second 
daughter, Jennie G., is Mrs. G. C. Clare, of Mendocino county, and the 
youngest, Lou, is the wife of W. T. Eddy, who at this writing carries 
on the Raper ranch. The wife and mother passed away December 15, 
1909, leaving to her loved ones the memory of a kindly heart ever 
ready to succor those in need and willing hands ever ready to minister 
to the wants of her family. The uplifting teachings of Christianity 
were exemplified in her daily acts of kindness and words of love. Mr. 
Rai)er also has been a consistent believer in the Gospel and a devoted 
member of the Christian church. As a member of the school board 
for thirteen years he worked effectively to promote educational inter- 
ests. Politically he has been identified with the Republican party, but 
in principle he always has been an ardent Prohibitionist and has dis- 
played his belief in the cause of temperance both by precept and 
example. 



ANDREW YOUNGER 

In an environment far different from that to which in maturity 
and age he has been accustomed Andrew Younger passed the years 
of his early life. Born at King Horn, Fifeshire, Scotland, June 27, 
1826, he grew to manhood in his native shire, against whose rugged 
shores beat the ever-restless waves of the North Sea. Familiar to 
his ])oyish eyes was the sight of sailing craft moored in some quiet 
harbor and the presence of sailors and fishermen in the small sea- 
ports of the shire. However he might be fascinated by tales of the 
sea, he did not choose the life of a sailor, but after he had attended 
school for a few years and had gained a knowledge of the common 
branches he began an apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith. 
The trade mastered, he became a journeyman and worked for wages 
in his native land. At the age of thirty years he came to the United 
States, accompanied by his young wife, and together they began the 
difficult task of identifying themselves with a country whose customs 
and methods of business were radically different from those of their 
own Scotland. Some years after they crossed the ocean his brother, 
William, also emigrated from Scotland and settled in Illinois. Agri- 
culture remained his occupation, and in 1909, after a ]H'osperous ex- 
perience as a farmer, he passed away at his home in Woodford 
county, 111., where he had resided during practically all of his as- 
sociation with the new world. 

An experience of seventeen years as a l)lacksmith at Peoria, 111., 
gave Andrew Younger a reputation for efficient work and honorable 
citizenship. The failure of his health led to the suggestion that he 



644 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

remove to California. Accordingly, he disposed of his interests in 
Peoria and came to Sacramento, where for one summer he worked 
in the blacksmith shop of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. 
Next he followed his trade in San Francisco with various firms. In 
1880 Stephen Uren sent for him to come to Sacramento and take a 
position as assistant foreman in the Southern Pacific blacksmith shop. 
Returning hither he entered upon the duties of the position, which he 
continued to fill until his retirement from all occupational activities. 
As a workman he was efficient, painstaking and trustworthy. His long 
retention in the one position is indicative of his recognized ability. 
Since his retirement in 1900, at the age of seventy-four years, he has 
spent his winters at his comfortable home, No. 1427 Gr street, Sacra- 
mento, while in the summer he visits in Portland, Ore., with his 
eldest son, who is superintendent of the railway motive power at that 
point. Fraternally he holds membership with Union Lodge, F. & A. 
M., in Sacramento, and formerly he was actively associated with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. AVhile inclined to be independent 
in politics in local campaigns, he usually votes the Republican ticket 
in national elections, and is proud of the fact that the first ballot 
he ever cast in the United States was in favor of Abraham Lincoln 
for president. This was during his residence in Peoria and at the 
time of Lincoln's first election as executive. In his old Scotch home 
he was reared in Presbyterian doctrines and always he has been in 
deep sympathy with the work of that denomination. 

Before leaving Scotland for the new world Mr. Younger mar- 
ried Marguerite Smith Hamer, a native of England. They became 
the parents of five children, one of whom, a daughter, died in infancy. 
The eldest son, Thomas W., resides in Portland. The second son, 
Andrew, Jr., is a teacher of pattern-making in Cogswell college, 
San Francisco, and the youngest son, Joseph H., is employed in the 
book-binding department of the state printing office at Sacramento. 
Mrs. Marguerite Long, the only daughter who survived to maturity, 
is a graduate of the Sacramento high school and is a teacher in the 
Sacramento public schools. In her family there are five children, 
namely : Andrew, of the United States navy, now stationed in China ; 
Hiram, of Sacramento; Russell, also serving in the navy; Marian, 
wife of E. W. Stebbins, a mining engineer of Oakland, and Jessie, 
who is the wife of Hamlinton Hawley, a banker of Oakland. 



JOHN N. LARKIN 

An honored pioneer whose first identification with California 
dated back to the '50s, John N. Larkin left the impress of his force- 
ful personality and keen mind upon the annals of Sacramento county. 



HISTOEY OF SACKAMENTO COUNTY 645 

Througli the influence of his efforts as a newspaper editor and pub 
lisher he accomplished much in behalf of the permanent upbuilding 
of the community in which he held citizenship. Indeed, it would be 
possible to mention very few names more intimately associated with 
early history than was his own/ and certainly no resident was more 
loyal than he to the county and the commonwealth. His entire per- 
sonal influence and also his editorial position were used to advance 
the prosperity of the west. As a writer he was clear and forcible. 
His meaning was never obscured by complicated expressions, but was 
made intelligible to all. In wit he was pungent and in humor respons- 
ive, yet his editorials were not caustic, acrimonious or unkind; on the 
other land, his writings usually expressed his own hearty and com- 
panionable nature and gave visible evidence of a disposition so genial 
as to attract the admiration of all, from the aged pioneer to the lad 
just out of school. 

John N. Larkin was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., June 11, 1840, and 
in 1855 came for the first time to Sacramento, where an older 
brother, Henry, was at the time a part owner of the Sacramento 
Union. When the birthday number of this paper was published 
March 19, 1911, commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the 
founding of the publication, Mr. Larkin contributed the following 
article in relation to the early history of the well-known periodical: 
''My first introduction to the Sacramento Union was during the first 
week in May, 1855, when I faced the 'case' to receive my first instruc- 
tion in type-setting. The publishers and proprietors of the Union 
were James Anthony, Paul Morrill and Henry Larkin (the latter a 
brother of the writer), under the firm name of James Anthony & Co. 
They were all in harness at that time, Anthony as bookkeeper, Mor- 
rill doing the 'make-up' and Larkin working at the case. They em- 
ployed the best writers on the coast, and the paper soon became a 
power in the state, the people having confidence in its honesty and 
integrity. The office was at that time on J street between Front and 
Second, and what was then the counting room is now used by a 
produce firm as a storage for potatoes, onions and other truck. 

"In December, 1859, I left for my home in New York, arriving 
there on Christmas morning. The year 1864 again found me in 
Sacramento and I found the Union in its new home on Third street. 
The journal had by this time become known throughout the country, 
its fearless attacks on corporate power attracting much interest 
throughout the entire Union. Its influence in the state was certainly 
phenomenal. Through its efforts Newton Booth was nominated and 
elected chief executive of the state, despite the desperate efforts of 
the Central Pacific railroad to defeat him. The battle between the 
railroad company and the Union was a bitter one, and a paper called 
the Daihf Becord was placed in the field in an effort to crush the 
Union. The effort was a failure, and the only way to quiet the Union 



646 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

was to purchase the plant outright, for its editorial columns were 
not for sale. This the company did, and the paper was combined 
with the railroad journal and appeared thereafter as the Record- 
Union, many of the old-timers frequently referring to it as the 
'Wrecked-Union,' and the hybrid heading remained until a new 
management tore off the barnacle and restored its old and respected 
name. The name looks good and sounds good to the last of the 
Mohicans of the tribe of 1855, and may its life be a long and pros- 
perous one." 

During the early years of his residence in the west Mr. Larkin 
tried mining without success and he therefore devoted his attention 
principally to his trade, being foreman in the composing rooms of 
the Bancroft Book Company in San Francisco for several years, also 
filling a similar position with the San Francisco Post and the Sacra- 
mento Union. Early in 1875 the men who owned the Union sold out, 
and Mr. Larkin then decided to embark in the newspaper business for 
himself. On the 8th of March he published the first number of the 
Sacramento Evening Herald, but this paper was discontinued at the 
expiration of four months. Next he started the Sunday Leader, 
which for several years in the '80s was the official county paper and 
profited from the public advertising. The Weekly Leader was personally 
superintended by Mr. Larkin until shortly before his death, when his 
son, William H., succeeded to the management. Through all of his 
mature years he was a stanch Republican, but with the exception of 
a term as clerk of the police court he never accepted political honors. 
When Sacramento was a village and he was young, he was considered 
one of the best amateur minstrels in the west and sustained a high 
reputation as a song and dance artist. However, it was as a pro- 
moter and organizer of manly sports that he will be remembered 
best by lovers of those relaxations which tend to build sturdy men 
and keep them sound. He organized and for a long time managed 
the Alta baseball team, the superior of any team on the coast in the 
days when a free fight was a fitting close to every game. Until the 
days when he was last stricken he occupied a particular seat in the 
grandstand when league games were on, freely criticising the plays, 
and comparing the artists with those of old who blazed the way. 
Few men in the city had more warm personal friends than he pos- 
sessed. The newspaper writers of the city always were ready to 
rally to his assistance when he announced a special edition, and it 
was only a few years before his death when one of those s])ecials 
contained an article from each member of the reportorial staff of 
both daily papers. 

After an illness of almost three months resulting from a para- 
lytic stroke, John N. Larkin passed away May 22, 1911, at the family 
residence, No. 1021 Twenty-second street. The funeral was held 
under the ausjiices of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, to 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 647 

which he had belonged for years, and interment was made in the city 
cemetery. City Justice W. A. Anderson, whose acquaintance with 
Mr. Larkin dated back further than that of anyone else in Sacra- 
mento, adjourned the police court as a last testimonial of respect 
for his old friend, who had once served as a clerk of that court. In 
referring to the passing of his old-time friend Mr. Anderson offered 
this tribute: ''John Larkin was a remarkable character. Forty years 
ago, when the call of Abraham Lincoln came for more troops after 
the disastrous battle of Bull Run, John Larkin was one of the men 
that answered the call: 'Yes, Father Abraham, we are coming, five 
hundred thousand strong.' I, too, was one of those who ran'' away 
from college and enlisted in the service. John Larkin was part of 
the history of Sacramento, where he has always borne a splendid 
reputation. Of course, he had those peculiar traits of character that 
we denominate crankism, but I think sometimes that crankism is akin 
to genius. Many years ago he founded the Leader, and it has re- 
flected his own individual ideas. It is a pity that a man so useful 
should be stricken down, but he lived more than his allotted time 
of three score and ten (a year over that) ; still, he is a man who will 
be missed in this community. My associations with him always have 
been of a friendly, social and very intimate character." 

Surviving Mr. Larkin are his widow, formerly Miss Sallie Fern, 
and a son, William H., and daughter, Florence E. The son was 
born in Sacramento December 17. 1866, and attended school here and 
in San Francisco and Oakland. For three years he clerked in the 
law office of Henry E. Highton of San Francisco, after which he 
learned the printer's trade. From that time he was associated with 
his father, whom he succeeded as publisher of the Leader and man- 
ager of the job office with its modern equipment and valuable plant. 
During 1902 he married Miss Jeannette Cantrell, of Yolo county, and 
they are the parents of two daughters, Mary Louise (born in 1904) 
and Jeannette Josephine (born in 1907). Mrs. Larkin is a member 
of the Tuesday and Saturday clubs, while Mr. Larkin is identified 
with the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Improved Order 
of Red Men, Native Sons of the Golden West and Fraternal Broth- 
erhood, while in addition both he and his wife have been connected 
prominently with the local lodge of Rebekahs. 



GEORGE W. HOTCHKISS 

George W. Hotchkiss, the subject of this sketch, was born in 
New Haven, Conn., October 16, 1831. He came to California in the 
ship Susan G. Owens, arriving in San Francisco October 8, 1849. 



648 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

He came to Sacramento as a clerk for Scranton & Smith, who had 
brought from the east a house frame and stock of goods for a gen- 
eral store. They erected the second permanent hnilding in the city 
near Third and J streets. They paid $500 a thousand feet for lumber 
to complete their store, and young Hotchkiss acted as both clerk and 
cook. In speaking of his experiences he says: "I think it was the 
last part of December, 1849, that I went one morning to the slough 
four or five hundred feet back of the store to get a pail of water, 
and found the water just cutting through the bank, and, yelling for 
help, I tried to scrape enough mud with my foot to hold the water 
back, but had to run for the store, where all floor goods were at once 
placed on the counter, and within an hour or two the water washed 
the under side of the floor. This was the big flood of '49 and '50, 
when the water stood eight feet deep a couple of blocks to the south 
of us. For a month or more all our travel was by whale boat. As 
the waters receded teams tried to enter the streets, until in March 
there were at least a dozen teams of oxen and many horses, which 
it was impossible to save after they mired, that died and dried up 
in their tracks." 

In July, 1850, Mr. Hotchkiss went to the mines and set up a 
tent store, doing well in it, but his father's letters telling of failing 
health made him homesick, and there was also "the girl I left behind 
me" writing letters saying she would be glad to see him. He took 
passage for Panama in the bark St. Mary's, walked across the Isth- 
mus and caught the steamer Folsom for Havana, assisting during the 
trip in burying twenty-eight of his fellow passengers who died of 
cholera. For twenty years he was a member of the Western Asso- 
ciation of California Pioneers, which disbanded in 1911, when only 
fifteen members were left, with an average age of eighty-seven years. 
He is now secretary-treasurer of the Illinois Lumber Dealers' Associa- 
tion, at Chicago. 



ELISHA SAMPLE DRIVER 

Born in Indiana April 18, 1829, E. S. Driver of Antelope, Sacra- 
mento county, was the son of John and Abigail (Mills) Driver. De- 
prived of the love and guidance of his parents when he was scarcely 
more than a babe, he was taken into the home of an uncle and treated 
as one of the family until 1886, when he was about seven years old. 
He then went to Henry county, Iowa, and there made his home with 
an uncle until 1850. At that time he was lured to California by ac- 
counts of fortunes made by gold seekers who had come hither, and on 
March 25, 1850, he started from Iowa with an ox-team and provisions 




'^J:^ 



\fK/lA<A 



-\/ 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 651 

for the overland journey. His experiences througli the Indian country 
were trying, having to fight the redskins on four different occasions, 
but he finally reached California on August 1, halting at Hangtown, 
now Placerville. Until 1854 he worked in different mines along the 
American river, but not with such success as his imagination had pic- 
tured ; so he came to Sacramento and engaged in teaming to the mines, 
which promised an income sure and steady if not large. He busied 
himself thus till 1857, most of the time quite profitably, so that he 
was able to buy twelve hundred acres in one body near Antelope, 
Sacramento county, and go into farming and stock-raising which, with 
dairying, have commanded his attention to the present time. Alto- 
gether he followed the dairy business about fifteen years, milking as 
high as one hundred and fifty cows, and manufacturing butter for 
eight years, following the latter enterprise by cheese making and dis- 
posing of his product in Sacramento. His success as a rancher en- 
abled him to amass a comfortable fortune and he is now living in well- 
earned retirement, though he is still giving watchful supervision to 
his property, which is now devoted to raising cattle, mules and hogs. 
He is assisted in the management of the ranch by Richard demons, 
his son-in-law. 

In Sacramento county, February 22, 1860, Mr. Driver married 
Miss Mary E. Forsyth, who was born in Missouri and crossed the 
plains with her parents in 1853. Mrs. Driver passed away in Sacra- 
mento in 1903. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Driver the fol- 
lowing are living: Philip, a lawyer in Sacramento; Grant, who is 
mining in Alaska; William S., a real-estate dealer of Sacramento; 
Frank, also a lawyer in Sacramento; Charles, a rancher in this county; 
Clarence, a rancher at Warner Lake, Ore. ; Mrs. Birdenia demons, 
who, with her husband, is included in her father's household; Abbie, 
the wife of William Lewis, of Antelope; and Lester, a rancher near 
the old home. Two children are deceased, Mrs. Elizabeth Dunlap, who 
died at the age of thirty-two, and John when sixteen years old. Poli- 
tically Mr. Driver is a Republican and has long been active in the 
local work of his party, in which he has been influential and helpful. 



CHARLES P. NATHAN 

The imposing three-story store of Charles P. Nathan, corner of 
J and Sixth streets, Sacramento, tells the story of the cominof of the 
proprietor of that establishment to the state capital. He landed in 
this countrv from his native Germany at the age of seventeen, inex- 
perienced, but with a good common school education, and he had what 
every bov of his race inherits, an inclination to work. Young Nathan 
was variously employed in the eastern and southern states for three 



652 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

years, and tlie year 1869 found him in California. The $3 he had 
in his pocket when he landed on American soil ]iad grown a little, so 
he started in a little store, in a small way, the business that now 
looms up three floors in Sacramento city. It is one of the largest 
stores in Northern California, modern in every respect, and is a 
department store, a city emporium. It was practically begun in 1904 
and finished in 1909, being changed and remodeled at different times. 

Charles Nathan was married October 26, 1873, to Miss Anna 
Joseph, the daughter of Michiel Joseph, a clothing merchant in Sac- 
ramento. He died in 1876, and his wife in 1911. In the Nathan fam- 
ily were born four children. Birdie, now the wife of Dr. Arthur Lach- 
men, professor in the University of Oregon for several years, but 
now head of the Arthur Lachmen Wine Company of San Francisco. 
They have two daughters, Gertrude, aged twelve years, and Ruth, 
aged six. Mrs. Lachmen was born July 25, 1874, and graduated from 
the San Francisco high school. Lillian Nathan was born in Sacra- 
mento July 27, 1878, and graduated from the state university, and is 
now the wife of Morris Ballin, a wholesale manufacturing and furnish- 
ing goods merchant of San Francisco. Their two children are Edwin, 
aged five, and Richard, two years old. Mitchell W. Nathan was born 
in Sacramento September 26, 1879, graduated from the University of 
California, and is now general manager of the (-. P. Nathan store in 
Sacramento. Mr. Nathan practically has always been associated with 
the business, and under his competent management the establishment 
thrives commercially. In May, 1905, he was married to Miss Isabell 
Hammond of Sacramento, formerly of Utica, N. Y. They have a 
daughter, Caroline, born in May, 1906. Mitchell W. Nathan is a di- 
rector of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, and was president of 
the "100,000 Club" organized for the purpose of lifting Sacramento's 
population to that figure. Emile Nathan, the youngest son, was born 
December 3, 1883, and after passing through the city schools, gradu- 
ated from the University of California. He was an earnest student 
and prominent in class debates. He is now manager in a ladies' de- 
partment in the store and spends much of his time in New York select- 
ing for the store. In 1909 he married Miss Lillian Cottrell of Berkeley, 
a fellow university student. Mrs. Charles Nathan comes from a fam- 
ily of high educational attainment, many of its meml^ers l)eing gra(bi- 
ates of well-known institutions, and her brother had the distinction of 
receiving his college degree, in France, from Em]ieror Napoleon III. 

Mr. Nathan is largely interested in real estate and farm lauds, 
owning six hundred and forty-five acres five miles from the city and 
three hundred and twenty acres fronting on the Sacramento river, 
besides which he owns the entire store pro]ierty. He has practically 
retired from active business, and spends much time in Paris and New 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 653 

York City, although his winters are spent in California. Mrs. 

Nathan's mother died in June, 1911, at the age of eighty-one. She 
left an estate valued at one-lialf million dollars. 



JEREMIAH K. BEEDE 

The varied occupations that engross the attention and kindle the 
aspirations of men represent the different ideals formed in their 
youth, the different environments of their early years and the 
different talents and tastes implanted in their minds by nature. 
The occupation in which Mr. Beede has been exceptionally success- 
ful, that of telegraph operator, reflects his own personal preferences 
and inclinations, but his identification with such work began with 
the apparent chance which seems to govern the lives of many. An 
opportunity came when he was a mere lad, undecided as to "future 
occu]3ational preferences but anxious to earn his own livelihood, to 
act as messenger in a telegraph office in San Francisco and while 
in that position he learned the art of telegraphy, making such 
praiseworthy advancement that he determined to follow the occupa- 
tion as a permanent source of income. Nor has he had reason to 
regret the decision made in early life, for he has proved efficient 
and capable as an operator and has risen by successive steps to the 
management of tlie Postal Telegraph and Cable Company at Sacra- 
mento. 

The childhood of Jeremiah K. Beede was passed uneventfully 
in the city of Newburgh, N. Y., where he was born January 13, 1868, 
and where he passed many happy days in becoming familiar with the 
attractive environment of Orange county and the Hudson river. At- 
tendance at school was not neglected and he made satisfactory pro- 
gress in his studies. During 1881 he came to California with his 
parents. Napoleon and Sarah (King) Beede, and settled with them 
in San Francisco, where for the next two years he studied in the 
public schools. The necessity of self-support caused him to relin- 
quish his studies at the age of thirteen years, when he engaged 
as a messenger with the Western Union Telegraph Company of San 
Francisco. After four years in the one position he entered the 
employ of the Oregon Railway and Na^dgation Company as an 
operator, remaining with them from 1887 until 1889. During July 
of the latter year he came to Sacramento as operator for the Postal 
Telegra]ih and Cable Company. Such was his efficiency and capa- 
bility that at the expiration of six months he assumed the manage- 
ment of the office, which he has since filled to the satisfaction of all 



654 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

concerned. For some years lie has been an interested member of 
the National Union, and Tehama Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M., also 
Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. At the time of his removal 
to Sacramento he was unmarried, and two years later he established 
a home in this citj^, choosing as his wife Miss Hester Dashiell, a 
native of Dixon, Solano county, by whom he has two children, Bennen 
King and David Leonard. 



WILLIAM JAMES ANDREW 

The cojigenial environment and profitable labors that have char- 
acterized the identification of Mr. Andrew with Sacramento county 
form a striking contrast to the scenes and privations incident to his 
early experiences in life. The place where he was born December 22, 
1864, was a farm on Prince Edward Island, lying near the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence river and in the gulf of the same name, not far from 
the storm-tossed shores of Nova Scotia and equally close to the prov- 
ince of New Brunswick. The imagination will readily comprehend the 
isolation and loneliness of his youth, the lack of educational advan- 
tages and the necessity of arduous labor to secure a subsistence. The 
death of his mother when he was a very small child made his loneli- 
ness the more noticeable, for he was taken into the home of relatives 
and deprived of the companionship of those whom he had held most 
dear. 

When manhood brought the possibilities of a change into the life 
of Mr. Andrew he sought the opportunities of the vast west and dur- 
ing 1889 arrived in California, where he became one of the very first 
settlers in the Orangevale colony. With a brother as a partner he 
bought twenty acres of unimproved land. Working together, they 
brought ten acres under cultivation to varied fruits and planted the 
other ten in oranges. Ultimately William J. acquired the brother's 
interest, since which time he has built a substantial packing house and 
four buildings, thus transforming the once unimproved tract into a 
beautiful homestead. Few men of the colony are more familar with 
citrus culture than he, and it has been one of his specialties to bud 
and propagate orange trees. In addition to managing and ]:)acking 
his own oranges, he has taken charge of ranches owned by others, 
packing and shipping their oranges. Without question he is one of 
the men to whose energy the development of Orangevale is due, and 
very justly he has an enviable reputation in the district. 

In his marriage Mr. Andrew became connected with an honored 
pioneer family of Sacramento county. At Orangevale, December 22, 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 657 

1893, lie was united with Miss Maude Camfield, who was born near 
Sacramento and reared and educated in this county. She is the 
daughter of E. D. and Mary (Frame) Camfield, natives of New York 
and Indiana respectively. Both crossed the plains with ox teams. The 
father died in 1890 and the mother resides in Orangevale. One child, 
Vera, blesses the union of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew. The family are 
active members of the Orangevale Methodist Episcopal church and 
contribute not only to its maintenance, but also to the supjjort of many 
other movements for the upbuilding of the locality and the advance- 
ment of the community religiously, morally and educationally. In 
political views Mr. Andrew is a Eepublican of the progressive type 
and a participant in public affairs, but at no time a candidate for 
office. One of the organizations in which for years he has been in- 
terested is the Grange, but there are also many other enterprises and 
organizations of value to the country in which he bears a decided in- 
terest. A man of sterling worth and unquestioned integrity, he main- 
tains the confidence of the community and has many warm friends 
in the district. 



MELVILLE DOZIEE, Jk. 

Eeliance on his own intelligent judgment and confidence in his own 
resources are absolutely necessary to the achievement of permanent 
success, and these qualities have entered largely into the progress made 
by Mr. Dozier, Jr., in his chosen calling. Possessing large ability, 
which had been broadened by excellent educational advantages, he 
entered into avenues . of western activity and speedily rose to prom- 
inence. This advance represented no prestige of wealth or environ- 
ment and no aid of adventitious circumstances, but the results obtain- 
able by devotion to duty, force of will and energy of temperament. 
During the period of his connection with railway companies he gave 
skilled service and uniform satisfaction, but eventually the induce- 
ments to enter business for himself became so alluring that he re- 
signed the excellent position he then held and in 1911 organized the 
Dozier Construction Company, of which he since has acted as presi- 
dent and general manager. 

The distinction of being a native-born son of California belongs 
to Mr. Dozier, who was born in Santa Eosa and educated in the gram- 
mar and high schools of Los Angeles, also in the LTniversity of Cali- 
fornia, where he took an active part in college activities and athletics 
and from whose engineering department he was graduated in 1899, 
with the degree of Bachelor of Science. An opportunity to put into 
practice the theories acquired in school came to him inmiediately 



658 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

after graduation, when he went to Santa Barbara as assistant en- 
gineer in charge of the construction of the coast line of the Southern 
Pacific railroad. Until 1901 he continued in that place, after which 
he became assistant engineer at Los Angeles in charge of the con- 
struction of the Pacific Electric railroad. From 1904 until 1906 he 
served as chief engineer of the maintenance of way for the Pacific 
Electric railroad and the Los Angeles Interurban Railway Company. 
Coming to San Francisco in 1906, he incorporated the Vallejo-North- 
ern Railway Company and as president and chief engineer located 
and planned the electric system which is now being constructed be- 
tween San Francisco and Sacramento, but two years later resigned in 
order to accept a place as assistant general manager of the Northern 
Electric Railway Company, and with that road he continued until a 
determination to embark in business independently induced him to 
tender his resignation. 

The Dozier Construction and Engineering Company of Sacra- 
mento, organized the summer of 1911 by Mr. Dozier, has made a speci- 
alty of reclamation, railroad and concrete construction work. During 
the brief period that has elapsed since its incorporation the company 
has received many contracts for the construction and improvement 
of reclamation districts throughout the Sacramento valley. In addi- 
tion to the construction of the sewer system in the town of Winters, 
Yolo county, the new company has located two railroad systems 
whose combined length will extend from San Francisco to Red Bluff 
throughout the west side of the Sacramento valley. This company has 
also recently completed the construction of portions of the electric 
railroad connecting Sacramento and Woodland, and is at the present 
time engaged, among other things, in the development of municipal 
water systems. The Dozier Construction and Engineering Company 
has recently combined with the Haviland & "Tibbetts Engineering 
Company of San Francisco as Haviland, Dozier and Tibbetts, civil 
engineers, thereby extending, to a great extent, the scope of its en- 
gineering work. With large financial credit and unimpaired com- 
mercial footing, the organization appears to be on the threshold of a 
business career of permanent influence and growing importance, and 
its labors in the material upbuilding of this part of the state already 
have assumed proportions greater than presaged in the early visions 
of the manager and founder. 

The marriage of Mr. Dozier and Miss Elizabeth Kinsey was sol- 
emnized in Oakland,, this state, on New Year's day of 1902, and has 
been blessed with two children, Elizabeth and Janet. So busy has 
been the life of Mr. Dozier and so engrossing his enterprises that he 
has had no leisure for particij^ation in politics and has been con- 
nected with x:»ublic affairs in no manner except through his private 
business interests. His genial, companionable disposition has found 
pleasure in social and fraternal activities and he has greatly enjoyed 




.J>.^ 





HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 661 

his membership of the Sutter club of Sacramento, at the same time 
retaining his membership of the Jonathan club of Los Angeles. In 
addition he holds membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of 
Elks. Personally he represents the ideal type of western business man, 
alert, keen and vigorous, quick to discern an opportunity and equally 
eager to grasp the same, a progressive citizen and true patriot, mani- 
festing in every public measure the spirit which has made California 
great and which is bringing to her men of action and of thought the 
regard of the world. 



JILES SANFORD BOGGESS 

During the colonial period of our national history the Boggess 
family became identified with the upbuilding of the south, and in the 
early part of the nineteenth century there was a distinguished state 
senator of Georgia who bore the name of Ahaz Jefferson Boggess. In 
addition to his service in the state assembly he filled other offices, in- 
cluding that of sheriff. He was also an officer in the Mexican war and 
a prominent man in public affairs, filling many positions of responsi- 
bility. At the time of his death he was serving as state comptroller. 
The Civil war was then in progress and during the discharge of his 
duties as a state official he contracted typhoid fever, which terminated 
fatally. Afterwards his widow. Marguerite, came to California and 
made her home with her children in Sacramento until her death, which 
occurred at the residence of James Holland, corner of Eighteenth and 
G streets. Among their descendants one of the most distinguished was 
a grandson, J. Holland Laidler, who was killed in the Philippines, and 
in whose honor the Spanish war camp of Sacramento received its 
name. 

At the old family mansion at Carrollton, Carroll county, Ga., Jiles 
Sanford Boggess was l)orn March 26, 1853. When the Civil war began 
he was old enough to realize its sufferings and to undergo its hard- 
ships, but not large enough to bear arms for his native commonwealth. 
Its disastrous results long lingered in his mind, the wreck of the fam- 
ily fortune, the loss of estates, the suffering of privations and the 
starting out anew when at last the war had ended. He earned a live- 
lihood by operating a sawmill, but in the fall of 1876 he sold the mill 
and came to California. April 12, 1876, he had been united in mar- 
riage with Miss Martha Whittle, a native of Carrollton, Ga., and a 
woman of gentle, self-sacrificing disposition, noble in character and 
tender in devotion to her family. The young couple arrived in Sacra- 
mento in 1876 and began housekeeping here, while Mr. Boggess earned 



662 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

a livelihood by lighting the gas and oil street lamps. During 1878 he 
relinquished that position and moved to a ranch in San Joaquin county, 
where he remained for six years. Upon selling out he took his wife 
east and south and spent a year in travel. On their return to Sacra- 
mento he engaged in the grocery business for two years and later 
for three years he acted as superintendent of the James McNasson 
ranch of fourteen hundred acres. 

Coming to Oak Park in 1890, Mr. Boggess erected the fifth house 
in the suburb and his death occurred at his Oak Park home. No. 3318 
Orange street, September 6, 1910, For four years he had been a mem- 
ber of the firm of Tinnon & Boggess. Meanwhile he also was a local 
leader in the Democratic party and for ten years had served as . a 
member of the county central committee, also for eight years attended 
every county and state convention of his party. For a period of four 
years he served as road overseer under Morris Brooks and for two 
terms he was deputy constable under C. B. Lightfoot, later filling the 
office of constable for sixteen years. With all of his family he held 
membership in the Oak Park Baptist Church. Fraternally he held 
membership in the Improved Order of Red Men. Surviving him are 
his wife and four children, three children having preceded him in 
death. Those living are, Ahaz C, Adelia, Marguerite, and Herbert 
Gardner. All continue to reside in Oak Park, where the older son 
resides with his mother and continues his father's business, and the 
younger son is identified with a brother-in-law in the contracting busi- 
ness. 

One who knew Mr. Boggess well and honored him deeply said of 
his passing: "His was a noble, generous nature. He had an eye 
that could see distress and a heart that was constantly attuned to 
relieve it. He did not leave much of this world's material goods, 
but left a wealth of kind, noble and generous deeds that will live long 
in the memories of those who knew him. He did not believe in keep- 
ing the alabaster boxes of his love and kindness sealed up until . his 
friends were dead. He believed that the man who scatters the flowers 
of sympathy and affection in the pathway of his fellowmen, who lets 
into the dark places of life the sunshine of human sympathy and 
happiness is walking the right path of life. There was a daily beauty 
about his life that won every heart. In temperament he was mild and 
conciliatory. Tie gained confidence when he seemed least to seek it." 

In his family Mr. Boggess . was devotion itself. The happiest 
hours of his life were passed in the society of wife and children. 
Nothing pleased him more than to bestow upon them some appre- 
ciated gift. In their joys and personal affairs he maintained an un- 
ceasing interest. His older son, after completing his studies in the 
Sacramento high school and the University of California, became an 
assistant to him in his business, gained a thorough knowledge of the 
same and was able to succeed him at the time of his demise. The 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 663 

younger son also was given first-class educational advantages and 
aided in his preparation for the responsibilities of life. The daughters 
became accomplished Christian women, active workers in the Oak Park 
Baptist Church, and their sincere characters prove the value of wise 
parental training as well as the influence of an honorable ancestry, 
Adelia is the wife of Frederick G. Rees, D.D.S., who was born at 
The Dalles, Ore., March 10, 1882, the son of a pioneer Baptist min- 
ister at one time quite well-known throughout the west. Orphaned at 
an early age, he made his home with grandparents at Loyalton, Sierra 
county, Cal. After two years in the Loyalton high school he entered 
the San Francisco College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he took 
the regular dental course, graduating in 1904. Since then he has 
engaged in professional work with the exception of eighteen months 
in the gold fields of Nevada. For six months he practiced at Loyalton, 
but desirous of a larger sphere for professional work in 1906 he came 
to Sacramento, where he has since had his office in Oak Park. Decem- 
ber 23, 1906, he married Miss Adelia Boggess, by whom he has two 
children, namely: Jiles Denton, who was born November 16, 1907; 
and Frederick Lewis, December 17, 1909. Fraternally he is con- 
nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights 
of Pythias, while in religion he is of the Baptist faith. 

William M. Kennedy, who married Marguerite Boggess, was born 
on Prince Edward Island, Canada, November 22, 1877, and at the 
age of seventeen went to Boston, where he learned and followed the 
trade of carpenter. Desirous of broadening his education he attended 
school in Boston and also took a night course in study in architecture, 
graduating with a high standing in that profession. From Boston he 
traveled west to Spokane and after six months in that city traveled 
south to California, where he has since made his home in Sacramento. 
For a time he engaged in carpentering, but in 1906 he began to take 
contracts and now he ranks among the leading men of his occupation 
in the entire county. In addition to having contracts for houses in Oak 
Park, Davisville, Sacramento and other places, he has recently had 
a contract for a $43,000 building for Louis Schindler opposite the 
postofifice. Another recent contract was for the elegant residence of 
P. Roeman on the Upper Stockton road. Several fine bridges for the 
county were erected by him and he also had the contract for the Oak 
Park postoffice. While giving close attention to the details of his 
work, he does not neglect any duty that falls upon a public-si^rited 
citizen. Although not a partisan, he is loyal in citizenship and well 
posted regarding national problems. Upon the death of his father- 
in-law he filled out his unexpired term as constable and for four years 



664 PIISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

he also acted as deputy constable in Oak Park. In fraternal relations 
he holds membership with the Improved Order of Red Men and the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His only living child, Wilma, was 
born in September of 1910. Another child died in infancy, these hav- 
ing been born of his union, February 18, 1906, with Marguerite Bog- 
gess. With his wife he is an earnest communicant of the Oak Park 
Baptist Church and a liberal contributor to its maintenance, while 
Mrs. Kennedy is also very active in the work of the Rebekahs of Oak 
Park. 



CLARENCE M. GRIFFETH 

The manufacture of ice cream and butter is conducted now along 
scientific lines, and there is no man in the business in Northern Cali- 
fornia who is more progressive or more determined to do the very 
best in his field of labor that can be done than Clarence M, Griffeth, 
whose establishment, built up from a small beginning, is located at 
No. 2008 N street, Sacramento. 

Born in Sacramento July 13, 1884, Mr. Griffeth was educated in 
the public school and at a modern business college, and then for ten 
years was employed by his father, M. B. Griff eth, in the latter 's 
grocery at Seventeenth and M streets. Early in 1910, with his father 
and mother, he began his present enterprise in a 10x12 room at the 
rear of his father's store, with no machinery but an ordinary crank 
freezer which he operated by hand. In three months he had a com- 
mercial freezer and a motor, and in April, 1911, moved to his present 
commodious quarters, where he has the most up-to-date plant of its 
kind in the city, making and selling on an average four hundred and 
fifty gallons of ice cream daily. 

In October, 1911, Mr. Griffeth began the manufacture of creamery 
butter. In order to excel in this branch of his enterprise he took a 
special course in butter-making at the California state dairy farm at 
Davisville, which included special instruction in the handling of 
cream. He is now contemplating the enlargement of his place of busi- 
ness and the introduction of very material improvements, in order to 
meet the steadily increasing demand for his ice cream and butter. 
Although he gives the greater part of his time to the manufacturing 
business, he is also interested in his father's grocery business. 

September 17, 1905, Mr. Griffeth married Miss Mabel Lynan of 
Sacramento. He is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West. 
As a business man he is i:)ublie-spirited and progressive, having at 
heart the best interests of the community. 




9^Ja.cMu^ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 667 



JOHN F. BEDWELL 

In Poinsett county, Ark., at Crowley Ridge, John F. Bedwell was 
liorn March 14, 1868. His father, Samuel K., a man of good abilities 
and a millwright by trade, built the first flour mill at Memphis, Tenn., 
and other pioneer mills of diiferent kinds in that vicinity. In 1871 
the family moved to Fulton county. Ark., where the mechanic turned 
farmer and lived until April, 1908, when he died. His wife, formerly 
Eveline Lampkins of Tennessee, bore him six children, of whom our 
subject was the youngest. 

When John F. Bedwell was eleven years of age he left home to 
paddle his own canoe, going to Newport, Ark., where he worked on a 
farm two years. Then, at the age of thirteen, in 1881, he came to the 
Pacific coast and located in Los Angeles, where he found emplo^Tnent 
in a nursery at which he busied hiinself until he was sixteen. After 
that he was a fireman in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company, and as such worked on trains between Los Angeles and 
Bakersfield and Los Angeles and Barstow two years and between 
Los Angeles and Colton one year. Then he resigned his position 
to go into the real estate business, and he and his partner put on 
sale one of the first tracts exploited at Pasadena. For eight years 
he operated successfully, buying and selling land in large and 
small parcels, for himself and others; then he disposed of his in- 
terests in Los Angeles and vicinity and went to Arizona. He car- 
ried on business in various parts of that state until 1900, when 
he went to San Francisco and was for four years a salesman in 
a music store. After that he was similarly employed in Sacra- 
mento two years. January 1, 1907, he opened a real estate office 
in Sacramento, and in 1909 John F. Fleisher became his partner 
in the handling of large holdings in Sacramento, Placer and Sut- 
ter counties. Their offices are at No. 704 J street, Sacramento, 
and at Pleasant Grove, Sutter county, and in their undertakings 
they are meeting with merited and unusual success. 

The present Mrs. Bedwell was in maidenhood Lucy Jones, a native 
of Sacramento. By a former marriage Mr. Bedwell has three children, 
as follows: Edna, Mrs. Melliken, of Fresno; William Wilbur, em- 
ployed on the transport Sheridan, plying between San Francisco and 
Japan, and Irvin F., who is serving in the United States navy. 



668 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



0. IT. MILLEll 

As a factor in loeal material and eommereial upbuilding the 
Sacramento Valley Devel()])ment Association under tlie secretarial 
supervision of 0. H. Miller has wielded a permanent influence and 
exercised a beneficial effect. Great as were the achievements of the 
pioneers in the orioinal settlement of the locality, it was reserved 
for the progressive minds of the jDresent generation to secure the 
greatest local advancement and upon the foundation of past ac- 
complishments to erect the superstructure of twentieth century pros- 
perity. Possibly few men have been more helpful in their efforts 
and certainly no one has displayed more i^ersistent application than 
Mr. Miller, who as secretary of the association named and also in 
the capacity of a private citizen has been instrumental in securing a 
betterment of conditions in the valley. 

The Miller family was identified with the very early history of 
Chicago. The records show that John Miller was instrumental in 
securing the incorporation of the city of Chicago during the year 
1833. Afterward for years he there engaged in extensive business 
enterprises. Among his children was a son, Capt. Tobias Charles 
Miller, a native of Chicago and a graduate of Knox college at Gales- 
burg, 111. To him came the distinction of being chosen as a member 
of the first government exploring expedition sent into the west under 
the auspices of the department of the interior. Although only six- 
teen years of age at the time, he endured the hardshi]3s of the long- 
trip across the plains with uncomplaining fortitude and proved a 
distinct help in the compilation of important data as well as in the 
blazing of a path for future emigrants. Four times he crossed the 
plains with emigrant or government expeditions, and his knowledge 
of the west was exhaustive. 

Shortly after the opening of the Civil war Tobias Charles Miller 
enlisted as a private in the (Chicago Board of Trade Battery of Fly- 
ing Artillery, and for three years he served at the front with his 
regiment, taking part in many notable engagements, among them the 
battle of Gettysburg. As a result of a bursting shell he was seriously 
wounded at Gettysburg, after which he was commissioned captain in 
recognition of meritorious services. At the time of the assassination 
of President Lincoln he was stationed at Nashville, Tenn., as a mem- 
ber of the staff of his cousin. Gen. John F. Miller, who at that time 
was in charge of troo})s in Tennessee. At the ex])iration of the war 
he was chosen the first United States marshal in Tennessee, with 
headquarters at Nashville, and for some years continued in that 
office. Later he served by apiiointment as United States internal 
revenue collector. Before he retired from office ho bad become inter- 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 669 

ested in the lumber business in the south. Abont 1882 he came to 
California and settled in Contra Costa county. For many years he 
was one of California's foremost citizens, serving in the constitu- 
tional convention and also as United States senator from this state. 
His death occurred August 13, 1898. 

While living in the south Captain Miller had married at Nash- 
ville in 1868 Miss Malona Hanks, a native of Ohio and a very near 
relative of Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Prior to 
her marriage she had engaged in teaching school for a number of 
years. Of her four children, the eldest, John Grant Miller, born 
June 21, 1870, is a resident of Contra Costa county and has charge 
of the old homestead of one hundred and fifty acres. The youngest 
son, Orson H., was born at Twinsburg, Summit county, Ohio, August 
20, 1882, and has been a resident of California from his earliest 
recollections. During boyhood he attended the schools of Clayton, 
Contra Costa county, and Berkeley. After starting out in the news- 
paper business he was connected successively with the Berkeley 
Gazette, Chico Enterprise and the Marysville xippeal, the last-named 
being one of the oldest newspapers in the whole state. Since 1906 he 
has devoted his attention to the secretaryship of the Sacramento 
Valley Development Association. In fraternal affairs he holds mem- 
bership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. March 8, 1903, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Douglass of Berkeley. 
Two children were born of this union, Frances Euth on January 15, 
1907, and Eobert Lincoln on March 7, 1912. 



HEEBEET F. SMITH 

That successful wood and coal dealer of Sacramento, H. F. 
Smith, whose place of business is at No. 2814 J street, was born in 
San Francisco March 8, 1877, a son of Harry and Ann (Beaver) 
Smith. His father is living in San Francisco, but his mother lias 
passed away. Mr. Smith gained his early education in Santa Cruz 
and later attended school in Sacramento. For a time after laying 
aside his books he was variously employed. At length he secured 
a position witli the California Fruit Canning Association, which he 
retained for some years. After that he went into the service of the 
California Winery, for which concern he traveled five years. Then 
as a member of the grocery firm of Hart & Smith he had two years' 
experience in the l)ranch of commerce indicated. His present en- 
terprise was undertaken in October, 1911, and has been prosecuted 
thus far with e-reat success. 



670 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

June 5, 1906, Mr. Smith married Amia E. Rudech, of Sacra- 
mento, who has borne him two children, Gregory B., March. 14, 
1907, and Ellen Beatrice, October 20, 1910. 

May 7, 1898, Mr. Smith enlisted in Company F, Sixth Regiment, 
California Volunteer Infantry, and served one year in the military 
operations in which our government was then engaged. In politics 
he is independent; he is a member of the United Commercial Trav- 
elers Association, No. 140, of Sacramento; and he and his family 
are communicants of the Catholic Church. 



RYAN & CIPPA 

A thorough knowledge of the mndertaking business and an intelli- 
gent supervision of the details connected therewith characterize the 
well-known firm of Ryan &• Cippa. Formerly located at Nos. 1017 
and 1019 Fourth street, Sacramento, in 1913 they located in their 
present commodious quarters at No. 1214 K street. In addition to 
being well located the parlors are elegantly furnished and the chapel 
is large and well suited for its purpose. Since forming the co-partner- 
ship Messrs. Ryan and Cippa have gained a growing prestige in the 
commercial circles of the city. Henry P. Ryan, the senior member 
of the firm, was born February 23, 1870, in Sacramento, where his 
father, Thomas P. Ryan, engaged in business from 1860 until 1908. 
The public schools and business college of the city enabled him to 
secure excellent educational advantages, but at a very early age he 
left school in order to learn the rudiments of the printer's trade. 
In the composing room of the Sacramento Bee he learned to set type 
and later acquired a knowledge of other departments of the occupa- 
tion, remaining with the same paper for a period of twenty years. 
His identification with the nndertaking business began in 1906, when 
he embarked in business with William Crowell. At the expiration 
of two years he purchased the interest owned by his partner and then 
continued alone until 1910, when the partnership of Ryan & Cippa 
was formed. 

April 19, 1892, H. P. Ryan was united in marriage with Miss 
Mary Wetzel, of Sacramento, and they are the parents of three sons, 
Henry M., Thomas J., and Charles A., the two eldest of whom are 
now working as printers with the Sacramento Bee. For years Mr. 
Ryan has been actively identified with the Typographical Union. 
The Native Sons of the Golden West number him among their inter- 
ested members. Other organizations to which he belongs are the 
Young Men's Institute, the Knights of Columbus and the U. P. E. C. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 673 

In religion lie is in sympathy with Roman Catholic doctrines and has 
been a generous contributor to the work of the church. 

The junior member of the firm, Fred T. Cippa, is likewise a 
native son of Sacramento, his birth having occurred here May 20, 
1874. His father, Thomas Cippa, came to America via Australia from 
his native Switzerland and after landing in San Francisco in the 
spring of 1866 proceeded direct to Sacramento. At the time of his 
arrival in this city he was eighteen years of age. Beginning entirely 
without means he worked his way forward to a substantial degree of 
success. On the Marysville road seven miles from Sacramento he 
owned a ranch of one thousand acres, where he not only tilled the soil 
and raised grain, but in addition made a specialty of the dairy in- 
dustry. It was in 1866 that he became a resident of this county and 
during the next forty years he was prosperously connected with gen- 
eral agriculture in the locality, meanwhile having the co-operation 
of his family in the acquisition of substantial success. After he came 
here ke remained single for some years and then was united in mar- 
riage, becoming the father of eight children, of whom Fred T. is 
the second eldest. 

Farm pursuits and attendance at school filled the youthful years 
of Fred T. Cippa, but upon attaining his majority he started out to 
earn his own way in the world. For three and one-half years he 
worked at the 1)utcher's trade with Friend & Long. Next he began 
10 learn the undertaking business with Clark & Booth and continued 
with them for a short time. His next position was in the employ of 
W. F. Gormley, an undertaker, with whom he remained for eight and 
one-half years. During seven years of this period he served as deputy 
county coroner. His present business relations with Mr. Ryan were 
formed in 1910 and have been both enjoyable and profitable. Like 
Mr. Ryan, he is identified with the Native Sons of the Golden West 
and like him also he holds membership with the Young Men's Insti- 
tute and Knights of Columbus, while in addition he is connected with 
the Fraternal Brotherhood. For three years he served in Company 
E, California National Guard, and at the time of the great fire in 
San Francisco he was stationed with Troop B in that city for one 
month. 



WILLIAM A. STRAND 

Thorough knowledge of the electrical business acquired by a 
long experience while in the employ of others abundantly qualified 
Mr. Strand for the capable management of like affairs when he 
began for himself independently. Since he embarked in business in 



674 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Sacramento he has enjoyed a. steady but rapid progress until now 
the establishment of which he is sole proprietor ranks among the 
largest of its kind in all of Northern California, having the trade 
not only of people in Sacramento, but also of many residents of 
adjacent conmiunities. Three different departments unite to form 
the business, one of these being the sale of electrical supplies, another 
being the furnishing of special designs in fixtures, while the third is 
the taking of contracts for the wiring of residences and business 
blocks, for motors, or anything pertaining to electricity. 

Very soon after the discovery of gold in California a youth 
from Stockholm, Sweden, crossed the ocean to America and united 
Ms destiny with those of other pioneers of the vast and undeveloped 
west. This young man, by name William Alfred Strand, possessed 
the rugged constitution and sterling mental attributes necessary to 
life in a frontier comnumity, and he became w^ell known in San Fran- 
cisco, where for years he carried on a general mercantile store. 
While he did not acquire great wealth, he was prospered in his 
business undertakings and at the same time he won the friendship 
of those with whom he had commercial relations. Some years after 
he left his native land and settled in California he married a young 
lady of Swedish birth. He passed away in San Francisco, and she 
is now residing in Alameda. They became the parents of six chil- 
dren, four of whom are now living. 

The son who bears his father's name is a native of San Fran- 
cisco and was born October 27, 1880. Upon the completion of his 
schooling he secured employment at any occupation promising an 
honorable livelihood and it was not until shortly afterward that he 
entered the business in which his interests since have been centered. 
This was the starting to learn the electrical trade in the plant of 
the Edison Light and Power Company, of San Francisco. For 
four years he continued with that concern and then, when eighteen 
years old, started an. electrical business in the same city, known as 
the Golden Gate Electrical Company, which he conducted with sig 
nal success for three years. On February 16, 1900, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Addie Giovanni, a resident of San Francisco. 
The wedding tour of the young couple consisted of a trip to Oregon, 
where Mr. Strand had secured a position as su]ierintendent of con- 
struction of new telephone lines in a logging camp twenty-five miles 
from Portland. At that camp, w4iich was known as Lacenta, he re- 
mained for two years and meanwhile, October 29, 1901, his daughter, 
Violet, was l)orn. After returning from that place to San Francisco 
he was engaged for one year as foreman for the Snell electrical 
works. 

Coming to Sacramento about 1903 Mr. Strand became asso(iat(Ml 
with Scott, Lyman & Stack as foreman and for four years he con- 
tinued in the same capacity, eventually resigning in order that he 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 675 

might embark in business for himself. October 8, 1907, the firm 
of Strand & Vining opened an electrical store at No. 609 J street, 
Sacramento. The quarters were small, but amply large enough for 
the insignificant business of those days. In 1908 the junior m^ember 
sold out his interest to Mr. Strand, who soon afterward moved to 
larger and better quarters at No. 524 Oak avenue, and still later into 
the present new building, which was built for him at No. 1012-14 
Sixth street, meanwhile carrying on a growing trade and winning 
the confidence of all with whom he has dealings. It is the concensus 
of opinion that he has the most complete and up-to-date displav-rooms 
of efectrical fixtures that may be seen on the Pacific coast, and also, 
that he is the largest contractor in his line of business in the Sac- 
ramento valley. Notwithstanding the pressure of business demands 
he has found leisure to keep posted concerning politics and gives 
his support to the Republican party in all general elections. With 
his family he is an attendant upon the services of the German 
Lutheran Church and contributes to the maintenance of the same. 
Besides their daughter he and his wife have a son, Alfred AVilliam, 
who was born in Sacramento August 29, 1905. In fraternal rela- 
tions Mr. Strand holds membership with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men, the National Union 
and the Loyal Order of Moose, while Mrs. Strand has been promi- 
nently associated with the Rebekahs and the Ladies Auxiliarv of the 
Foresters and the Druids, in which latter she officiates as past 
president. Mr. Strand is also an active member of the Chamber of 
Commerce. 



HERMAN RYDBERG 

The old and honoralile trade of mirror-making is one requiring 
peculiar skill and experience and only those succeed in it who have 
given it careful and patient study. One of the successful mirror- 
makers of California is Herman Rydberg, No. 2116 Fourth street, 
Sacramento. Mr. Rydberg was born in Smaalan, Sweden, May 16, 
1869, and was there educated and initiated into the mysteries of 
mirror-making. When he was eighteen years old he went to Aus- 
tralia, where he worked at his trade until 1906. From Australia he 
came to San Francisco and engaged in business on his own account. 
After eighteen months' successful experience there, he came to Sac- 
ramento and established a place for the manufacture of mirrors at 
First and I streets under the name of the Sacramento Mirror and 
Glass Beveling works. In April, 1911, he moved his establishment to 
Fourth and U streets, where he erected a fine factory, covering a 



676 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ground space of 30x80 feet, fitted up with new machinery and all 
essentials for the successful manufacture of fine mirrors and the 
accurate beveling and artistic decoration of glass. His business gives 
constant employment to four men. 

March 26, 1909, Mr. Rydberg married Miss Lucy Smith, a native 
of Scotland, who had come to Sacramento. They have a son, George, 
who was born March 27, 1910. Politically Mr. Rydberg is a Re- 
publican; he affiliates with the Masons and the Fraternal Brother- 
hood, and he and Mrs. Rydberg are attendants upon the services of 
the German Lutheran church, toward the maintenance of the varied 
interests of which they are liberal contributors. 



ROBERT ARMSTRONG 

A genuine love of plants and a pronounced ability in their prop- 
agation, as well as an intuitive perception of artistic effects, ad- 
mirably qualified Mr. Armstrong for his chosen occupation of 
landscape gardener. The striking success of his efforts as evidenced 
in grounds which he laid out in different parts of the United States 
proves that he possesses natural qualifications for the work. Such is 
his ability and such his judgment of the ensemble that, with the 
first study of grounds and environments, he is prepared to render 
a prompt and correct opinion as to the location of drives and walks, 
the planting of shrubbery and trees, and the choice of flowers for the 
attainment of the most beautiful and picturesque results. As the 
architect of buildings must study the relation of his proposed 
structure to its environment, so the architect of landscape effects 
must use the nicest discrimination, the keenest judgment of harmony 
in colors and the most sagacious faculties of observation in order that 
the grounds and gardens may form an appropriate setting for their 
environment ; and such has been the aim of Mr. Armstrong in all of 
his responsible tasks contributory to the beautifying of our country. 

Of English parentage and ancestry, Mr. Armstrong was born 
in Cumberland, in the north of England, June 23, 1860, and received a 
public school and academic education. Immediately after his 
graduation from Evans Academy in 1876 he was apprenticed to the 
nursery business with Little & Balltayne, one of the largest firms of 
the kind in Cumberland. Under capable oversight he learned every 
detail in regard to plant life and the culture of flowers, so that when 
he completed his trade and left the nursery in 1882 it was with a full 
pre]iaration for successful activities. As a journeyman nurseryman 
he was employed at Edinburgh, Scotland, until March of 1884, when 





^r^^^^ ^^C.;;;^ 



^'-t*-^ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 679 

he crossed the ocean to America and settled temporarily in Boston. 
For a few months he was employed in laying out grounds and caring 
for the gardens owned by C. Johnston, a wealthy merchant of that 
city. During July of the same year he went to Newport, R. I., where 
he became superintendent of the grounds and gardens surrounding 
the magnificent mansion of August Belmont. Upon resigning from 
that position in September of 1886 he went to New York City and 
secured an excellent . position as manager of the plant department 
with the J. M. Hodgson Floral Company on Fifth avenue, where 
he continued until 1891. 

Coming from the east to California in 1891, Mr. Armstrong en- 
gaged with Timothy Hopkins, the florist of Menlo Park, as superin- 
tendent and manager. For five years he filled the position with 
recognized aliility and when he left it was to go to Fernwood as super- 
intendent of the W. J. Dingee estate. Remaining at that place until 
1901, he then went to Santa Barbara and laid out grounds for the 
residence of numerous millionaires, including I. G. Waterman, T. C. 
Underbill, James Murphy, E. C. Driver and John Davidson. In 1904, 
as manager for the Abbott Kinney Company, he was engaged to draw 
the plans for the beach town of Venice. During 1906 he had the 
contract for laying out the Athletic grounds at Hollywood and the 
Arroyo Seco at Pasadena. After a. number of years of successful 
activity in Southern California he moved to Oakland during 1910 and 
was given charge of planting and developing the holdings of the 
Oakland Water Company near Piedmont, Alameda county. During 
May of 1911 he came to Sacramento, where he officiated as landscape 
gardener at the capitol grounds from May 15 to August 15 and since 
the latter date he has acted as general manager of the Eastlawn 
cemetery and conservatories. 

The marriage of Mr. Armstrong occurred in Cumberland, Eng- 
land, in June of 1882, just before his removal to Scotland and united 
him with Miss Martha Heward. They became the parents of five 
children. One of the daughters, Lillian, is Mrs. Owens, of Chester, 
England, and the other, Mrs. Amy White, is living in Los Angeles. 
The eldest son, John, a capable young man, is chief clerk in the East- 
lawn conservatory store at Sacramento. Thomas is an electrician with 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Sacramento. The young- 
est, Heward, is a student in the schools of Cumberland, England. 
Since becoming a citizen of the United States Mr. Armstrong has 
voted with the Republican party. Fraternally he was made a Mason m 
Doylestown Lodge No. 245, Doylestown, Pa., is a member of Corinthian 
Chapter No. 51, Santa Barbara; Los Angeles Commaudery No. 9, K. 
T., and a member of Aahme's Temple, N. M. S., Oakland. 



680 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



ALFRED BORCHARD 

There crossed the ocean to the United States during the year 
1887 an enterprising German named August Borchard, who, accom- 
panied by his wife, Louise, sought the larger opportunities offered 
by the new world and established a temporary home in the city of 
Erie, Pa., remaining there for two years. Their family comprised two 
children, but of these Alfred is the sole survivor, the other having been 
taken from the home by death when quite young. During the year 
1889 the family made the long journey across the continent to San 
Francisco and bought a home in the western metropolis, from which 
point for years August Borchard traveled on the road as a commer- 
cial salesman. Later his business interests took him to Alaska and 
he was a traveling salesman in that country for four years, returning 
thence to San Francisco, and during 1910 established his home and 
business headquarters at Sacramento. In this city he is a partner of 
his son in the Sacramento Inlaid Floor Company. In addition he owns 
an interest in the Inlaid Floor Company of San Francisco, a leading 
concern of its kind and in no wise connected with the newer institu- 
tion in the capital city. During his long residence in California Mr. 
Borchard has formed a wide circle of acquaintances throughout the 
state. As a man of fine mind, unusual business qualifications and hon- 
orable principles of action, he has won and retained the confidence of 
commercial associates, while he has been equally popular in the orders 
of Moose and Foresters. His wife, a woman of culture, is a leading 
member of the Sacramento Lodge of Rebekahs and the Saturday club. 

Born in Mecklenburg, Germany, in the year 1885, Alfred Borchard 
received the advantages of a thorough English education in the schools 
of San Francisco, and he had the further benefit of a course in a busi- 
ness college. After leaving the college he began to study the drafting 
business, but a year later turned his attention to cabinet work and 
interior finishings. For some years he worked under contractors, and 
later began to take contracts of his own. During June of 1911 he 
joined his father at Sacramento and formed the partnership now 
known as the Sacramento Inlaid Floor Company. A factory for the 
making of inlaid floors was established on Fifteenth between L and M 
streets. Business was started without delay. The product manufac- 
tured met with immediate popularity. The prospects were so bright 
that the firm was obliged to seek larger quarters, and is now located at 
No. 2413 I. Much of the favorable prospects for the business is 
due to the energy of the younger member, who supplements the cau 
tion and conservative policy of the senior member by his own prog- 
ressive plans and enterprising activities, the two thus working together 
harmoniously and profitably. In fraternal connections he holds mem- 




(^a^. -^ • 'I^^L^ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 683 

bersliip with the Improved Order of Red Men. The Home Products 
league has in him a well-informed member and progressive leader. 
February 22, 1909, he was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Sam- 
uels of San Francisco. They are the parents of a daughter, Dorothy, 
born in San Francisco December 14, 1909. Mrs. Borchard has been a 
resident of California throughout her entire life, and is the owner of 
a tract in Humboldt county called Shelter Grove, The ocean place 
comprises three hundred and sixty acres and forms a natural harbor 
that is said to be one of the very best along the entire coast. 



FRANK C. CROKE 

Indications of the commercial insight possessed by Mr. Croke 
are furnished abundantly by the position which, unaided by extran- 
eous circumstances or advantageous environment, he has won for 
himself at the very outset of his business career. Perhaps the most 
favorable circumstance in his early life of preparation and training 
was the fact that his father, Thomas Croke, had engaged in the furni- 
ture business for a considerable period and taught him not only to 
detect the most minute differences in qualities of lumber, but also 
trained him in the art of salesmanship and the foundation principles 
of the calling. Thus he started out in the employ of others, fortified 
with an excellent vocational training, a thorough high-school educa- 
tion and a course at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, Supple- 
menting these important elements in business progress with personal 
tact, sagacity and energy, he has been able to engage in his chosen 
calling with an ever growing success. 

The childhood memories of Mr. Croke cluster around the home 
of his parents, Thomas and Margaret Croke, in the city of Denver, 
Colo,, where he was born May 25, 1884, and where he early learned 
the lessons of honor and integrity that formed the basis of later 
business connections. After he had graduated from the high school 
in 1899 he assisted his father in the furniture business as a salesman, 
remaining in that position until 1905, when he started out for him- 
self. Going to Seattle, Wash., he engaged with the Century Furniture 
Com]3any as a salesman. At the expiration of two years he resigned 
his position and made a trip of exploration through Alaska, where he 
spent one year, principally engaged in mining. Upon his return to 
the United States he settled in San Francisco and became salesman 
with the Harry J, Moore Furniture Company, From that city in 1908 
he came to Sacramento as manager of the Campbell Furniture Com- 
pany and for about three years he continued in the same position, but 

38 



684 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

during September of 1911 he acquired the business, incorporating 
it as the Frank C. Croke Furniture Co., of which he is president 
and manager. Since then he has devoted his attention to the building 
up and maintenance of a complete stock of house furnishings, being 
located at No. 413 K street, besides having three large warehouses 
for surplus stock and duplicate goods. The business has grown from 
the nucleus established in 1850 by John Campbell. Business enter- 
prises interest Mr. Croke more deeply and appeal to him more 
strongly than political affairs and he therefore has given preference 
to the former, taking no part indeed in partisan matters and voting 
independently at general elections. By his marriage he became united 
with Miss Katharine McLaughlin, of Denver, Colo., September 27, 
1905, and they have won a large circle of friends in the society of 
Sacramento since they came to this city to make their home. 



JOHN A. PIERCE 

Any mention of the progressive, far-visioned men who have as- 
sisted in the development of Orangevale could not fail to include the 
name of John A. Pierce, who has been a resident of the district 
since 1897 and meanwhile has brought under splendid improvement 
two fruit ranches, one of which he now owns and occupies, the other 
having been sold some years since. In coming to the Sacramento 
valley he not only found an opportunit}' for financial advancement, 
but also was enabled to escape the rigorous climate of his native 
land. It is therefore a source of constant satisfaction to him that 
in early life he left Canada for the States and later was induced 
to seek a home near the sunset sea. His success is a tribute to his 
own native abilities unaided by influence or means or even education, 
for he was a member of a family in humble circumstances and it 
was impossible for him to secure the advantages of a high school 
education. However, habits of close reading have enabled him to 
acquire a fund of information not always possessed by college 
graduates. 

In the capital city of Prince Edward county, Ontario, the town 
of Pictou, Mr. Pierce was born September 13, 1867, and at an early 
age he came to the United States in the hope of improving his 
circumstances. For some time he held a position at Joliet, 111., and 
while working there he was married, January 15, 1894, to Miss 
Maude Irwin, who was born in Canada and passed the years of 
early life in the same neighborhood where lived her future husband. 
The young couple were not satisfied with the prospects afforded by a 
continuance of day wages in Illinois and they resolved to seek a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 685 

location in California. During 1897 they came to Sacramento county 
and shortly afterward purchased ten acres at Orangevale. The 
land contained a few unimportant improvements, but its later con- 
dition resulted almost wholly from his incessant labors. After he 
had improved the tract he bought ten acres adjoining and planted 
the new purchase in fruit trees, making altogether a splendid prop- 
erty which he ultimately sold at a neat advance. 

After he had disposed of his first ranch Mr. Pierce bought ten 
acres where he now resides. Here he planted oranges, prunes and 
grapes, selecting first-class varieties of each. The vines and trees 
are now in thrifty bearing condition and return to their owner a 
gratifying interest on his investment. In addition to the home place he 
owns twenty acres of adjacent land, all of which is under cultivation 
to fruit trees. During 1907 he erected one of the most substantial 
residences in Orangevale, this being a commodious two-story house 
containing all of the modern improvements and furnished with a 
simple elegance reflecting the refined tastes of the family. On the' 
ranch there is also a packing house with modern equipment, and 
Mr. Pierce also has erected other outbuildings, all of which are neat 
and well-kept, making of the place one of the best improved in the 
entire district. Besides this property he owns three residence lots 
in the city of Sacramento. 

In the family of Mr. Pierce there are five children, Arthur C, 
Irwin J., Charles L., Kenneth and Marguerite. The family holds 
membership with the Folsom Presbyterian church and contribute 
generously to its maintenance. Political affairs do not interest Mr. 
Pierce, who, however, keeps posted upon all national problems. 
During campaigns he supports those whom he regards as the best 
men, regardless of their party views. Personally he has no desire 
for official honors, and the only time he ever consented to serve in 
a public position was some years since, when his deep interest in 
educational affairs led him to consent to serve as a member of the 
school board. In that office he labored for the upbuilding of the 
local schools. In fraternal connections he holds membership with 
the subordinate lodge of Odd Fellows at Folsom, also is a Master 
Mason and a member of Folsom Lodge No. 64, F. & A. M., while 
with his wife he participates in the activities of the Eastern Star 
chapter in that place. 



DAVID FRANKLIN FOX, D. V. S. 

In his chosen occupational activities as veterinarian Dr. Fox has 
gained a reputation that is not limited to his home city of Sacramento, 
but extends throughout the state. The accuracy of this statement 



686 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

appears in liis identification since January of 1899 with the state 
board of veterinary examiners, which position brings to him weighty 
responsibilities as well as a wide reputation among the members of 
his profession. Many honors have been conferred upon him in recog- 
nition of his efficiency and skill in veterinary work. The California 
State Veterinary Medical Association on three different occasions se- 
lected him as president and in that capacity he proved an accurate 
parliamentarian, a tactful leader and a consistent exponent of all that 
is most progressive in veterinary surgery. Other honors have been 
conferred upon him, not only in the state society, but also in the 
American Veterinary Medical Association, of which for years he has 
been an active and interested member, serving as member of the 
executive committee, and for three years has been resident secretary 
for California and is first vice-president of the Association of Veter- 
inary Faculties and Examining Boards of North America. 

Descended from an old family of southern lineage. Dr. Fox was 
born near Delphi, Ind., October 5, 1864, and is the son of Jacob J. 
and Sarah (Dillman) Fox, natives respectively of Maryland and In- 
diana. During boyhood he was a pupil in graded schools in In- 
diana. He can scarcely recall a time when he was not interested in 
stock and especially in horses. Even in early youth he showed a decided 
skill in veterinary science and this led him to devote himself to the 
work as a life occupation. In order to secure the very best possible 
opportunities he took a course of study in the Chicago Veterinary Col- 
lege, from which he was graduated in 1891 with a high standing for 
thoroughness and efficiency. Coming west immediately after his grad- 
uation he began to practice in Salinas, Monterey county, Cal., but at 
the expiration of two years he removed to Sacramento and here he 
since has been located. Since 1904 he has owned and occupied a val- 
uable property at No. 1415 J street, where he has a frontage of thirty- 
one feet and a depth of one hundred and sixty feet. On this property 
he has erected a three-story brick office building, a portion of which he 
occupies for his own offices. In connection with this he has a veter- 
inary hospital, where he gives care and treatment to animals brought 
to him. 

Along other lines besides those directly connected with his occu- 
pation Dr. Fox has been prominent and active. September 30, 1905, 
he received an appointment from the then adjutant-general, Hon. J. B. 
Lauck, as Veterinarian to the First Squadron Cavalry, National 
Guard of California, and at the expiration of three years of ser- 
vice he was again appointed to the position. Although never a 
seeker after office, he staunchly supports Eepublican principles by 
ballot and influence. Fraternally he holds membership with Sac- 
ramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. 0. E., also Union Lodge No. 58, F. & 
A. M., and Naomi Chapter, 0. E. S., and since 1892 he has been 
connected prominently with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 




'Sb J^WW ^^-cJ^AevT^St^ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 689 

having served as delegate to the grand lodge of Odd Fellows, and also 
receiving all the other honors within the power of the local lodge to 
bestow. During 1892 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Laura 
(Brown) Flood, of Knights Landing, this state, a lady of education and 
culture, a popular member of the Tuesday Club, likewise a leading- 
worker in the lodge of Rebekahs and the local chapter of the Fja stern 
Star. 



HENRY ECKHARDT 

The period from 1833 to 1853, representing the first twenty years 
in the life of Henry Eckhardt, was passed uneventfully by him in his 
native land of Germany, where he received such advantages as the 
public schools offered at the time and also gained a thorough knowl- 
edge of the trade of a gunsmith. At the expiration of his apprentice- 
ship he began to work as a journeyman. The openings available for 
future occupational labors in Germany were not alluring; therefore 
he sought the opportunities of America and never afterward did he 
have reason to regret the decision that gave him citizenship in this 
country. Immediately after crossing the ocean he went to Columbus, 
Ohio, and found employment at his trade. There he married and 
there his wife died at the age of twenty-two years. Two children 
were born of that union, namely : William H., now a resident of San 
Francisco; and Katherine, now the widow of James McNiff. After 
the death of his first wife he married Miss Minnie Huber, who resided 
during girlhood at St. Joseph, Mo., and died at Sacramento in 1875, 
leaving no children. 

From 1870 until his retirement from business in 1896 Mr. Eck- 
hardt carried on a gun store in Sacramento, where he had a host of 
friends in comjnercial circles. In his chosen occupation he had no 
superior in the city. His knowledge of fire-arms of all kinds was 
thorough and his advice was sought daily even by skilled marksmen 
and experienced hunters, all of whom united in testif^ang as to his 
broad information along these lines. Retiring from business largely 
on account of ill health, he went abroad with his family and spent 
some time in Europe in the hope of deriving physical benefit there- 
from. His death occurred in Sacramento March 13, 1909, and was 
recognized as a distinct loss to the citizenship of the place. In the 
early part of his identification with Sacramento he had been one of 
the leading members of the Turn Verein and the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows. 

In the city of Sacramento, March 5, 1876, occurred the marriage 
of Henrv Eckhardt and Fredericka Huber, a sister of his second wife. 



690 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

One son came to bless their union, Harry Frederick, who was born 
October 14, 1881, and received the best educational advantages oifered 
by his native city, besides attending Heald's Business College in San 
Francisco until his graduation from the institution. During 1898 he 
went abroad with his parents and traveled for a year on the continent. 
After his return to California he matriculated in the department of 
pharmacy at the University of California, where he remained until 
his graduation. Afterward he took the complete course of study in 
the Pennsylvania College of Pharmacy, the oldest institution of its 
kind in the United States. Upon leaving the Philadelphia institution 
after his graduation he returned to Sacramento and secured a posi- 
tion in a drug store, where he had charge of the department of phar- 
macy. Later he worked in other coast cities as a pharmacist. More 
recently he purchased one hundred and fourteen acres of fruit land 
six miles from Dixon, Solano county, fifty acres of the tract having 
been ])lanted to fruit of different varieties and the whole forming 
an investment both practicable and profitable. To assist him in the 
care of the ranch his uncle, Conrad Huber, has removed with his 
family from Nebraska and will establish a permanent home in the 
west, thereby giving to the j^oung owner capable assistance in the 
many responsibilities incident to the care and cultivation of the large 
acreage in fruit trees. Fraternally he has been actively connected 
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. While living in 
San Francisco temporarily he became a member of Parlor No. 1, 
Native Sons of the Golden West, in that city. Mrs. Eckhardt owns an 
elegant and attractive residence at No. 1817 M street, Sacramento, 
as well as business property at Nos. 523-525 K street, and is numbered 
among the popular women of the city, having a host of friends among 
the people in whose midst she has lived for many years. Aside from 
her brother Conrad, no member of her family resides in the west; one 
sister, Carrie, who is the widow of Louis Hafner and formerly made 
her home in Sacramento, now is living in Germany, while another 
sister, Lena, Mrs. Nicholas Kief rider, is a resident .of the city of 
Philadelphia, 



SIDNEY S. ALBRIGHT 

An important business has been developed within the past few 
years through the energetic and intelligent etforts of Mr. Albright, 
who although a resident of Sacramento since the summer of 1903 
did not embark in business for himself until six years later. The 
business which he selected was the one with which he was the most 
familiar and in which he had received skilled instruction during a 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 691 

sojourn in various large eastern cities, viz : the painting of car- 
riages and automobiles. Adopting a conservative policy he started 
in business in small quarters on Twenty-fourth street, engaging in 
carriage, wagon and automobile building and repairing, as well as 
trimming and painting, but the trade grew with unexpected rapidity 
and to provide accommodations for the vehicles in his charge he 
was forced to double his ground space and also to utilize two floors 
instead of one. With the enlarged space he is now able to- store 
all cars and carriages given to him for painting, and he thus has 
the facilities desired for prompt and satisfactory work in the line 
of his specialty. 

Prior to his removal to the west Mr. Albright had lived for 
some 3^ears at South Bend, Ind., but he is a native of Crawford 
county, Ohio, and was born near Bucyrus. His father, who still 
resides in Ohio, was in former years a man of considerable promi- 
nence and as early as 1876 he built flour mills at Berwick, Seneca 
county, and Holgate, Henry county, which he operated under his 
personal supervision for a long period of successful business effort. 
The family is an honored old family of the east and traces its his- 
tory back to the colonial period. Several generations were identified 
with the material upbuilding of Pennsylvania. In a small village 
of that state, Jacob Albright, a great-uncle of Sidney S., established 
a congregation and erected an edifice known for years as the Al 
bright Church. The building still stands and is now used by the 
Evangelical denomination in its religious services. 

At the age of sixteen years Sidney S. Albright began to learn 
the trade of a carriage-painter. From that time to the present he 
has allowed no outside matters to turn his attention from his chosen 
occupation. It was always his ambition to learn the trade under 
the most competent workmen and he therefore considered himself 
fortunate in serving an apprenticeship in shops famed for the 
quality of their work. At different times he was employed at his 
trade in Dayton, Ohio, and Jackson, Mich., as well as New York City, 
where he had advantages of an exceptional nature along the line 
of the trade. For six years he was engaged as foreman of the 
Studebaker paint shop in South Bend, Ind., and from there he re- 
moved to California, where for six years he was employed as fore- 
man of the painting department of the carriage shop owned by 
A. Meister & Sons, finally resigning the position in order that he 
might begin in business for himself. 

While living at South Bend, Ind., Mr. Albright there married 
Miss Verna Bench in Noveml)er of 1898, Mrs. Albright being the 
daughter of a man prominent in public affairs and widely known in 
Michigan. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Albright consists of two 
children, Howard S. and Jewell Verne, ten and six years of age 
respectively. The familv attend the services of the Christian 



692 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Science Church in Sacramento, in which Mr. Albright is a member 
of the board of directors. Long a thoughtful student of religion, 
he has found in this clmrch the doctrines that accord with his per- 
sonal views and he gives to its upbuilding the most devoted etfort 
and most generous assistance. At no time has he been active in 
politics nor a seeker after official honors, but he keeps well informed 
regarding national problems and gives the Eepublican party the 
influence of his ballot in all general and local elections. 



LOUIS F. BEEUNEE 

The president of the John Breuner Co., Louis F. Brenner, of 
Sacramento, Cal.. was born in the city of Saci^amento, state of Cali- 
fornia, on the 15th day of August, 1869. He is the son of John and 
Katharine (Keuchler) Breuner, both natives of the Fatherland. 
John Breuner came to the United States in 1849, and to California 
in 1852, locating at Sacramento, where he established the well- 
known furniture firm of John Breuner Co. It is difficult to point to 
a better instance of what may be accomplished by perseverance and 
principle than is presented in the history of John Breuner, who, in 
spite of the many serious and discouraging obstacles encountered 
in the way of fire and floods, rebuilt his store which now stands as 
a commendable monument to his undaunted and honest business 
methods. Jolm. Breuner was a leader in his profession, and his 
genial disposition held tlie respect of the entire community until 
ins death in 1890. 

It was in the public schools of Sacramento that Louis F. Breuner 
was educated. He was compelled to leave school at the early age 
of eighteen years on account of the impaired health of his father, 
which caused much responsibility of the latter 's extensive furniture 
interests to fall upon the young shoulders of Louis and his In-other 
John, Jr. When the father passed away the sons continued the 
business under the name of Jolm Breuner. A few years later, 
through the untiring and energetic efforts of Louis and John, Jr., 
a magnificent building was built, which now stands as an orna- 
ment to the city of Sacramento. The business was greatly enlarged 
by the addition of new departments, ranking the firm as a strictly 
house furnishing estn])lisliment and one of the largest on the 
Pacific coast. 

ijouis F. Breuner is a man of honorable and progressive char- 
acter, numl)ering his friends by the hundreds, not alone in his own 
town and state, but the eastern states as well, where his business 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 693 

interests take him yearly. He has always taken a keen interest in 
the development and prosperity of the city and is one of the leaders 
in any movement proposed for the good of the community at large. 
Being the inciunbent of high positions of different kinds, Mr. Brenner 
has been in the public eye practically all his life. 

Mr. Brenner has been closely affiliated with Masonic work for 
the past fifteen years, being a Knight Templar and a life member 
of the Shrine. He has been a member of the Grand Commandery 
of the Knights Templar of the state of California, for ten years 
and over, having been elected in April, 1910, to the highest office 
of the Grand Commandery, that of Grand Commander of the State, 
which he held for one year. He has the distinction of being one of 
the youngest men to hold this position, such honors in the past 
having fallen to the lot of men in older years. 

Mr. Brenner was the youngest man called to the presidency of 
the Chamber of Commerce, which office he held with signal ability 
during the period of 1900-2. He is past president of Sunset Parlor 
of the Native Sons of the Golden West, with which order he has 
been identified since becoming of age. He is an Elk, Woodman 
of the World, and a member of the Sutter Club of Sacramento and 
the Union League and Olympia Clubs of San Francisco. On June 
14, 1893, Mr. Brenner married in Cincinnati, Ohio, Clara F. L. 
Schmidt, a native of that city. They have five sons. 



STEPHEN JOSEPH EOONEY 

The genealogical records of the Eooney family lead back to Ire- 
land, where, August 14, 1826, John Eooney was born to the union 
of John and Ann (Garland) Eooney, lifelong residents of the Emer- 
ald isle. In a large family he was the youngest child, and the death 
of his father leaving the family in discouraging financial condition 
was the cause of his early inurement to labor. From his childhood 
days he has been familiar with hard work, and even now, although 
far beyond the usual period of activity, he has not allowed himself 
to lead a life of ease and indolence. At the age of twenty-one years 
he sailed from Liverpool to New York, where he landed without 
special incident. From there he i)roceeded to Boston, near which 
citj'', at Eoxbury, he visited a sister, Mrs. Mary Hoey. Two months 
later he joined a brother, Peter, in Alabama. November 20, 1849, 
he sailed from New Orleans for Chagres, Panama. From the Isthmus 
he proceeded up the Pacific ocean to San Francisco, where he landed 
January 27, 1850. On the 2d of February he arrived in Sacramento. 



694 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

It had been the intention of Mr. Rooney to engage in mining, and 
he lost no time in hastening to the camps indicated by current 
rumor to be the most flattering in prospects. For nine months he 
remained at Georgetown, Eldorado county, and there he met with 
exceptional success. About that time a friend from Alabama, John 
Hopper by name, obtained from him and his partner, Mr. Smith, 
the sum of $10,000 without security. The money soon was lost, and 
the two men thus involved in the loss were forced finally to take as 
total reimbursement the equity in one hundred and sixty acres in 
Sacramento county. On the land they sowed a crop of barley that 
brought them almost $10,000, so that much to their surprise they lost 
nothing by their unfortunate loan. The Alabama mine in Eldorado 
county, owned by Mr. Rooney, yielded as much as $800 per day, and 
by 1853 he had netted $25,000. With that surprising amount to his 
credit, it was natural that he decided to establish a home of his own. 
Returning to Alabama in 1853 he married Miss Mary Clark, who was 
born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1850 with her 
mother. 

The family of John and Mary (Clark) Rooney included four 
sons and one daughter. The eldest, John, Jr., died February 4, 1885, 
at the age of twenty-four years. Peter W. married Mary Powers. 
Stephen J., of this review, is next in order. James married Miss 
Mary Brown of Sacramento and they have eight children. The only 
daughter, Mary, is the wife of Thomas O'Neil of Sacramento. The 
father, who died in this county, was widely known among the early 
settlers of the county. Prior to the Civil war he supported Stephen 
A. Douglas, but in 1864 he voted for Abraham Lincoln for president, 
believing the hope of the country to rest in that great statesman and 
patriot. After 1868 he regularly voted the Democratic ticket at 
all elections. 

At the homestead on the Coloma road, five miles from Sacra- 
mento, occurred the birth of Stephen Joseph Rooney and there he 
passed the imeventful years of childhood. After having completed 
the grammar school studies he entered Sacramento institute and later 
was a student at St. Mary's college in San Francisco. Interested 
in agriculture, he gave his mature years to the raising of farm 
products and the growing of hops. At one time he served as deputy 
under Sheriff O'Neil of Sacramento county. In common with the 
other members of his family he cherished a devoted allegiance to 
the Roman Catholic church. November 23, 1887, he was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary Tackney, a native of the county and the 
daughter of John and Maria Tackney, natives respectively of Canada 
and Ireland. From an early day the family lived in California, 
where Mr. Tackney followed the occupation of a hotel keeper. There 
are three living children in the Tackney family, namely: Mrs. 
Rooney, residing at No. 1114 Twenty-fifth street, Sacramento; Mrs. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 695 

A. Westlake, also of Sacramento, and Charles. Mrs. Rooney is the 
mother of three children, viz. : William J., born February 12, 1889 ; 
Stephen J., Jr., September 18, 1891, and Margaret, Angust 3, 1893. 
The daughter is an accomplished musician and teaches that art in 
the capital cit}^ 

During the excitement caused by the discovery of gold in the 
north Stephen Joseph Rooney determined to go to Alaska and at- 
tempt to regain a fortune his father had recently lost. With that 
ardent hope he followed his brother and Lee Brown to the gold 
fields in 1898. When he had landed at Skagway he assumed charge 
of a pack-train between that harbor and Lake Bennett. However, 
from the very outset misfortune seems to have marked him for her 
own. A number of valuable pack animals had been lost with the 
steamship Corona. A quantity of forage and provisions was lost 
in another vessel which went down. Finally, when his high hopes 
had begun to sink beneath the weight of repeated reverses, he fell ill 
with spinal meningitis and died far from the loved ones at home. The 
body was brought back to California by his brother and was interred 
in a local cemetery, amid expressions of deep regret on the part of 
his host of early friends, all of whom united in deploring the demise 
of this popular citizen and in tendering to his family their' most 
sincere sympathies in their bereavement. Since his death Mrs. 
Rooney has continued to reside in Sacramento, where she has en- 
gaged in raising hops, having met with a fair degree of success. 



STEPHEN WILLIAMS HAYNIE 

For many years Stephen Williams Haynie was perhaps as well 
known in Sacramento and its tributary territory as any man who 
traveled in and out of that city. He was born in Virginia in 1834 and 
died in Sacramento August 1, 1910, in his seventy-sixth year. In 
1846, when he was a lad of twelve, he went to Baltimore, Md., where 
he remained until 1850, when he made his first trip to California. He 
returned east three years later and remained until 1868, when he 
came again to California, this time locating at Sacramento, where 
except for brief absences he passed the remainder of his life. By 
trade he was a ship carpenter, but during the Civil war he was in 
the employ of the national government and for seven years he was 
a traveling representative of the Sacramento Bee, one of the best- 
known newspapers in California. He had also some practical ex- 
]:>erience in ranching. 

In 1856 Mr. Haynie married Miss Margaret A. Hall, who was 



696 HISTORY Ob' SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

born on board a vessel en voyage from England to the United States, 
of parents who were descended from old English families. She bore 
her husband three children, one of whom has passed away. Those 
living are Millard F. llaynie and Mrs. Annie B. Fickett, who live in 
Sacramento and afford her much comfort in her declining years. 



GEORGE PHILIP HARTMANN 

To many of the early settlers of Sacramento the name of George 
Philip Hartmann was known as the synonym for all that was pa- 
tient in industry, purposeful in action, honorable in business and 
patriotic in citizenship. An identification with Sacramento cov- 
ering only a little less than one-half century brought him into as- 
sociation with the pioneers of the city and gave him an intimate 
knowledge of the measures and civic projects that ultimately brought 
their return in permanent prosperity. Although he came to America 
with little knowledge of the language and even less knowledge of 
the customs of the people, out of adversity and poverty he struggled 
forward to competence and success. Nor was he the sole member 
of his family who gave of his time and influence to the country of 
his adoption, for he had a brother, Frank, who crossed the ocean 
during early youth and became a soldier of the Union army, fight- 
ing for the stars and stripes. 

Descended from pure Teutonic ancestry unmingled with alien 
races, George Philip Hartmann was born in the city of Darmstadt, 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, January 1, 1828, and received excel- 
lent educational advantages in that prosperous German city. Upon 
starting out to make his own way in life, crossing the ocean to 
America, he settled in St. Louis, Mo., about 1850 and there secured 
employment at his trade of a butcher. However, the west was then 
appealing to young men by reason of its great mines and other 
possibilities and in 1852 he joined an expedition that came across 
the plains to Sacramento. After one unfruitful year in the mines 
he located permanei,itly in Sacramento and here engaged in the 
butcher business. For thirty years he conducted a shop of his own, 
having his place of business at No. 418 K street, the present site 
of the large department store owned by Weinstock, Lubin & Co. 
Meanwhile he established his home at No. 2229 P street in 1892 and 
here his death occurred August 12, 1898, thus bringing to a close 
a long and honorable identification with his adopted city. 

The marriage of George Philip Hartmann and Christine Nehr- 
bass was solemnized September 27, 1864, in San Francisco. Mrs. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 699 

Hartmann was born near Mentz, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. At 
the age of nine years she left Darmstadt for America in company 
with her parents, Wendell and Christine (Fischer) Nehrbass. For a 
brief period before coming to California they sojourned in Buffalo, 
N. Y., then a town of insignificant proportions and the market town 
of a near-by tribe of Indians. When twenty-two years of age, in 
1859, she came to California via the Isthmus of Panama, and after 
her marriage began housekeeping in Sacramento, where now she 
continues to reside in the home acquired by Mr. Hartmann many 
years ago. One of her brothers, Jacob Nehrbass, is still a resident 
of Sacramento, where for many years he was connected with the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. It was the privilege of Mr. 
and Mrs. Hartmann to assist in promoting the organization of the 
German Lutheran Church in Sacramento and they had the honor 
of being its oldest members, as they also were among its most 
generous contributors. Not only religious but other enterprises 
received the kindly aid of Mr. Hartmann, who possessed a gen- 
erous heart and the most philanthropic impulses toward those in 
need. As far as possible he contributed to all movements of un- 
questioned importance in the development of the city and the ex- 
pansion of its interests. Various fraternities received his active 
co-operation, including the Improved Order of Red Men, the Ex- 
empt Firemen and the Chosen Friends. 



FRED LeROY martin 

Dependent upon its progressive citizens is the permanent ad- 
vancement of any community and particularly of such as conserve 
the business interests of a prosperous farming region while at the 
same time serving their commonwealth as the seat of legislation. 
Lacking the natural advantages which give to some western cities 
popularity as beach resorts and to others prominence as ports of 
entry for the ships bearing the commerce of the world, the capital 
city of California nevertheless possesses its own claim to pre-emin- 
ence among the great towns west of the Rockies, and far from its 
least important claim is that of attracting to its commercial and 
financial leadership men of honor, ability and intelligence, men of 
intense loyalty to civic progress and displaying a patriotic spirit 
without which no community attains a lasting prosperity. 

It is not too much to state that the identification of Fred LeRoy 
Martin has been helpful to the commercial and financial growth of 
Sacramento, with whose business enterprises lie maintained a long 



700 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

association aucl to whose banking affairs he has devoted his atten- 
tion more recently. A long residence in the capital city has given 
him broad ideas concerning its possibilities and an underlying as- 
surance as to its future importance. Since the age of ten years he 
has made his home in Sacramento, hence his belief in local develop- 
ment is not the result of sentiments spasmodically formed, but of 
knowledge absorbed through close observation and personal experi- 
ence. Of eastern lineage, he was born in Syracuse, N. Y., September 
25, 1868, and at the age of ten years came to Sacramento in company 
with his mother. 

The grammar and high schools of Sacramento, which then as 
now held a wide reputation for thoroughness of instruction, gave to 
Fred LeRoy Martin the advantages of an intimate acquaintance with 
the studies that form the basis of all true education. After he had 
completed the high school course he entered upon business affairs. 
At the age of seventeen years he became identified as a clerk with 
the firm of Thomson, Diggs & Co., wholesale dealers in hardware, 
and for twenty-one years he continued with the same company, 
meantime rising from a clerkship to a position of trust and re- 
sponsibility. During the long period of his association with the 
hardware establishment he became prominent in civic enterprises and 
also founded a home of his own, his marriage April 29, 1902, uniting 
him with Miss Henrietta Schammel of San Francisco. The same 
period of business activit}^ was interrupted by an active service of 
nine months as captain of the signal corps in the Spanish-American 
war, his position giving him charge of all the signal work along the 
Pacific coast. 

The connection of Captain Martin with banking affairs in Sac- 
ramento began during the year 1909, when he was elected president 
of the Capital Banking and Trust Company, holding that position 
until it became a national bank. He now holds the position of as- 
sistant cashier of the California National bank. A sound, conserv- 
ative policy, aloof from merely speculative ventures and guided by 
keen perceptive qualities, has been his chief characteristic as a 
banker and has given him the confidence of depositors demanding the 
utmost safety for their moneys. With business and financial matters 
demanding his entire time, he has not identified himself with public 
affairs nor has he enjoyed a leisure sufficient for active participation 
in politics, yet he has maintained a large circle of friends in every 
circle of society and has held prominent connection with the well- 
known Sutter club of Sacramento, also has engaged in fraternal 
work with the local lodge of Odd Fellows and is a leading member of 
the organization of Spanish-American War Veterans. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 701 



HENEY SCHNETZ 

For several generations in the past America lias been the land 
toward which many aspiring young Germans have turned their eyes 
in eager lopging, and hither among many thousands of emigrants 
came Henry Schnetz at the very opening of manhood's activities, a 
youth scarcely twenty-one years of age, unfamiliar with the English 
language or with American customs, almost wholly without means, 
yet fortunate in having a rugged constitution and a thorough knowl- 
edge of a trade. There ensued for him years of indefatigable exer- 
tion in the acquisition of a competency and eventually he suffered in 
health, from the prolonged continuance of his arduous labors. A 
vacation from work being considered necessary for the benefit of his 
health, he left California, accompanied by his wife and son, and en- 
joyed an European tour of eight months, during which time he re- 
visited the scenes of childhood and the home where his father and 
mother had spent their last days. 

Descended from an old Teutonic family, Henry Schnetz was 
born in Germany May 2, 1862, and received 'the advantages of the 
excellent schools of his native land. At the age of fourteen he left 
school and began to learn the baker's trade in the bakery owned 
and operated by his father, Carl Schnetz, who was an expert in the 
occupation and enjoyed a local reputation for skill in the prepara- 
tion of food products. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship 
he went to Heidelberg and secured work as a baker, remaining there 
for three years. During 1883 he crossed the ocean to the United 
States and for two years worked in New York City, where in June, 
1885, he crossed the continent to San Francisco. In that city and in 
Oakland he found employment at his trade. Upon coming to Sacra- 
mento in October of 1885 he secured work in a bakery, where he 
continued until 1888. Eeturning to San Francisco he first worked 
for others and then opened a bakery of his own. At the expiration 
of three years he sold his interest in the business to a partner. 

When again establishing his business headquarters at Sacra- 
mento in 1892 Mr. Schnetz bought an interest in the Pioneer bakery, 
and subsequently he bought his jDartner's interest, thereby be- 
coming the sole proprietor. This' bakery is the oldest in the city, 
having been established at the present location, No. 124 J street, in 
1849. The business developed into one of profit and its management 
brought him a fair degree of success. At this writing emplo}^uent 
is furnished to twenty persons and three wagons are in constant use 
for the delivery of orders to customers. With the failure of his 
health, which necessitated a lessening of his labors, Mr. Schnetz 
sold an interest in the bakerv to his brother. Otto Schnetz, who since 



702 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

then lias been associated with liiin as a partner. January 11, 1896, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Probst, a native of 
Kentucky, but reared and educated in Santa Clara county. Their 
only son, Earl, born March 10, 1900, is now a student in the schools 
of Sacramento. The family are earnest members of the Roman 
Catholic church and Mr. Schnetz has been a generous contributor to 
its maintenance. Since becoming a citizen of our country he has 
supported Rei^ublican principles in national elections, but in local 
campaigns gives his allegiance to the best men regardless of politics. 
After coming to California he entered into fraternal activities and 
now holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and the Improved Order of Red Men. 



HENRY DEHN 

Significant service to the material upbuilding of Sacramento has 
been characteristic of Mr. Dehn during the long period of his identi- 
fication with the city. Dating his arrival here as well as his first per- 
manent location upon American soil from September 2nd of the Cen- 
tennial year, he came hither direct from Germany, where he was born 
March 10, 1858, and where preceding generations of the family had 
lived as far back as the genealogy can be traced. From the first period 
of his association with the capital city he was prescient of its possi- 
bilities for growth and development. While earning a livelihood 
through an association of ten years with the old Sacramento brewery 
and during the early '80s also serving as secretary of the Sacramento 
Brewers' Association until that organization disbanded, he did not fail 
to keep posted concerning the local property valuations and the de- 
velopment of the building business. When the eastern part of the 
city was still a marsh he bought the block between J and K streets, 
extending from Twenty-eighth to Twenty-ninth. The tract appeared 
entirely worthless and of course was purchased at a low figure. Cov- 
ered by a slough, its main use had been to furnish a place for the town 
boys to swim. By putting in over ten thousand yards of dirt he con- 
verted the block into one of the finest business and residence localities 
of the eastern district of Sacramento. Here for a time was located the 
first electric-car barn of the city, here the first electric car was put to- 
gether and from here it began its regular rounds of travel. The old 
building still stands on his premises, but has not been used for street 
car purposes for many years. 

After relinquishing the position in the brewery Mr. Dehn gave 
his attention to the taking of contracts and he is now one of the oldest 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 705 

contractors of Northern California. Many of liis contracts have been 
for street work and the building of city sewers. As the Sacramento 
foreman for the San Francisco Street Improvement Company, he had 
charge of the building of the first macadam road on K street. Many 
other important im[)rovements were made under his supervision. Per- 
haps no one is more familiar than he with the condition of Sacramento 
streets, sewer work and building business, and it may be stated as a 
fact generally known that all work done under his oversight has 
proved substantial and permanent. When he first became a citizen 
of the United States he entered into local politics and rendered efficient 
assistance to the Democratic party in Sacramento, but his ambitions 
did not lead liim into office-seeking and at no time has he sought 
official honors from his fellow-citizens. Of his original holdings he has 
sold a portion, but still owns one-fourth of a block of the original 
purchase, besides which he has one-fourth block facing Sutter's Fort 
on Twenty-eighth street. On this property stood the first printing- 
office in Sacramento, also here, facing the alley, once stood the first 
hospital of the town. The story is told that in the early mining days 
a miner was brought to this hospital who had $40,000 in gold-dust. 
While delirious he escaped from attendants, carried his bags of gold 
outside and buried the treasure, which has never been found to this 
day, although different parties have dug for the gold and for some 
time a dredger also was operated in the vain hope of locating the 
hidden wealth. When mining was still a very prominent industry it 
was the custom of miners to come from the mines with their sacks of 
gold and gamble at Sutter's Fort. Some of the dust would be dropped 
to the ground and often Mr. Dehn secured the sweepings, which 
amounted to more than at first thought would be supposed. Remem- 
bering the conditions of the country at the time of his arrival and 
noting the remarkable change brought about by slow degrees, he has 
been a witness to advancing prosperity and has contributed his own 
quota to the steady advancement of the city. 



FRANK GREGORY 

It is characteristic of the native-born sons of California that they 
maintain an intelligent association with all movements for the per- 
manent upbuilding of the state, and in tliis respect Mr. Gregory vies 
with others who boast a lifelong identification with the connnonwealth. 
By reason of his residence in Sacramento, where he was born Febru- 
ary 22, 1867, and where he has remained throughout his entire life, 
his interest in the capital city is particularlv keen. Perhaps few 

39 



706 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

men in the town are better posted than he concerning measures for 
the advancement of the city and county, projects for the making of 
necessary improvements and plans for the building of structures 
necessary to every community in the transaction of its public business 
and the care of its dependent or criminal element. The family of 
which he is a member has been very prominent in Sacramento, his 
brother, Hon. Eugene J. Gregory, having filled the office of mayor, 
while their father, Julius, a pioneer of the city, held an influential 
position in its business circles for many years. 

Attendance at night schools as well as the regular classes of the 
public schools gave Frank Gregory fair educational advantages in the 
.vears of youth. After leaving school he assisted his father in the 
details of the business, but since 1907 he has been associated with the 
office of county clerk as deputy. After the appointment of E. F. 
Pfund, the present incumbent of the office of county clerk, Mr. Gregory 
was retained as deputy, a fact which testifies eloquently as to the 
recognition given to his faithful services. Besides serving as deputy 
since 1907, he also has been assigned to the dut}^ of acting clerk of 
the board of supervisors of Sacramento county for the same period. 
The years from 1908 to 1911 were most important in the history of 
Sacramento county, for during that period bonds were issued to the 
amount of almost $1,500,000, and contracts for construction were let 
on bids, which embraced the construction of the new county jail, the 
new courthouse, new roads and new permanent bridges. 

The immense amount of construction work begun and the large 
amount of bonds issued indicate the overwhelming volume of business 
transacted in the office of the county board of supervisors. It is, in- 
deed, stated authoritatively that the amount of work accomplished 
during the service of Mr. Gregory as deputy has more than doubled 
that of any previous period in the county history or any previous 
record made l^y other deputies. Such a statement in itself proves the 
energy with which he has attended to his duties and the speed with 
which he has prosecuted his work, while his accuracy is attested by 
the fact tliat few mistakes have ever been found in any book of the 
office, notwitlistanding the large volume of the records made. The 
work, indeed, is practically faultless, and indicates that the office has 
in its dei)uty a man of dispatch and accuracy, a worker of rare quali- 
fications as well as practical common sense. In addition to his other 
enterprises, he served for five years as secretary of the State Anti- 
Debris Association, a society organized for the purpose of keeping 
clean and o]:)en the rivers where hydraulic mining was in constant 
operation. The Chamber of Commerce numbers him among its mem- 
bers and his identification therewith has been used to promote the 
commercial prosperity of Sacramento. In fraternal matters he holds 
membership with the Eagles and blue lodge of Masons, and he is 
also a member of the Sacramento Athletic club. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 709 

JAMES MANGAN 

A native son of California and of Sacramento, James Mangan 
was born May 18, 1865. His father, Peter Mangan, married Miss Kate 
Hennesy, who came from Ireland to California when she was quite 
young and with three sisters located in this city. The elder Mangan 
came to California in the pioneer days and located in Sacramento, 
where he was a blacksmith and a veterinarian. He was interested in 
local politics and met with success as a business man. He passed 
away in 1880, and his son, after leaving the public school, learned the 
blacksmith's and horseshoer's trade under the instruction of Harry 
Bennett of Sacramento, and he has followed that vocation to the 
present time. After leaving Mr. Bennett he was employed as horse- 
shoer on Haggin grant, and later for David Ahern in the same 
capacity, and he continued there until he started a shoeing shop in 
San Francisco. A year later he returned to Sacramento and bought 
an interest in an old shoeing shop with John Wizel. This was located 
on Ninth street, and he continued doing business at this location for 
four years, at which time he sold out in order to buy out Winters & 
Morgan at No. 1228 J street, which has been his place of business since. 
He makes a specialty of the shoeing of horses. In his political affilia- 
tions he is a Democrat and he was recently the nominee of his party 
for the office of city trustee to represent the Eighth ward. In the pri- 
mary election in 1912 he was unanimously nominated as the Demo- 
cratic candidate for supervisor for the Third Supervisorial district of 
Sacramento. He is a member of the Master Horseshoers' Association, 
and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. His 
mother is his housekeeper; his brothers Frank and Peter Mangan are 
connected with the Sacramento fire department; Mary, his eldest sis- 
ter, married T. L. Enright of this city; his sister Martha is the wife 
of Charles Nichols of Sacramento, and Belle, his youngest sister, is a 
member of his household. 

As a whole, the immigrants coming to the United States have met 
with success, and with few exceptions, compared to our whole popula- 
tion, the offspring of these immigrants have been exceedingly suc- 
cessful. This fact is well illustrated in Mr. Mangan 's career. He is a 
skillful mechanic, a man of enterprise and progressive ideas and a 
public-spirited citizen who loyally does his part in the promotion 
of the general good. 



MANUEL S. SILVA, M. D. 

Successful identification with the medical profession individu- 
alizes the personal history of Dr. Silva and gives the prestige of 
progressive prominence to his citizenship in Sacramento, where he 



710 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

is recognized as a pbysieiaii of talent and as a gentleman possessing 
the highest culture and attainments. Not alone may it be said con- 
cerning- him that almost the whole of his professional career has been 
passed in the capital city, but it may be added further that much of 
his life in childhood and youth was passed here, this place having 
been the environment of early memories. The culture of institutions 
at other points was added to his mental equipment, for he was af- 
forded exceptional educational advantages in the Santa Clara val- 
ley and in San Francisco. The period of infancy and indeed up to 
the age of fourteen years was passed by him under the care of his 
parents in the kingdom of Portugal, where he completed the local 
high school course. Indeed, practically all of the later scenes painted 
on memory's walls are associated with Northern California, and his 
devotion to this region presents another example of that high type 
of loyalty characteristic of those who proudly claim themselves to be 
lifelong residents of the commonwealth beside the sunset sea. 

Born June 19, 1868, in Pico, Azores Islands, where his parents, 
Manuel L. and Rosa Silva, had temporarily established a home. Dr. 
Silva descends from a long line of Portuguese ancestors. The family 
was founded in the new world by his father, a man of great enter- 
prise and indomitable courage, who, originally attracted to California 
during the '50s by reason of the discovery of gold, remained to em- 
bark in farm pursuits in Yolo county, where ranching was yet in a 
primitive condition of development and the possibilities of agricul- 
ture entirely unknown. The locality presented a remarkable contrast 
to that of his early years, which had been spent on the Azores Islands 
off the coast of JPortugal, in his native town of Pico. With char- 
acteristic adaptability of temperament he entered into harmonious 
relations with the people around his new home, studied the soil until 
he had acquired a thorough knowledge of its needs in cultivation and 
prospered to a degree fully merited by toil and enterprise. From 
1868 until 1882 he engaged in business in Portugal, where he pur- 
chased ocean ships adapted to the carrjdng of general merchandise 
and with such cargoes he traveled to the Azores Islands, disposing 
of the goods and then returning to the mainland for new purchases. 
When he returned to California in 1882 he retained his interest in the 
Portuguese vessels, but gave personal attention to the development 
of a ranch near Freeport, Sacramento county, remaining on the Cali- 
fornia farm until 1886, when he returned to Portugal for the purpose 
of giving undivided attention to the management of his ships and 
merchandise. Since then he has been active and successful in the 
same business. 

The return of the family to Portugal made no change in the edu- 
cational program outlined for the son, who continued a student in 
local schools and the Christian Brothers college until 1885 and then 
spent a year in St. Mary's college, Oakland, after which he became a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 711 

student in the Santa Clara college near San Jose, where his classical 
education was finished, graduating with -the degree of A. B. Later 
he took up the study of medicine in the California Medical college at 
San Francisco, from which institution lie was graduated in 1897 with 
the degree of M. D. and an excellent standing. While apparently 
well qualified for i)rofessional work, he felt his limitations to such an 
extent that he took a post-graduate course in the College of Phys- 
icians and Surgeons in San Francisco. His degree came from that 
institution in 1901, and since then, with the exception of three years 
in San Jose, he has engaged in practice at Sacramento, where he 
ranks among the most distinguished and efficient physicians of the 
city. 

The marriage of Dr. Silva and Miss Mary Vieira was solemnized 
in Santa Clara, this state, in October of 1892, and has heen blessed 
with three children. Manuel, the eldest, now a bright youth of fifteen 
years, is a student in the Sacramento high school. The younger 
children, Joe and Agnes, are pupils in the Sisters convent on Third 
and streets. The family are earnest supporters of the work main- 
tained by the Roman Catholic church and Dr. Silva has been a 
leader locally among the Knights of Columbus. In addition he has 
associated himself with the Druids, Eagles and Fraternal Brother- 
hood. Stanch in allegiance to the Republican party, his devotion, 
although intense, is less conspicuous than his sturdy loyalty to the 
nation and his deep affection for the commonwealth. 



JOHN H. WENTZ 

A comprehension of the baffling intricacies connected with finan- 
cial affairs forms a conspicuous attribute of Mr. Wentz, who in be- 
coming identified with the banking business has entered a field of 
activity for which his natural tastes as well as his mental training 
admirably qualify him. While his residence in Folsom and his identi- 
fication with the substantial institution known as the Bank of Folsom 
cover a comparatively brief period only, already he has established 
himself among the permanent, progressive citizenship of the thriving 
town and also has acquired an enviable reputation for skilled finan- 
ciering. The confidence of business men has been with the bank from 
the first and the list of depositors grows with assured steadiness. 
Since the organization, during the autumn of 1910, of the Bank of 
Folsom it has been under the personal supervision of Mr. Wentz as 
cashier and manager, while Isaac Henkle has officiated in the capacity 
of president. The directors include a number of sagacious business 



712 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

men, who guide the investments and guard the safety of the loans 
witli intelligent judgment. 

In studying the personal history of Mr. Wentz we find that he 
traces his lineage to Germany. His father, Capt. Abial Livingston 
Wentz, was born in Ohio and moved to Iowa, settling in Burlington, 
where he entered into railroad work. At the beginning of the Civil 
war he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry, which 
he accompanied to the front, taking part in numerous engagements 
of great importance to the final results. After the expiration of his 
first enlistment he re-enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer 
Infantry. In recognition of his valor in battle he was promoted 
and commissioned captain of his company and served in that 
capacity until the close of the war, when he was honorably dis- 
charged. Returning to Burlington, he entered the employ of the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and with them rose to be 
a conductor, which position he filled until he met death in a rail- 
road accident. For years he had been identified with the subor- 
dinate lodge of Odd Fellows in Burlington, being Noble Grand of 
"Washington Lodge, No. 1, that order, at the time of his death; and 
he was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was 
known throughout that city as an upright man, a patriotic citizen 
and an efficient railroad official. He is survived by his wife, who 
in maidenhood was Ida Elizabeth Grennough, and she still makes 
her home in Burlington. 

In his native city of Burlington the excellent public schools af- 
forded John H. Wentz fair educational advantages in both the or- 
dinary branches and in a commercial course, and later he had the 
further advantage of pursuing his studies in Drake University at 
Des Moines. These opportunities did not come to him unsought and 
undesired, but were the direct result of his own efforts. From the 
age of eleven years he had been self-supporting and thus he learned 
self-reliance, determination and perseverance in the great school of 
experience. For a considerable period of his young manhood he 
was employed by Swift & Co., in their offices at Chicago, St. Louis 
and Omaha. While in the real estate business in Des Moines, Iowa, 
he was married at Mount Ayr, Ringgold county, Iowa, on August 
9, 1902, to Miss Edna Pearl Roby, a native of Mount Ayr. They 
have an only son, John Roby Wentz. The family came to Cali- 
fornia in 1904, and bought property at Sacramento, where Mr. Wentz 
later engaged in the real estate business, also being interested in 
the promotion of the Sacramento Trust Company. It was in 1910 
that he organized and established the Bank of Folsom, which he 
has since managed with characteristic fidelity, genuine intelligence 
and keen foresight. The increase and development of the bank's 
business has been most gratifying to the stockholders, and the com- 
munity as well, and it is undoubtedly destined to fill a longfelt want 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 715 

and to aid very materially in the upbuilding as well as adding pres- 
tige to the commercial worth of Folsom, which it would have been 
impossible to acquire without its influence. 



THOMAS LEWIS 

Starting out in life as a Welsh collier boy, working twelve hours 
a day, for six pennies, away down deep in the coal mines, and rising 
from this lowly occupation to an inventor, manufacturer and bene- 
factor to the people of this great state, is the story of the man whose 
name heads this article, whom destiny has put in a place of prom- 
inence among the enterprising citizens of Sacramento. He was born 
at W^rexham, Denbighshire, North Wales. An ocean and many thou- 
sand miles were between the boy and his destiny, but inevitably they 
would meet, and it happened in 1881, when Thomas Lewis came to 
Sacramento. 

The parents of Thomas Lewis were John and Ruth (Roberts) 
Lewis. They were not rich in this world's goods, but they were rich 
in love for their boy and did for him what they could to the end that 
his way through life might be less rugged than the one they had 
found. He would necessarily have to labor, but labor under fair con- 
ditions would be good for him, and they were determined that he 
should be able to labor with his head as well as with his hands. Ac- 
cordingly, they sent him to school, where he got a glimpse of things 
beyond the dull horizon of his daily life. It should be noted that not 
all the boys of his acquaintance were thus favored in that time and 
place. As a boy of seven he had to go to work in a mine as a door 
boy, and thus he was employed until 1875. At this time he and a 
partner were working in the bottom of a six hundred-foot shaft, 
cleaning out the sump; here an accident happened that was a hair- 
breadth escape. A six-foot steel rail used as a balance on the engine 
became detached and fell down the perpendicular shaft, but fortun- 
ately it entered the side of the shaft above and away from them and 
buried itself in the rock. When told of their narrow esca]ie they 
thought it over and the next day started for New York. 

Mr. Lewis had heard much of America, where all ])eople were 
free and where poor people might become independent by honest work 
and wise planning and careful saving. He had often dreamed of 
going to that far-off land of promise, and so his dream came true. 
He traveled in the east, working at landscape gardening until 1880, 
his companion being Joseph Fardo, a Quaker landscape gardener, and 
then thev went to British Columbia and Alsaka. After a year spent 



716 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

there he came to California and settled iu Sacramento in 1881. Some 
of the ideas he had imbibed in his brief schooling had remained and 
certain of them had been developed by his experience with the world. 
Not successful in finding employment at his trade, his attention was 
directed to the profits to be made at digging sewers and cesspools, 
and sewers and cesspools were even more essential to everyday life 
than winding paths and banks of bloom, and — was he not in America 
to make his way, was he not here to do the best that he could? That 
is what he did until he could do better. To some the yielding to such 
necessity would have been tragic. He did not look at it in that way. 
So he took the chance that offered and he has prospered. Later he 
turned to the manufacture of fertilizers and chicken food, and this 
venture also has been successful. He has not forgotten the joys of 
landscape gardening. His taste for the beautiful in nature is as fine 
as ever it was, and he may return to that work, but he is doing so 
well and building up such a hne business that it is a credit to himself 
and the city. His manufacturing plant is located one and a half miles 
southwest of Sacramento, where he makes the Tom Lewis fertilizer, 
which is shipped all over California. This product is the result of 
twenty years of study and experimenting, and wherever it is used the 
fruit produced is superior in size, flavor and quality to that raised 
by other commercial fertilizers, and the value can best be recognized 
when one is told that he sold twenty-five tons to Morrows, who are 
interested in the Armour Packing Company. C. M. Phinney, who 
has used his fertilizer on his orange and olive groves in Fair Oaks 
for two years, in a letter of recommendation states that the fertilizer 
is superior to any other he has experimented with, and that the first 
year's use yielded him an orange crop fifty per cent greater than in 
any previous year. A seedling walnut, planted eight years ago, by 
the use of the fertilizer has grown to very large })roportions. It has 
branches spreading a radius of forty feet, is about thirty-five feet in 
height and is now bearing a large crop of walnuts. Mr. Lewis is 
un(iuestional)ly a great benefactor to the horticulturists and floricnl-' 
turists of California, and his product is doing more to build up the 
farming and fruit interest of the state than any other single article. 
In his ])oIitical ideas Mr. Lewis is independent, trusting all parties 
as far as he can, trusting none of them too far. He is a Methodist, 
helpful to all of the varied interests of his cosmopolitan and demo- 
cratic church. lie has uiai-ried twice, and by his first marriage has a 
son, John Lewis, who is a plasterer. His present wife was formerly 
Miss Nora Wilson, a native of Nebo, Pike county, 111., daughter of 
Austin and Lucretia Wilson, who came to Sacramento, where the 
father was a builder. The nuirriage occurred in 1905 in Sacramento, 
and two children were born to them, Bethvl and Anna. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 717 



EICHARD TIMM 

It took Richard Tiinni, the present proprietor of the California 
Planing Mill, sitnated at the corner of Second and Q streets, Sac- 
ramento, years to finish his wanderings and settle down to business. 
Bnt he did it and he is none the worse for wear. He was born in 
Altona, Holstein, Germany, Jannary 3, 1864, one of the sons of the 
household of William and Matilda Timm, prominent citizens of that 
sturdy old German state. Children are schooled in Germany and 
schooled hard, and the boy Richard had his work in the public schools 
and afterwards in the gymnasium laid out for him till he was 
eighteen years old. Then he took a medical course at the University 
at Kiel and he was ready for the New World and its adventures. 
Naturally he went as far west as he could on the American conti- 
nent, and in the California mines around Placer county he dug and 
shoveled and washed for almost two years. His next appearance 
was in Los Angeles, where he filled an engagement as bookkeeper 
for Helman, Haas & Co., wholesale grocers. Here he remained for 
three years, and another year, spent in Mexico as a correspondent 
in an office, made four years spent in the south before he returned 
to the upper portion of the state. 

Once more in Placer county, near Lincoln, Mr. Timm was a 
rancher, industriously plowing and growing, when the Klondike 
discoveries in the north claimed his attention, and Mr. Timm figura- 
tively left his plowshare in the mold and stampeded for Alaska. 
Over the steep, icy Chilcoot he climbed and for a year he dug and 
froze for the dull yellow nuggets. In May, 1898, he was back in 
California. Volunteering for the Spanish war, he served in the 
regular army, being assigned to Battery A of the Third U. S. 
Artillery. In 1899 he was mustered out, there being no prosper of 
any further skirmishes with Spain, and the discharged soldier re- 
turned to Lincoln, Placer county. For two years he was again on 
the old ranch, hard at work but ambitious to enter larger interests. 
In 1901 he worked at the planing mill of Braunton & Robertson in 
Sacramento, remaining at this place for seven years; in fact, he 
stuck to it till he became the owner of the establishment. Then he 
changed its title to the California Planing Mill. His travels are 
over, and with the same industry and care for the details of business 
that marked his work as an employe of the mill, he is working as 
a proprietor and manager, and meeting success. An event which 
while he labored so steadily in the mill during his apprenticeslii]) 
was his marriage, which auspicious event took place June 8, 1905, 
in Oakland, and the other party to the compact was Miss Caroline 



718 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Pulcifer. They have one daughter, Ernestine, aged five years, who 
makes glad their capital city home. 

Mr. Timm takes great interest in public affairs around him and 
makes his influence felt for the right. He is a Republican of the 
Insurgent type, believing first in the people and the politicians ai'- 
terwards* if necessary to believe in them at all. He is a member 
of the Humane Society, of the Home Products League, the Retail 
Merchants Association, and is also a Spanish- American War Veteran. 



JOHN RILEY 

On the old Riley homestead, on the American river, John Riley, 
son of Patrick Riley, was born May 30, 1855. His father crossed the 
plains in 1849 and arrived at the San Joaquin grant in the spring of 
1850. He engaged in farming and followed that occupation and team- 
ing until his retirement from active life in 1870. He died in 1879. 
His teaming business took him to Forest Hill, Jackson and Placerville, 
the last-named locality then being known as Hangtown. Indians were 
at times somewhat troublesome in those days, but Patrick Riley had 
an Indian friend, Patricia, who, unknown to him, followed him to and 
fro as he made trips through the country, sometimes hunting near him 
in order to protect him if he should fall into danger. Mary Burke, 
who married Patrick Riley and became the mother of John Riley, came 
to California with her two brothers, Patrick and Thomas Burke, cross- 
ing the Isthmus of Panama on a mule. In the early days of Sacra- 
mento she worked as a servant for Dr. Ball several years, receiving a 
wage of $100 a month. She bore her husband five children, three of 
whom are living. In the prosecution of his farming operations the 
father usually employed about a dozen Indians and during harvest 
about fifty. He never had any trouble with them, but some of his 
neighbors had fights with some of them, and on one occasion, when 
defeated red men were crossing the river in retreat, several were 
killed. 

At the early age of thirteen years, in 1868, John Riley took up the 
battle of life for himself. In various capacities he was associated with 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company for a time, and later was a 
conductor on the Market and Valencia street horse car line for two 
years. Then for two years he was in the employ of H. S. Kirk, drug- 
gist, after which, in 1881, he purchased the grocery of Jacob Wagner 
at Tenth and E streets, and in November, 1910, he moved to Nos. 
421-423 Tenth street, into a building which he still owns. 

Kate Webster, Mr. Riley's first wife, bore him three children, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 721 

John Francis, Herbert J. and Hazel, and she died in 1897. In 1899 
Mr. Riley married Mamie McBride, and they have children named 
Alethea and Beatrice. The family are members of the congregation 
of the Cathedral. Mr. Riley, vvhose father immigrated to America 
from Ireland, has demonstrated the success of men of Irish blood in 
the handling of American affairs. 



WILLIAM F. RICHARDS, D. D. S. 

The history of the Richards family extends back through many 
generations of English history and indicates their long identifica- 
tion with the mining industry in Cornwall. A century or more has 
passed away since Charles Richards began to work as a miner, and 
throughout all of his industrious existence he followed that occupa- 
tion, together with the occupancy and cultivation of a small farm in 
his native shire. After Mm came his son, John, born at the old 
homestead August 20, 1826, and early trained to a knowledge of 
farming as well as to familiarity with work in the mines of lead, 
tin, copper and silver that to this day abound in Cornwall, bringing 
large profits to their owners. During 1845 he left the old home for 
the unknown possibilities of the new world, and while fortune came 
to him later in unstinted measure it was not his happy fate to again 
behold the land of his birth. His father, Charles, however, con- 
tinued there until death, as did his mother, who bore the maiden 
name of Honor Warner and was a member of an ancient Cornish 
family. 

Upon landing in the new world and seeking a place of employ- 
ment, John Richards went to the lead mines of Southern Wisconsin, 
at Shullsburg, seventeen miles from Galena, 111., and there he earned 
a livelihood by the most arduous of labor. When news came of 
the discovery of gold in California he immediately determined to 
come to the west. With three fellow-miners and six ox-teams he 
started for the Eldorado of his hopes. At St. Joseph, Mo., they 
were joined by three other young men, each of whom owned one 
team of oxen. The party left St. Joseph April 7, 1849, on their long 
journey, which came to a safe conclusion at Dutch Flat on the 9th 
of September. The young men at once began to prospect and mine. 
Within six weeks Mr. Richards had taken out $5000 in gold, one 
single nugget having brought him $252. During 1851 he returned 
east, and November 17 of the same year he married Miss Elizabeth 
Mitchell, who was liorn January si, 1830, being the daughter of 
Joseph Mitchell, a farmer of Lafayette county. Wis. During this 



722 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

trip lie invested considerable money in cattle and these he drove 
across the plains in 1853, with the assistance of seven men. 

Shortly after his second arrival in the west Mr. Richards pur- 
chased the squatter's right of a Mr. McHenry for $1500, but after- 
ward he relin(|uished the claim upon the advice of John P. Rhodes. 
The land was included in the Mexican grant to the Sheldon ranch, 
and Mr. Gunn, the administrator of the Sheldon estate, obtained 
judgments against other claimants, so that Mr. Richards preferred 
to relinquish rather than contest the matter in expensive litigation. 
In 1855 he bought about five huncired acres of the same estate, which 
he held for many years. In addition he took up about one thousand 
acres of government land. About two hundred and fifty acres of 
his ranch was bottom land on the Cosumnes, peculiarly rich in its 
soil, but subject to the disasters of occasional overflows. Not only 
did he raise general farm crops and large herds of stock, but he 
also made a specialty of the fruit business and on his land planted 
trees of almost every variety of fruit. For years he retained large 
mining interests, including profitable quartz mines in Amador county. 
On two occasions he and his wife returned east for protracted visits, 
the first trip occurring in 1869 and the second during the World's 
Columbian ex])osition at Chicago in 1893. His death occurred in 
October of 1896, and two years later his wife also passed away. 

There were ten children in the Richards family, but two died 
in infancy, and Lizzie Viola was also taken from the home when 
still young. The eldest child, Ellen Alfrena, married Lafayette 
Miller, but died in 1910. The second child, Emily Jane, is the wife 
of Alexander Milne, a rancher and dair^i^nan in Sacramento county. 
The third daughter, Annie Sophia, became the wife of Henry Band of 
San Francisco, now deceased. The two sons are Charles Joseph 
and John Lincoln. Mary Hattie is the wife of E. A. Piatt. William 
Freeman Richards, born December 22, 1870, on the home farm in 
Sacramento county near the village of Sheldon, is the youngest 
member of the family circle. After he had completed the studies 
of the common schools he entered the revenue service, but later re- 
signed the position in order that he might take up the study of 
dentistry in Nortliwestern university, Chicago, 111. When he had 
completed the regular course and had received the degree of D. D. S., 
he returned to Sacramento, where he at once bought one-half interest 
in the business of Dr. T. B. Reid. Early in 1904 he took over the 
remaining interest held by Dr. Reid, and since then he has continued 
alone. 

The political views of Dr. Richards bring him into active sym- 
pathy with the Republican party. Fraternally he is a Mason of the 
Scottish Rite degree and is also a member of the Benevolent Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. In the line of his profession he is a member 
of the Sacramento A^allcv Dental association and the State Dental 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 723 

association. His family comprises his wife and their only child, 
Leland Jerome, born September 16, 1903. Prior to her marriage 
November 1, 1902, Mrs. Richards was Miss Clara Kruttschnitt, a 
native daughter of Sacramento. Possessing excellent educational 
qualifications and the highest culture, she naturally occupies a prom- 
inent position in the most select society of Sacramento. The family 
of which she is a member has been prominent in many lines of busi- 
ness enterprise, and her first cousin, Julius Kruttschnitt, is director 
of maintenance and means with the Harriman (Southern Pacific) 
railroad svstem. 



HERMAN BRAUER 

Iowa has furnished to California many citizens of worth and 
prominence who have ably done their part in the work of development 
that has made this state famous throughout the world. It was at 
Muscatine that Herman Brauer was born July 18, 1870, son of a 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and grandson, in the 
paternal line, of a preacher of more primitive times. In May, 1884, 
Mr. Brauer 's father. Rev. Herman Brauer, came to Pasadena, which 
was the center of his labors as state district superintendent. He was 
prominent in church work until his death, which occurred in July, 
1900. Herman was educated in the public schools and in a business 
college, and early entered active life as an employe in a furniture 
store, the well-known establishment of N. P. Cole of San Francisco, 
in the service of which he rose from a humble beginning to positions 
of responsibility. In March, 1897, he was called into the business of 
the John Breuner Company, with which he has since been continuously 
connected and of which he is the present superintendent. In the busi- 
ness of the two stores of this concern he has been a factor fifteen years 
or longer, eleven years in San Francisco and upwards of four years 
in Sacramento. 

September 5, 1901, Mr. Brauer married Miss E. Schuler, a 
daughter of Fred and Amelia Schuler, of Oakland, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. 
Schuler have since returned to their native land and now live in 
Stuttgart. Mrs. Brauer died October 27, 1910, leaving three children, 
Dorothea, born July 3, 1896 ; Hermine, born July 10, 1898, and Her- 
man, born November 27, 1900. Mr. Brauer finds time from his busi- 
ness affairs to devote to social and religious affiliations and the labors 
of love which they entail. He is a member of the Masonic order, of 
the National Union and of the Woodmen, and is an active member of 



724 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the Methodist church and assistant superintendent of his Sunday 
school. These and other worthy objects benefit by his generosity, and 
his public spirit renders him an admirable citizen, useful in every 
relation with his fellow men. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON MEALER 

This enterprising and progressive citizen of Walnut Grove, 
Sacramento county, who is now serving his fellow citizens in his 
second term as justice of the peace of Georgiana township, was 
born near Franklin, this county, October 12, 1868, the son of Jef- 
ferson Mealer, who came across the plains to Sacramento county, 
with an ox-team outfit, with the jDioneers of 1850, and lived here 
until 1904, when he died. 

Such education as was available to him Thomas J. Mealer ac- 
quired in public schools near his boyhood home. From his child- 
hood he was interested in horses and as a young man he handled 
and broke them witli great success, and he still follows this busi- 
ness to a large extent. In 1884 he moved to Santa Clara county, 
but after some years returned to Sacramento county and in 1907 
bought one hundred and seventeen acres of land on Andrus Island 
which he devotes to fruit and vegetable raising, making a specialty 
of asparagus and nutmeg melons, besides giving some attention to 
the raising of horses for the market. 

Near Lodi, in 1895 Mr. Mealer was first married to Margaret 
M. Davies, a native of Salt Lake City, the daughter of William T. 
and Mentha Davies of Gait, this county. They had two children; 
Loyal D. is a student in the Sacramento high school, Darrell T., in the 
class 1913 Walnut Grove school. Mrs. Mealer died in 1908, and in 
Rio Vista, August 25, 1904, Mr. Mealer married Mary S. See- 
horn, a native of Virginia, who was brought to California in her 
childhood. Her father, Russell C. Seehorn, was a teacher in A^irginia 
and a farmer in California, now eighty-one years of age. 

Mr. Mealer is a member of the Elk Grove Lodge of Free and 
Accepted Masons and of the Onisbo Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, of 
Courtland; Isleton Lodge No. 108, I. O. 0. F.; Occidental Encampment, 
Sacramento; and Canton No. 1, Patriarch Militant in Sacramento, 
while he and his wife are members of the Rebekah Lodge of Isleton. 
His sons are both interested in wireless telegraphy and have a station 
on the ranch. In everything that pertains to the general advance- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 727 

ment and development of the community Mr. Mealer is deeply in- 
terested and his generous support of many measures for the benefit 
of his community and county has amply demonstrated his public 
spirit. Mrs. Mealer is a member of Rio Vista Chapter, 0. E. S. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS YOERK 

The first representative of the Yoerk family in the new world 
crossed the ocean during the year 1832 and became a pioneer of 
Ohio, where he and his wife improved a homestead and remained until 
their death. While they brought with them to America the greater 
number of their children, there was one son, Christopher Frederick, 
the father of our subject, who had entered the German army prior to 
their departure and it was therefore impossible for him to accompam^ 
them. After he had completed his term of service and received his 
honorable discharge he married a young German girl and settled in 
Wurtemberg, where for many years he followed the butcher's trade. 
A spirit of intense loyalty to his community led him to accept civic 
positions and for fifty years he served his city continuously in some 
official capacity. At the end of his long and honorable service the 
city presented him with a diploma. When he passed away at the age 
of ninety-two years there was a universal expression of gratitude for 
his faithful labors as a citizen and a general appreciation of his 
sterling attributes of character. 

Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, August 24, 1833, Charles Augus- 
tus Yoerk received the advantages of the excellent schools of his 
native land. At the age of twenty years, in 1853, he crossed the ocean 
to the United States and settled at Philadelphia, where he secured 
employment at $6 per month in a meat market. For four years he 
followed the butcher's trade in Philadelphia. Ambitious to try his 
fortunes in the then unknown west, he gave up his position in the east 
and came by the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco, where he 
landed at the end of an uneventful trip of five weeks. From San 
Francisco he soon came to S.acramento, April 1, 1857, and secured 
employment at the butcher's trade, remaining for seven months. Dur- 
ing the great gold rush to Eraser river in 1858 he went to Victoria, 
British Columbia, where it was estimated that thirty thousand men 
spent the following winter. Because of an uprising among the In- 
dians, and having lost his money and even his boots, he remained in 
Victoria, and seeing the possibilities along the line of his trade, put 
up a tent and began to make sausage. That work kept him busy until 
the miners began to disperse and came by boat, sleigh and horseback 



728 HISTORY OF ' SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

to Portland. Thence tliey traveled by wagon to Corvallis, Benton 
county, Ore,, where he engaged in the butcher business, but he soon 
returned by horseback to Sacramento, where he and Mr. Schwartz 
carried on a meat business for three years. 

Upon disposing of his interest to his partner, Mr. Yoerk re- 
turned to Philadel])hia, where, June 22, 1862, he married Miss Mar 
garet Lentz. About tlie same time he opened a market in that city, 
but a year later lie sold out and returned to the Pacific coast by 
steamer, accompanied by his family. Late in 1864 he embarked in 
the butcher's business with Louis B. Mohr, and the connection has 
continued up to the present time, the firm meanwhile having greatly 
enlarged its business, with a corresponding increase in the returns. 
Subsequently they incorporated the Mohr & Yoerk Packing Company 
and erected the Mohr & Yoerk building on K and Eleventh streets, 
which covers a space of 80x160 feet and is five stories high. Two 
corporations were later formed from the firm, the Mohr & Yoerk 
Company and the real estate business of Mohr & Yoerk Realty Com- 
]iany. Three of the sons of Mr. Yoerk are stockholders and directors 
in the companies, and the two eldest, Fred C. and George P., have 
the management of the meat market in their charge. Tiio youngest 
son, August, is manager of Hall, Lewis & Co., of Sacramento. The 
eldest daughter, Carrie R., resides with her mother. The younger 
daughter, Louise, married Eugene Neuhaus, a teacher of painting in 
the University of California. The eldest son, Fred C, was born in 
Sacramento May 23, 1865, and married Miss Uzilla Hand of North 
San Juan. From boyhood he has been familiar with the butcher's 
trade, and he still gives of his energy and time to the business so suc- 
cessfully established many years ago. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Woodmen of the World and Elks and also belongs to the 
Native Sons of the Golden West. In religion he holds membership 
with the German Lutheran church, and his parents, as well as the 
other members of the family, likewise adhere to that faith. Ever 
since the father became a voting citizen of the United States he had 
upheld Republican principles and that party received his ballot in 
local and general elections. Fraternally he was identified with the 
Masons for many years. To his adoi)ted country he proved a true, 
loyal citizen, to the state of his adoption he was especially devoted, 
believing California's resources to equal those of the most favored sec- 
tions of the entire world, while the possibilities of the commonwealth 
in his estimation were beyond the vision of even the most optimistic. 
His demise occurred August 18, 1912, at the age of seventy-nine, remov- 
ing from their midst one of Sacramento's most valued citizens. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 729 



HON. HUGH McELEOY LaEUE 

Altliougli death lias stilled the voice and terminated the forceful 
activities of Hon. Hugh McElroy LaEue, it will be long ere his in- 
fluence will be lost in the county of Yolo and long too ere the power 
of his personality shall cease to be an effective factor in the local 
upbuilding. Every line of advancement felt the impetus of his splen- 
did mind and energetic spirit, and, while he was a pioneer of 1849 and 
very active in the early settlement of the west, he undoubtedly will be 
less remembered by his accomplishments during that era than by his 
activities of a later date. The ranch near Davis which is now owned 
by his heirs and the nucleus of which he acquired as early as 1866, 
comprises two thousand and sixty acres, of which one thousand are 
under cultivation to barley, wheat and oats. All the grains produce 
well in this soil and at times the barley has averaged as high as thirty- 
five sacks to the acre. Fift}^ acres are in almonds and two hundred 
and twenty acres in wine grapes form the largest vineyard in the 
entire county,producing from six to seven tons per acre. Under a 
contract for ten years the vineyard products are shipped to the Cali- 
fornia Wine Association. In grapes of the white variety there are 
the Burger and the Green Hungarian, while of the reds there are the 
Alicante Bouschet, Caragnan, Serene, Beclan, Charbono and Mon- 
deuse. 

As an illustration of what may be grown on the rich soil of the 
ranch, and indeed upon any ranch in Yolo county if properly cared for, it 
may be stated that the LaEue ranch has the following trees in full bear- 
ing: almonds, walnuts, oranges, lemons, figs, persimmons, pomegran- 
ates, olives, pears, peaches, apples, apricots, plums and prunes. Every 
acre of the tract is under an irrigation ditch and there is also a 
private pumping plant operated by an engine of sixty-horse power. 
Eighty head of horses and mules are required in the sowing of seed, 
harvesting of crops and ploughing of the ground, and such is the 
quality of the soil that it can be ploughed one day after a heavy rain. 
Ever since the original owner of the property brought an importa- 
tion of jacks from Kentucky there have been fine mules raised on the 
ranch, about forty having been the number for the past season. A 
specialty is made of Holstein cattle and about two hundred and fifty 
head of hogs are raised annually, besides which considerable atten- 
tion is also given to horses. For eighteen years Jacob Stihl has 
acted as efficient overseer of the ranch, while the eldest son of the 
owner, Jacob Eugene LaEue, was retained as manager until his death 
in January, 1906, since which time another son, Calhoun Lee LaEue, 
has filled the position of superintendent with intelligence and sagacity. 

Tracing the genealogy of the LaEue family it is ascertained 

40 



730 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

that they were so i)rominent in Kentucky that the connty in which 
they lived was named in their honor and Hodgenville, the county-seat, 
was named for tlie maternal grandfather of H. M. LaRue. Near this 
same town Abraham Lincoln was born on a farm owned by Mr. 
LaRue 's grandmother. In the neighboring county of Hardin, same 
state, Hugh McElroy LaRue was born August 12, 1830, being a son 
of Jacob Hodgen and Sarah Cummings (McElroy) LaRue. At the 
age of nine years he accomjianied the family to Missouri and settled 
in Lewis county near the Mississippi river. It was not long before 
he ])egan to talk about going west. The mysterious unknown regions 
beyond the plains seemed to exercise a fascination over his mind. In 
1849, before news of the discovery of gold had reached the neighbor- 
hood, he joined an expedition of emigrants under the command of 
V. A. Sublette and Dr. Conduitt. They crossed the Missouri river at 
Boonville and left Independence on the 29th of April, journeying 
along the Platte river and through South Pass, thence via Sublette's 
cut-oif and the Oregon trail. In the short distance of thirty miles they 
crossed the Truckee river twenty-seven times. On the 12th of August 
they arrived at the Bear river mines near Steep Hollow. For six 
weeks the young prospector remained in that locality, but later he 
mined at Grass valley and Deer creek. With others he built one of 
the first cabins at Oleta, Amador county, and worked the first mines. 

In those days Oleta was known as Fiddletown, the name originat- 
ing in the fact that some violin-])layers from Arkansas passed the long 
and wet winter season at their favorite recreation and the first sound 
heard by the approaching travelers was that of the fiddle. From that 
cam)) Mr. LaRue went to AVillow Springs, four miles west of Drytown, 
where he carried on a small restaurant until early in March. During 
the spring of 1850 he made a trading expedition to Shasta and sold 
groceries from his wagon to merchants and miners. Flour brought 
forty cents per pound, pork, ham, sugar, coffee, potatoes and rice 
from $1 to $1.25 per pound and whisky and brandy about $8 a gallon. 
After a second trip to Shasta in June, same year, he came to Sacra- 
mento and l)egan to work as a blacksmith and wagon-maker. The 
cholera epidemic of that year made it necessary for him to seek other 
em]iloyment. Renting a j^art of rancho del Paso on the Norris grant, 
lie engaged in raising vegetables and later embarked in grain-farming. 
As early as 1857 he planted an orchard of seventy-five acres, the first 
large one in tlie valley and one of the first that was irrigated. The 
floods of 1861-62 damaged the orchard and the failure of Mr. Norris 
following shortly afterward, he bought the orchards, but the floods of 
1868 entirely destroyed the work of the i^revious decade. 

As early as 1866 Mr. LaRue had purchased nine hundred acres in 
Y^olo county and to this he added until the ranch contained more than 
two thousand acres. After the floods of 1868 he sold his interest in 
the rancho del Paso and gave his time to the Yolo county pro]ierty, 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 731 

but made Ms home in Sacramento in order that his children might 
ha\'e the advantages offered by the city schools. When the wine in- 
dustry was still in its infancy he became interested in vineyards and 
planted one hundred acres to grapes. Other improvements were 
made, some of which already have been mentioned, while others, 
equally important, are beyond the limits of this space to present in 
detail. When advancing years rendered active work less desirable, he 
turned over to his sons the care of the large property, and retired 
to private life, with a record of having raised crops for more than 
fifty consecutive years in California. His agricultural experiences 
centered in the counties of Colusa, Yolo, Napa and Sacramento. 

During 1858 Mr. LaEue married Miss Elizabeth Marion, daughter 
of Thomas Lizenby, a pioneer of Lewis county, Mo., and also of 
Colusa county, Cal. Mrs. LaEue was a half-sister of Eev. William M. 
Eush, D.D., of the Missouri conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, also of Hon. John A. Eush, at one time state senator from 
Colusa county and later attorney-general of Arizona. Mr. and Mrs. 
LaEue were the parents of four sons and one daughter, Jacob Eugene 
(who died in January of 1906), Calhoun Lee, Hugh McElrov, Jr., John 
Eush and Marie Virginia (who died in 1888). During 1856 Mr. La- 
Eue became a member of the Sacramento Society of California .Pio- 
neers, of which he served as president several times. As master of 
the Sacramento Grange he was prominent in another organization 
l)roniinent in its day. For years he was a member of Sacramento 
Lodge No. 49, F. & A. M., and also affiliated with the clmpter. 

For years one of the leading Democrats of his locality, Mr. LaEue 
never lost his interest in public affairs and when he passed from 
earth, December 12, 1906, not only his party, but the state as well, lost 
a patriotic sui3}3orter and loyal i^romoter. During 1857 the Democrats 
elected him sheriff of Sacramento county by a majority of eight votes, 
but when the election was contested he lost the office. When" again he 
became a candidate in 1873 he was elected by a large majority^ Dur- 
ing the sessions of 1883 and 1884 he was a member of the lower house 
of the' state legislature and served as speaker. As representative 
from the second congressional district, in 1879, he served as a mem- 
ber of the state constitutional convention. While in the legislature 
he sup])orted the bill ]n'oviding for the erection of an exposition build- 
ing for the State Agricultural Association, also su]iported tlie revision 
of the general railroad laws, the county government act, the bill re- 
organizing the senatorial and assembly districts and the laws relating 
to taxes. During 1888 he was the Democratic candidate for senator 
and ran ahead of his ticket, but was not elected. 

From 1867 until his death in 1906 Mr. LaEue was identified with 
the State Agricultural Association. Three times (1879-1880 and 1882) 
he was chosen president of the orsranization. After 1882 he was a 
member of its board of directors. During the expositions he acted as 



732 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

superiutendeut of the pavilion. While president of the board, also 
while speaker of the assembly, he was an ex-oliicio member of the 
board of regents of the California iState University at l^erkeley. lie 
was National Chief of Viticulture at the Columbian Exposition held 
in Chicago in lay 3. Elected railroad commissioner from JNorthern 
California in 1894, he served as president of the board for four years, 
besides holding other ofdcial positions. With his demise another 
pioneer passed from the scenes of his successful industry. Another 
link joining the present with the past was burst asunder and another 
name was added to those Qf the illustrious immortals recorded in the 
annals of the state. 



EDWARD LEAL Da ROZA 

In all fields of labor the men who lead are those who have been 
fitted by experience for their peculiar offices and it is a refuted theory 
that chance plays a part in the progress of those who would attain 
influence and prosperity among their fellows. 

One of the most able leaders in industrial circles of Sacramento 
county is E. L. Da Roza, who for the past four years has served as 
manager of the Elk Grove Winery, which forms a portion of his 
father's estate. A native of the Island of St. George, Portugal, Jose 
L. Da Roza left his home country for America at the age of seventeen 
years, arriving in New Bedford, Mass. Proceeding to Sacramento, 
Cal., in 1881 he became an employe in the service of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company, but after five years decided to enter a 
more lucrative as well as a more agreeable occupation and to that 
end investigated a business opportunity in Elk Grove, with the result 
that he became associated with John Nevis, who operated a winery in 
that section. For nine years he served his employer faithfully, paying 
strict attention to his duties, at the same time learning every detail of 
the business. In 1895, having concluded to remain permanently in 
the field wherein he had become an expert, he purchased the interest 
of Mr. Nevis, undertaking the control of the plant with immediate 
success, and until his death, in December, 1909, actively conducted his 
affairs with the assistance of his son. His wife, Amelia (Vierra) 
Da Roza, a woman of courageous nature and rare devotion, was a 
native of Portugal. She became the mother of seven children, as fol- 
lows: Mabel, Ida, Edward, John, Joseph, Frank and Clarence. The 
family suffered a deep loss in the death of the wife and mother 
in 1894. 

The third oldest of the children in the parental family, Edward 
L. Da Roza, was born in Elk Grove, Cal., October 27, 1891. After a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 733 

preliminary course in the schools of his home section he became a 
student in the schools of San Francisco, two years later, however, 
returning to Elk Grove and completing his studies in the high school 
of this place, from which he graduated in 1908. He then accepted a 
position as bookkeeper in his father's office, and by patient application 
and intense interest in all matters pertaining to the success of the 
enterprise became an important factor in the business, and after his 
father's death he was made manager, fulfilling his duties with ability 
and tactful leadership. Fortunate indeed was the circumstance which 
led the young man to become associated with the business, for a year 
later the responsibility of his father's interests devolved upon him. 
Rising to the occasion with quiet confidence in his own powers and a 
sincere desire to control affairs to the best of his ability, however, 
his faithfulness to his work continued worthy of the highest com- 
mendation. In his service are eighteen men, all of whom bear hearty 
good will toward their employer, and inasmuch as the capacity of the 
plant is a million gallons annually, it may be readily understood that 
its management requires the utmost care and good judgment. The 
winery is complete with a full line of machinery, including two steam 
engines and boilers, two large stills, a crusher with a capacity of thirty- 
five tons per hour, and is admirably located on an eleven hundred foot 
spur from the Southern Pacific Railroad. In connection with the 
winery there is a ranch of one hundred and eighty acres, one hundred 
acres being in vineyard. In addition to the grapes supplied from their 
own vineyard they buy about five thousand tons of grapes to supply 
the demand. It is interesting to note that the elder Mr. Da Roza 
doubled the business after he bought it, and since his death the busi- 
ness has been doubled again. A branch house is maintained on Beach 
street, New York City, and a large trade is supplied to the Hawaiian 
Islands. 

Mr. Da Roza is a member of Elk Grove Parlor No. 41, N. S. G. W., 
Sacramento Chapter No. 42, R. A. M., and is also affiliated with Elk 
Grove Court No. 103, Foresters of America. Progressive and public 
spirited, he maintains a deep interest in civic affairs and is widely 
known as a man of generous principles and unswerving honor. 



CAPT. WILLIAM M. JENKS 

When Illinois was still in the incipiency of its development 
from a frontier region to a cultured commonwealth an eastern family 
became identified with LaSalle county. The head of the house- 
hold, Livingston Jenks, was a native of Rhode Island, but at a 



7:U HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

very early age lie liad migrated to Pennsylvania, where lie married 
Miss Sallie Bullington, a native of that state. While making their 
home in Warren Center, Bradford county. Pa., a son, William 
Morgan, was born February 20, 1834. Two years later, in 1836, 
the family loaded their household effects in tlie primitive vehicles 
coimnon to tliat period and traveled across the country to Illinois, 
taking up a government claim at Vermillionville, LaSalle county. 
The father was a man of considerable ability and not only trans- 
formed his claim into a productive farm, but in addition he con- 
ducted a small country store and also for thirty years served as 
justice of the peace of his township. After lives of usefulness and 
honor he and his wife entered upon eternal rest many years ago. 
Captain Jenks is a lineal descendant of Gov. Joseph Jenks of Rhode 
Island. 

An eager desire to obtain an education characterized the youth 
of William M. Jenks. His own persevering etforts made possible 
academic advantages. Later he studied law and during 1857 was 
admitted to practice before the supreme court of Illinois. For a 
long period he engaged in general practice in Chicago and Mor- 
rison, Whiteside county, 111., whence he removed to Pawnee Rock, 
Barton county, Kans., in 1876, hoping to recuperate his strength 
by a change of climate and by outdoor em])loyment. During the 
four years of this residence in that state he gave his attention al- 
most wholly to agricultural pursuits. Upon his return to Chicago 
he resumed professional work and also became associated with a 
brother in the real-estate business, helping him in investments that 
later made a fortune for the brother. 

Since June of 1888 Captain Jenks has made his home in Sacra- 
mento, where he was admitted to the bar of California about a year 
after his arrival and since then has been a meml)er of the State Bar 
Association. However, it was only for a few years that he engaged 
in ])rofessional activities. For some time he acted as secretary of 
a corporation engaged in the manufacture of grape baskets. In 
addition for several years he was secretary of the nursery firm of 
C. W. Reed & Co., and managed the papers necessary to secure in- 
corporation for the concern, whose largest stockholder, C. W. Reed, 
was his brother-in-law. As a citizen he has been progressive, de- 
voted to the welfare of CUUifornia and intensely loyal in his al- 
legiance to the nation. When the Civil War began he immediately 
oifered his services to the Union and May 24, 1861, enlisted in Com- 
pany G, Thirteenth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
mustered into the service as first lieutenant. In recognition of his 
meritorious conduct he was connnissioned captain of his company 
on August 10, 1863. Although he participated in all of the engage- 
ments of his regiment he was injured only once and that proved 
to be a mere flesh wound. In the Siege of \'icksburg he was stand- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 735 

ing l)y the side of a tliirteen-incli mortar when it exploded and the 
concussion caused the bursting of one of his ear drums. As a re- 
sult of the accident he became slightly deaf, and as a consequence 
he gave up his ])rofession. At the expiration of his time he was 
honorably discharged, June 18, 1864, with his regiment, and he 
returned to his Illinois home. For thirteen years he served as 
chaplain of Sumner Post No. 3, G. A. R., at Sacramento, and he has 
long been prominent in the local work of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. 

A few months after his return home from the war Captain 
Jenks established domestic ties, being united February 1, 1865, with 
Miss Mary E. Allison, a native of Vincent, Pa., but from early child- 
hood a resident of Mount Carroll, 111. She was a member of the 
first graduating class of Mount Carroll Seminary. For years her 
father. Rev. J. V. Allison, was a minister in the Baptist denomina- 
tion until his death, which occurred at Pawnee Rock, Kans., at the 
age of seventy-five years. The deepest bereavement in the lives 
of Captain and Mrs. Jenks came in the loss of seven of their eight 
children when they were j^et young. The sole survivor, James Wal- 
lace Jenks, born in Chicago, 111., July 23, 1882, followed in the 
footsteps of his father in giving his services to his country in time 
of need. Volunteering in the Spanish-American war, he enlisted 
July 27, 1900, in the United States Marine Corps at Sacramento, 
])eing assigned to the navy yard at Vallejo. Three months later 
he was ordered to the Philippine Islands and saw service on the 
Oregon and Solace and the Island of Guam. On account of an 
injury received while in the service he was given his honorable dis- 
charge at Vallejo, August 29, 1903, when he returned to Sacra- 
mento and became associated with his father in the nursery busi- 
ness under the firm title of W. M. Jenks & Son. By his marriage 
with Miss Mary A. Crabbe, a native daughter of Sacramento, James 
W. Jenks has one son, William Morgan, named in honor of his 
grandfather. Among the people of Sacramento Captain Jenks has 
an enviable reputation for character, integrity and intelligence. 
For years he has officiated as a deacon in the First Baptist Church 
of Sacramento and in other departments of the church work he also 
has been helpful and prominent. 



LEONARD M. LIMBAUGH 

The father of Leonard M. Limbaugh, James B. LimbaugJi, was 
born in Missouri and crossed the plains with ox teams among the 
gold seekers of 1849. For five or six years he lived in San Fran- 
cisco, then came to Brannan Island, where he lived out the re- 



736 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

mainder of his days. His first employment in California was as a 
miner, but it was not long before he took up government land and 
began to raise and handle stock. His wife, who before her mar- 
riage was Eliza Jane Craib, was a native of Canada. She died 
leaving seven children, all living in California except a daughter in 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Leonard M. Limbaugh, a resident of Andrus Island, was born in 
San Francisco March 30, 1862, and during his boyhood was taken by 
his parents to Brannan Island. After receiving a public school edu- 
cation he became a clerk in a general merchandise store at Isleton, 
remaining there five years. Four years after his marriage he turned 
his attention to farming and has followed this occupation ever since. 
Four years ago he bought one hundred acres of land on Andrus 
Island opposite Ryde, where he has since lived, devoting himself 
to the raising of fruit, vegetables, alfalfa and stock. 

The marriage of L. M. Limbaugh occurred in 1886 and united 
him with Sallie Poage, a native of LaGrange, Mo., the daughter of 
Julius and Sallie (Hatton) Poage. Five sons have been born of 
this marriage, as follows: Edwin J., Harold B., Eugene B., Thomas 
A. and Albert N., all of whom have been or still are students in 
the schools of Sacramento county. Born in Kentucky in 1825, Julius 
Poage came to California in 1875 and settled on Andrus Island, 
which was his home until death. His wife, formerly Sallie Neal 
Hatton, was born in Missouri and died in Sacramento. 

Mr. Limbaugh has been a member of the board of school trus- 
tees and the board of election. In politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. 
Limbaugh is a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in 
Sacramento, 



JOHN MARION HARLOW 

The once prominent rancher and business man whose long familiar 
name is given above was born in Illinois, January 24, 1849, and died 
on his California farm in June, 1899, aged about fifty years. His 
father long held the office of public administrator of Sacramento 
county, but he and his wife have been dead many years and their 
names have passed into local history to be listed with those of pioneers. 
Mr. Harlow was fifteen years old when he was brought with the re- 
mainder of father's family from their old Eastern home to California 
His education, which was begun in public schools in the Prairie state, 
was finished here and he associated himself with his father in the lat- 
ter 's ranching operations and remained with him until he was twenty- 
four vears old. Then he married Miss Susie M. Bagnall, a native of 




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yj/l/i/f 1^1/^^^-*-l^^^^,h^,7-^^J^^<x^^ 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 739 

England, who survives him. Three years after her husband's death 
she moved to Sacramento, where she has a home at No. 2301 P street. 
Immediately after his marriage he bought. a ranch at Perkins, which 
he conducted successfully as long as he lived. 

When she was three months old Mrs, Harlow was brought from 
her native England to the United States by her father, Cornelius 
Bagnall. By means of ox-teams they crossed the plains to Salt Lake 
City in 1853 and in 1860 they came to California and settled in Sac- 
ramento. Both parents passed away in this state. Mrs. Harlow be- 
came the mother of seven children, of whom six are living, as follows : 
Mrs. Eva Maguire, of San Francisco; Mrs. Ida Casselman, of Sacra- 
mento ; George M., of Perkins ; John, of Sacramento ; Herbert, of Live 
Oak, and William, of Idaho. 



GUSTAVE ADOLPH KESTLER 

The life which this narrative depicts began August 31, 1860, and 
closed March 31, 1909, and throughout that entire period was iden- 
tified with the city of Sacramento. The earliest experiences of the 
child were associated with this then straggling and unimportant 
city. Here the boy passed through the grammar and high schools 
and here he entered upon the task of earning a livelihood. Here, 
too, when destiny called him into eternity, he closed his eyes upon 
the scenes of earth while still in the prime of manhood, when it 
might not have been unreasonable for him to anticipate many fur- 
ther years of industrious application to his chosen work. It is to 
such intelligent and industrious citizens as Mr. Kestler that the city 
owes its high standing, growing prosperity and substantial develop- 
ment, and as a native-born son and lifelong resident his name is en- 
titled to perpetuation in local annals. While in his youth and imme- 
diately after leaving school he acquired a thorough knowledge of 
the trade of wagon-maker, which he followed afterward, working 
with his father for many years and eventually acquiring a business 
of his own. Tlie death of his father, Martin Kestler, the pioneer 
carriage maker of Sacramento, occurred prior to his own demise, 
but his mother still survives and continues to make Sacramento her 
home. On the organization of the Oak Park Lodge of the Odd 
Fellows he became a charter member and his active connection with 
that society continued unbroken until his death, besides which he 
also held membership with the tribe of Ben Hur in his home city. 
In politics he voted with the Republican party, but took no part in 
partisan affairs and at no time solicited official honors, preferring 



740 HISTORY OF SACRAMKNTO COUNTY 

to enjoy in his lionie and among his friends such leisure as the ac- 
tivities of business allowed him. Every movement for the advance- 
ment of the city and comity received his support and he belonged 
to that class of public-spirited citizens whose quiet but positive 
identification with righteous and progressive principles makes for 
the u))l)uilding of a community. 

Surviving Mr. Kestler is the lady who from their union in 1888 
until his death remained his devoted wife, wise counselor and capa- 
ble assistant, and who since his demise has managed the affairs of 
the estate judiciously, meanwhile continuing her residence at No. 
2608 S street. Mrs. Kestler, formerly Miss Minnie M. Steadman, 
was born in Hudson, Ky., and was reared at La])orte, Ind., being a 
daughter of Arthur H. and Adeline (Dean) Steadman, natives, 
respectively, of England and Kentucky. Deprived of parental care 
by the death of both her father and her mother when she was yet 
very young, she made her home with friends in girlhood in Indi- 
ana and received a common-school education and later at Northern 
Indiana Normal at Valparaiso. Since the year 1887 she has been 
a resident of California. The early loss of her parents was not the 
only bereavement she was called up'on to bear, for an even greater 
blow came in the death of her devoted husband, and the shock of 
the bereavement was doubled by the loss on the very same day of 
their only son. Father and child passed away within an hour of 
each other and were interred in adjoining graves. The son, Harold 
D., a lad of unusual intelligence, was born in 1896, and at the time 
of his death was twelve years and seven months old. As a pupil in 
the grammar school he not only won the friendship of all associates, 
but also established a record for scholarship and rapid progress in 
his studies. 



HARRY DOLE OWEN 

The associations of a lifetime bind Mr. Owen to Sacramento 
county in ties of deepest intimac^^ Here he was born in the city of 
Sacramento December 26, 1863; here he received a fair education in 
the city schools; here he entered upon life's activities as a mem1)er of 
the great array of farmers whose efforts have transformed the com- 
monwealth into a garden spot of beauty and productiveness ; and here 
he now owns and occupies a ranch of five hundred acres near Bruce- 
ville. The raising of grain is the principal business on the farm, but 
stock is also kept, and hogs particularly have proved a profitable 
investment. A fine orchard of twenty-five acres of Bartlett i^ears, 
apricots and plums is to be seen on the farm, and the marketing of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 741 

the fruit adds to the annual income in a gratifying degree. The entire 
appearance of the tract indicates the thrift and energy of the pro- 
prietor and furnishes silent testimony as to his farming ability. 

The Owen family has been identified with American history for 
several generations. The first of the name in the new world settled 
in New England, according to tradition. The exact date of immigra- 
tion is unknown. Suffice it to state that there were a goodly number 
of the name to assist in the agricultural upbuilding of the northeast. 
Eben Owen was born in Portland, Me., November 26, 1812, and at- 
tended the common schools of his native city. At the age of sixteen 
he left school and began to assist his father in a general mercantile 
store, continuing in the same establishment until he had reached the 
age of thirty-six. A desire to see something of the world led him to 
New Orleans, where he taught in the city schools for one year. About 
that time the discovery of gold brought California into world-wide 
prominence, and he determined to join the thousands of Argonauts 
seeking fortunes there. By way of the Isthmus of Panama he came 
to Cxilifornia in 1849 and landed in San Francisco, whence he pro- 
ceeded immediately to Michigan Bar, a mining camp of great tempor- 
ary importance. For one year he followed the adventurous and 
exciting existence of a miner. 

Upon leaving the mines and establishing headquarters in Sacra- 
mento Mr. Owen opened a wholesale grocery establishment, which he 
conducted with remarkable success. In 1857 he sold the business, re- 
turned to Maine and at Portland, July 30, of the same year, was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary Dole, who was born at Alna, 
Lincoln county, that state. Accompanied by his wife, he again came 
to California in 1858 and settled in Sacramento, where their happy 
wedded life was terminated by the death of Mrs. Owen September 28, 
1865. He long survived her, living retired from business activities, 
but personally sui)erintending his property interests until shortly 
before his demise, which occurred October 28, 1892. He left two sons, 
Eben B., who is a farmer on a part of the old home, and Harry Dole 
()wen. The latter had been of the greatest heli) to him during his 
later years, for he personally cultivated the large ranch of thirteen 
hundred acres, attended to the dairy department of the ranch, took 
charge of the sowing of the grain, worked untiringly in harvesting, 
threshing and marketing the wheat, and proved altogether a genuine 
talent for agricultural work. His subsequent pros]^erity proves that 
he made no mistake when he selected ranching for his chosen occu- 
pation. His ranch comprises five hundred and twenty-two acres, 
located on the Cosumnes river, about one and one-half miles east of 
Bruceville. Irrigation for the ranch is su]iplied by means of a ditch 
from the Cosumnes as well as a pumping plant. 

December 15, 1886, H. 1). Owen was united in marriage with 
Miss Margaret Utter, a native of Franklin, Sacramento county, and a 



742 HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

woman of capability and education. They are the parents of three 
children, namely: William E., born November 16, 1887; Mary Gladys, 
May 1, 1889, and Dorothy Grace, who was born November 22, 1894, 
and died July 5, 1910, when almost sixteen years of age. Mr. Owen 
is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, and with his wife 
and family is associated by membership with the Bruceville Metho- 
dist church. 



JOHN E. T. PIKE 

With the exception of his first nine years Mr. Pike passed all 
of his life within the boundaries of the state of California. As he 
viewed the remarkable transformation wrought in his home city of 
Sacramento and in the surrounding country, he was wont to contrast 
the appearance of the village of the pioneer era with the cultured 
metropolis of the twentieth century. It was a source of gratification 
to him that his father, the late John Pike, was one of those sturdy, 
energetic pioneers to whom the west owes the foundation of its 
present prosperity, and he might have reflected with like pardonable 
pride upon his own honorable identification with civic growth. When 
he left his native town of Eastport, Me., where he was born in October, 
1852, it was to begin the then long and tedious journey to the remote 
and unknown regions along the Pacific coast. With a boy's clearness 
of vision and keenness of memory he observed the aspect of the 
strange regions through which the family passed en route via the 
Isthmus of Panama to their destination, and recollections of the trip 
formed one of the most interesting memories of his life. Nor did he 
ever forget the frontier schools of Sacramento and the crude system 
of instruction then in vogue, which formed a startling contrast to the 
educational system afterward adopted. 

To the credit of Mr. Pike it may be said that he remained in 
association with the same firm for forty years, death alone proving 
the cause of ultimate severance. In early youth he entered the office 
of the Wells-Fargo Company at Sacramento. Every position from 
the humblest he filled at different times until eventually he was made 
cashier, and he was filling that responsible post in September of 
1910, when death terminated his earthly labors. He allowed few out- 
side matters to interfere with the daily discharge of business duties. 
Indeed, he took no part in civic projects, much as he approved of all 
that were for the benefit of the community. Nor did he take any part 
in politics, although he kept himself posted concerning national prob- 
lems. Fraternally he co-operated with no organization except Ma- 
sonry, in which he rose to high degree. As a member of Sacramento 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 743 

Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., he first became enlisted in Masonic philan- 
thropies. Later he entered the Eoyal Arch Chapter and the Council 
of Eoyal and Select Masters. In addition, he became connected with 
the Sacramento Commandery, K. T., in which he served as com- 
mander, being the youngest commander up to that time. Eventually 
he was honored with admission to the Islam Temple, N. M. S., at 
San Francisco. 

The Pike residence at No. 1712 P street, Sacramento, is now 
owned and occupied by Mrs. Pike and her only child, Hattie M., now 
Mrs. Glemont Brokaw. She was a native of this city and a graduate 
of its schools. Prior to her marriage in 1878 Mrs. Pike bore the 
maiden name of Fannie M. Hackett. She was educated at Napa 
seminary and Napa college. She, too, claims Sacramento as her na- 
tive city, her father. Dr. Francis M. Hackett, having come from his 
native New Hampshire across the plains to California during the 
memorable year of 1849, and in this state he established a permanent 
home, here being united in marriage with Miss Ellen Merrill, who was 
born and reared in Chicago, 111. When fourteen years of age she 
came with her parents to California, crossing the plains with ox-teams 
in 1849. Dr. Hackett was a pioneer dentist in Sacramento and later 
practiced in San Francisco, where he passed away. Mrs. Pike was 
educated at Napa seminary and Napa college. Among the oldest sur- 
viving settlers who remember Dr. Hackett and his wife they are re- 
called as people possessing true worth of character and the sturdy 
mental and physical attributes necessary to successful pioneering. 



WILLIAM W. HINSEY 

Should the query be propounded as to the identity of the most 
influential citizens of Fair Oaks, the name of William W. Hinsey 
would appear among those of other promoters of the local prosperity. 
Indeed, it would be difficult to overestimate the importance of his 
labors in the organization and management of the Fair Oaks Fruit 
Company. To his capable oversight may be attributed the high finan- 
cial standing of the concern among the banks of Sacramento valley 
and the satisfactory continuance of a large business among the local 
horticulturists. As secretary, treasurer and manager he has been at 
the head of the growth, improvements and progress of the establish- 
ment, which now owns and occupies seven buildings, including an office, 
a warehouse, olive oil mill and packing houses. The present value of 
the holdings of the company in real-estate and improvements aggre- 
gates almost $100,000. Successful prosecution of the business is indi- 



744 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

eated by the fact tliat the coiiipauy has paid out to stockholders one 
hundred and two per cent of the value of the stock since the plant 
was first started, and for the building up of such a profitable industry 
universal credit is given to the efficient manager. 

During the early history of the now thriving citj' of Ottumwa, 
Iowa, no physician was more highly honored and none more success- 
ful in the practice of the profession than Dr, J. C. Hinsey, who made 
his home in that town and there reared his family, among them being 
William W., born in Ottumwa November 18, 1862. After he had com- 
pleted the studies of the common schools he took a commercial course 
in the Ottumwa Business C-ollege and then commenced the earning of 
a livelihood through the work of shipping clerk in the wholesale house 
of Ottumwa Starch Co. and then for three years with W. A. Jordan 
& Son. Recognition of his worth came in his promotion to the posi- 
tion of cashier. For several years he continued with the firm, but in 
1888 he resigned to come to California. On the occasion of this first 
trip to the west he settled at Elsinore, Riverside county, and secured 
an important position with the real estate exchange. 

Upon returning to the old home and resuming Imsiuess asso- 
ciations, Mr. Hinsey organized the Ottumwa Fruit Commission Com- 
pany and continued to operate the concern until his second removal 
to tlie west, which occurred during the year 1898. During the spring 
of 1899 he became assistant manager for George D. Kellogg, a fruit 
shipper of Newcastle, in Placer county, and for the ensuing four years 
he continued in that village. From there he came to Sacramento 
county and settled at Fair Oaks, where later he was one of the promot- 
ers and organizers of the Fair Oaks Fruit Company, one of the most 
successful concerns of its kind in the entire valley. Immediately after 
his arrival in the town he bought a lot and erected a comfortable mod- 
ern residence, which he since has made his home. In addition to other 
business identifications with the town he is a stockholder in the Fair 
Oaks Bank, the organization of which he helped promote through his 
intelligent and zealous endeavors. 

Upon coming to California for the first time Mr. Hinsey was 
accompanied by his young bride. He had married at Ottumwa Se]v 
tember 29, 1888, Miss Carrie E. Logan, a cultured and popular woman 
of that city and the recipient of excellent advantages in its schools. 
Seven sons were born of their union, but the first-born, Harold, died 
at the age of five years. The others are Charles M., George L., Wal- 
ter B., Donald M., Philip H. and Ralph R. In politics Mr. Hinsey has 
been a Republican, though locally supporting the candidates whom he 
regards as best qualified to serve the people regardless of ]-)olitics. 
With his wife he holds meml)erslnp in the Fair Oaks Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, which for many years he served as treasurer, besides 
being a member of the ])oard of trustees. While living in Ottumwa 
he was made a master Mason. Perhaps no subject of general impor- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 745 

tance interests him more than that of education. Favoring good 
schools, he has aided in securing them through a service of years as a 
member of the school board and his influence has accomplished much 
toward the advance locally of the standard of instruction and dis- 
cipline, both of which points are emphasized in the management of the 
Fair Oaks schools. 



MRS. KATHERINE B. FISK 

It is natural that earnest devotion to the welfare of California 
should characterize Mrs. Fisk, for she has been a resident of the state 
from her earliest recollections, and here she has led a useful, con- 
tented and prosperous existence, exhibiting in the management of her 
landed interests a capability and energy equalled by few. To her life 
has presented no opportunity for leisure, but has been a sphere for 
useful activities, and the oversight of her well-improved homestead 
and her varied business interests, as well as attending to her social 
duties and the rearing of her children, has left her little time for 
leisure. While she is the possessor of ample means, the supervision 
of the estate left by her husband at his death and the management of 
her broad interests fill her days with useful activities, although she 
still has time for the duties and obligations that fall to her as a mein- 
ber of the Tuesday club, besides which she takes an active part in 
other social functions of Sacramento. 

Descended from an old and prominent Norse ancestry, Mrs. Fisk 
is the daughter of Ole 0. and Tobina Lovdol, natives of Arndol, Nor- 
way, who immediately after their marriage immigrated to Missouri 
and located in St. Joseph, where Mr. Lovdol became a successful 
merchant tailor. In 1869 he removed with his family on one of the 
first through overland trains to California, and purchased a farm on 
Riverside road, later buying additional acres in Sacramento and Yolo 
counties. He made a specialty of hop growing and was one of the 
largest as well as a pioneer hop grower of California. He became the 
owner of over five hundred acres of land, all devoted to the growing 
of pears, alfalfa and hops. During 1896 he lost his wife, and in 1908 
his own demise occurred at the age of eighty-four years. To his 
descendants he has bequeathed the heritage of an honorable life and 
tireless industry. Starting as a pioneer, he improved the grain land 
so that it yielded manifoldly. By his capable management he ac- 
cumulated a competency and rose to a position of prominence among 
the ho]) growers of the state. Of their seven children, only four are 
living. Of the sons, Thomas B., 0. A., William E. and George B. are 
all deceased excepting 0. A. The daughters, besides Mrs. Fisk, are 



746 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Ovedia, Mrs. F. L. White, and Emma, Mrs. W. E. Beardslee. They 
both reside in Yolo county. 

Mrs. Fisk is herself a native of St. Joseph, Mo., and was two years 
of age when the family moved to Sacramento. Here she was given 
the opportunity of attending the grammar and high schools of Sacra- 
mento, where she availed herself of the privilege of acquiring a prac- 
tical education. Mrs. Fisk owns two hundred and sixty acres of very 
valuable land at Lovdol Station in Yolo county. At her home place 
on Riverside road she owns fifteen acres which for years was devoted 
to the raising of hops, but more recently has been put under cultiva- 
tion to pears. From 1885, when she became the wife of Charles A. 
Fisk, a native of Toronto, Canada, she was his helpful assistant until 
his death in 1909, when she succeeded him in the management of the 
property, and in addition she maintains a wise oversight of the Yolo 
county tract, which is now in hops and alfalfa. Besides the manage- 
ment of her own interests she is one of the executors, with her two 
sisters, of the estate of her brother William E. Lovdol, these vast 
acres in Yolo and Sacramento counties being still intact and operated 
as an estate. Mrs. Fisk is a stockholder in the Sacramento Valley 
Trust Company and the Tuesday Club House Association, as well as 
the Ramie Fiber Company of Berkeley. Four children were born of 
her marriage, but of these one, Thomas E., died in early life. The 
daughter, Ethel, now Mrs. H. C. Whitman, resides with her on the 
ranch, and the oldest son, Charles A., assists her in the care of the 
place. Ernest is a student in the high school. 



F. L. ATKINSON, M. D. 

A native of Illinois, Dr. F. L. Atkinson was born in Galena, 
Jo Daviess county, June 28, 1860. He was educated in the public 
schools of Galena, the Platteville Normal and Valparaiso University, 
after which he entered the medical department of the University of 
Michigan, and completed his medical course at Rush Medical College, 
Chicago. Graduating in February, 1885, with the degree of M. D., 
he came to San Francisco on May 1 of the same year, and after travel- 
ing over the coast and through the northwest, he located permanently 
in Sacramento. Here he has remained ever since, practicing his 
profession. On June 6, 1886, he was elected health officer by the 
City Board of Health, being the first physician chosen to that im- 
portant place within the history of the city. He afterwards became 
assistant county physician and dispensary physician. Dr. Atkin- 
son was elected a member of the Board of Education of Sacra- 
mento in 1897, and served in that position four years. During his 
service here he took an active interest both in a sanitarv and edu- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 747 

catioual way in the city scliools and their improvement. He was 
the first member of the Board of Education in Sacramento to raise his 
voice against the obnoxious fraternities of the high schools, and the 
fact that the matter went to the legislature and was enacted into a 
law restraining these improper and harmful institutions, proved the 
wisdom of the Doctor's judgment. 

Dr. Atkinson believes in a thorough and a practical preparation 
for the duties of any trade, calling or profession. With this in view 
for his own training he has traveled widely over the United States, 
Canada, Europe and Africa, studying in the hospitals of New York, 
Chicago, London, Paris and Vienna. He is a member of the Amer- 
ical Medical Association, the State Medical Society of California, and 
the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, having been sec- 
retary and president of the last mentioned organization. He is sur- 
geon to the Northern Electric Railway Company for this city. Hav- 
ing been an owner of swamp and overflowed lands he naturally takes 
much interest in the reclamation of such tracts, and has devoted 
much time to the study of the Sacramento river, with reference to the 
reclamation of its overflowed shores as well as its navigability. He 
is at joresent trustee for Reclamation District 900, which comprises 
twelve thousand acres of swamp and overflowed land in Yolo county 
directly opjDosite Sacramento City. The territory is known as West 
Sacramento. It was virtually through Dr. Atkinson's efforts that 
$2,500,000 was brought to Sacramento to develop these lands. He 
believes in the great possibilities of Sacramento and the Sacramento 
valley and is a powerful "booster" for these localities. While his 
time is given to the practice of medicine and surgery he finds time 
to look after his city real estate and landed interests. 

Dr. Atkinson was married in Sacramento in August, 1888, to 
Mrs. Florence E. Hodgdon, a native of Sacramento, the daughter of 
William P. Todlmnter, one of the pioneers of Sacramento. Frater- 
nally Dr. Atkinson was made a Mason in Sacramento Lodge No. 40, 
F. & A. M., and is also a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies. He 
is also a charter member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, the Woodmen of the World, Red Men and National Union. 
Politically he has always been a Republican and has taken a deep 
and active interest in the success of the party and in securing for the 
county a clean and progressive administration of public affairs. 



JAMES FRASINETTI 

Foremost among the qualities which are essential to permanent 
success are both optimism and perseverance, controlled by unswerving 
honor, and to the possessor of these attributes fortune denies nothing. 

41 



748 IIISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Keen in business and industrious to a marked degree, James Fra- 
sinetti, sole proprietor of tlie Florin winery of Florin, CaL, today 
occupies a position for which he is fully e(|uii)ped, and among his as- 
sociates is regarded as a man of influence and firmness of purpose, A 
son of beautiful Italy, which has produced many of our biest known 
and most prosperous citizens, his birth occurred November 22, 1872, 
in Montenmrro, in the iirovince of Basilicata, which was also the 
birthplace of his father, Constandino. The latter was united in mar- 
riage with Carmella Galanti, of Montemurro, and of the six children 
born to them, all natives of Italy, five are living. 

Settling in New York City, Constandino Frasinetti engaged in 
the manufacture of candy for eight years, after which he came to San 
Francisco, CaL, and continued in the business for the succeeding two 
years. In 1887 he took his family to Sacramento, where he followed 
his trade successfully until 1897, when he returned to New York City. 
He passed away November 14 of that year, being survived by his wife, 
who died in 1905. 

Though but five years old when the family came to the United 
States, James Frasinetti bears vividly in memory the wonderful 
scenes through which he passed on his way to the new land, and in 
spite of the lure of his mother country has remained loyal to the home 
which has given him both contentment and prosperity. Until the age 
of fourteen he attended public school in New York City, taking ad- 
vantage of his educational opportunities with the foresight character- 
istic of his race, and, upon his graduation, willingly participated in 
the support of the family. In 1885 he accompanied his parents to 
California and assisted his father in the candy business, learning the 
confectioner's trade and becoming an expert in the art of candy 
making. In 1899 he established a winery in Florin, where he has 
since resided. The site of his present vineyard was a grain field when 
he located upon it, and he set out the vines and erected the buildings. 
Most of his products, which include a general line of fine wines and 
brandies, are shipped to New York City, and are in universal demand, 
owing to their superior (luality. 

On May 28, 1893, Mr. Frasinetti was united in marriage in New 
York City with Miss Rose Cassieri, who was reared and educated in 
Italy. Six children lend their contrasting personalities and ambitions 
to the interest of the family circle: Constandino, familiarly called 
"Christie," his father's chief assistant, was born in 1894; Angelo, 
born in 1902; Joseph, in 1904; Carmella, in 1906; Amelio, in 1908, and 
Thresa, in 1910. Mr. Frasinetti and familj^ are known to be both gen- 
erous and thoughtful regarding those less fortunate than themselves, 
and deservedly rank among the leading citizens of the community. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 749 



RUSSELL WELLINGTON MILL 

When representatives of the Mill family sought larger opportun- 
ities than those afforded by their native England they crossed the 
ocean to Canada. The rigors of a stern climate unfortunately gave 
little recompense for the larger agricultural and social liberties ac- 
corded by the newer country. Ultimately James M. and Sarah (Wat- 
ers) Mills gave up their friends and associations in Canada and came 
to California in the hope of finding equal opportunities combined with 
a more genial climate than their home land could boast. The pres- 
ence of relatives at Hollister induced them to settle at that point, and 
near there Mr. Mill for years engaged in ranching, while also finding 
an occasional opportunity to follow his trade of a carpenter. Eventu- 
ally a home was established at Pacific Grove about 1887 and m that 
city Mrs. Mill passed away in 1890, after which her husband joined his 
son at Sacramento and took up carpentering in this city. 

At the old home near Hastings, Canada, Russell Wellington Mill 
was born December 2, 1869, and when but little past six years of age 
he left forever those scenes familiar to his earliest memories. During 
January of 1876 he arrived in California with his parents and after- 
ward attended school at Hollister, eventually completing his studies 
in the Pacific Grove schools. After he left school he began to learn 
the carpenter's trade at Pacific Grove and in 1890 he came to Sacra- 
mento, where later he was joined by his father. In this city he 
learned every detail connected with mill work during the thirteen 
years of his connection with the firm of Bassett & Minford. When 
their plant was destroyed by fire he secured employment with another 
firm. Meanwhile, June 28, 1900, he married Miss Edina Scott, 
daughter of Thomas and Nettie Scott and a lifelong resident of Sac- 
ramento, where for years Mr. Scott has carried on a retail plumbing 
establishment. 

It was during 1904 that Mr. Mill embarked in business for him- 
self. His first purchase consisted of what was known as Campbell's 
mill on Fifth street, and there he built up a growing and profitable 
trade in his line. Evidence of his increasing prosperity appeared in 
his purchase of a tract on Third and V streets, where his plant now 
occupies almost a block of very valuable land. During 1910 he erected 
a modern and well-equipped mill, which when run at its full capacity 
furnishes em])loyment to eighty hands. In the mill may be found 
every feature of modern plants of its kind. The equipment facilitates 
the ]irompt and satisfactory handling of lumber from which to manu- 
facture sash, doors and interior finishings for residences. Under the 
title of the Sacramento Planing Mill and Furniture Companv the firm 
has been incorporated and has risen to a front rank in the line of its 



750 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

specialties. The success of the venture is due to the untiring energy 
and wise management of the proprietor, who gives his entire time to 
the supervision of the mill and allows no extraneous matters to de- 
tract his attention from the business. Politics has never entered into 
bis life nor has he taken time for participation in fraternal activities, 
with the sole exception of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to 
which he has belonged for twenty years, and which has received his 
helpful generosities in many of its philanthropies. 



GEORGE W. FICKS 

With every passing year the ranks of the Grand Army of the 
Republic grow thinner and the diminishing corps of the survivors 
walk with less of the military erectness characteristic of their younger 
days. Prominent among the veterans of the Union army now living 
in Sacramento we mention the name of George W. Ficks, who is af- 
fectionately and familiarly known by the title of colonel, although no 
epaulets adorned his uniform as he fought with desperate earnestness 
during the long and sanguinary encounters with the Army of the 
Potomac, nor did a grateful country reward his services with other 
than the honorable mention given to thousands of lads who, like him- 
self, left home and friends in order to volunteer in the defense of the 
Union. The war has long since become only a memory, but as long as 
gratitude exists in the hearts of patriots, so long will the names of 
the loyal defenders of the Union be cherished with peculiar tender- 
ness in the annals of our history. 

Born in Pittsburg, Allegheny county. Pa., November 7, 1846, and 
reared in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties, in the same state, 
Colonel Ficks lived the life of strenuous activity usual to farmers' 
sons, and hence had but few educational opportunities. When scarcely 
eighteen years of age he enlisted, in September, 1864, as a private in 
Company K, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, and 
was assigned to the Ninth Army corps, Army of the Potomac. His 
most memorable engagement was the siege and capture of Petersburg, 
and he also had many thrilling experiences while serving on detached 
duty, finally participating in the Grand Review at Washington. After 
peace had been declared he was honorably discharged during the 
summer of 1865, and then returned to Pennsylvania, where he attended 
school at Leechburg during the ensuing winter. With the close of 
that term his schooling came to an end and he again took up the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 751 

battle of life. Work in a lumber mill at Newcastle was secured ; later 
he was employed in a livery stable; in fact, he eagerly grasped any 
chance to earn an honest livelihood. 

Meanwhile many reports concerning- prospects in California had 
reached the ears of the young ex-soldier, who finally determined to 
seek a livelihood in the west. February 9, 1868, he left Newcastle, Pa., 
for New York City, and there he boarded a ship bound for the Isthmus 
of Panama. From that point he sailed by steamer to San Francisco, 
and after a few days in the western metropolis he proceeded to Sac- 
ramento. Next he went to the timber regions of Butte county and 
worked in the lumber mills during the summer, thence going to Rock- 
lin. Placer county, where he was employed in a stone quarry during 
one winter, A later employment of five months as a brakeman on the 
Southern Pacific railroad was followed by a visit of about three 
months at his old Pennsylvania home, from which he returned to the 
employ of the railroad company, continuing thus engaged for eighteen 
months. Afterward he secured a clerkship in the dry goods store of 
E. Lyon & Co., Sacramento, and for thirteen years he remained in 
the same position, resigning in order to become a reporter with the 
Sacramento Record-Union under the management of W. H. Mills. For 
seven years he continued with the daily paper, and then served for 
four years as United States storekeeper in the Fourth district during 
the administration of President Benjamin Harrison. Subsequently 
he held a position under Mayor Steinman of Sacramento, which was 
followed by the lease of the Clunie opera house, which he managed 
for three seasons. For six years, or until New Year's of 1911, he 
held a position in the office of Hon. Charles F. Curry, secretary of 
state. At this writing he is the manager of the distributing agency 
for the ' ' Tragedy of Andersonville, ' ' which was written and published 
by Gen. N. P. Chipman, presiding judge of the appellate court. 

The marriage of Colonel Ficks took place in Sacramento Novem- 
ber 10, 1872, uniting him with Miss Inez Huff, who was born and 
reared in Placerville, this state, and who passed away February 22, 
1908, leaving two daughters. Two sons, Miles Grant and Frank, had 
died in childhood. The elder daughter, Edna Inez, is the widow of 
John D. Bauman, an importer of New York City, who lost his life in 
the sinking of the Titanic April 15, 1912. The younger daughter, 
Blanche, is the wife of George F. Roberts, and lives in Bisbee, Ariz. 
During the long period of his residence in Sacramento Colonel 
Ficks has witnessed the development of the city and his portion of 
the state. He has filled many positions of trust and time and again 
has proved the worth of his citizenship to the higher developement of 
the locality. The Republican party has numbered him among its 
leading local workers, frequently he has represented its interests by 
service as a delegate to county and state conventions and he is now 
a member of the count}^ Roosevelt Republican committee. A man of 



752 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tried worth and integrity, he has proved loyal to his country not 
alone on the field of battle during the thrilling era of the Civil war, 
but also in the quiet round of citizenship during times of peace, and 
with justice he is regarded as one of the useful, patriotic men of his 
home city. On May 31, 1913, Colonel Ficks was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Hiram W. Johnson, commissioner to represent the state of Cali- 
fornia at the national celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 
hattle of Gettj^sburg, Pa. 



REV. WILLIAM F. ELLIS 

The pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Sacra- 
mento ranks among the rising young clergymen of the Sacramento 
diocese, whither he came by appointment immediately after he had 
been ordained to the holy priesthood in Rome. The family of which 
he is a member is noted for the scholarly attainments of its male 
representatives and for their devotion to the cause of the church. 
Out of a family of seven there are five now living, all of whom are 
men of conspicuous mental endowments and extraordinary intellectual 
attainments. The eldest, Rev. J. H. Ellis, is pastor of the church at 
Jackson, Amador county, this state. The third, T. H., is now a stu- 
dent in the Propaganda University in Rome, Italy. The fourth, 
Vincent C, is a student in the Catholic University at Dublin, Ireland. 
The youngest, James P., is a civil engineer of superior qualifications. 
The father, James Ellis, is himself a man of education and ability. 
During young manhood he had married Miss Anne Clyne, who died in 
Ireland in June of 1911, and who was a member of a distinguished 
Catholic family, one of her brothers. Father P. J. Cljnie, who died 
in Grass Valley, Cal., having been long and successfully connected 
with the Sacramento diocese. 

The county of Westmeath, at no great distance from the city of 
Dublin, Ireland, is the native home of Father Ellis, and July 24, 1881, 
the date of his birth. In young manhood he was sent to the national 
schools. Religious training, begun with his first instruction by his 
parents, was continued after the age of eleven years in the Christian 
Brothers college at Mullinger, where he completed the regular course 
of study, graduating in 1897. Immediately afterward he entered All 
Hallows' college in Dublin, where he took a course in philosophy. The 
four years of study in that institution were most helpful and ]H-ofitable. 
With his graduation in 1901 he turned his steps toward Rome, where 
he studied theology at the Irish college and the Propaganda university 
and in 1904 was graduated with high honors. May 28 of the same 
year he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in the St. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 753 

Jolm Lateran Cathedral at Rome. Under an appointment to the Sac- 
ramento diocese he came to California, where he became assistant to 
Father L. Kennedy in St. Bernard's church at Eureka. From there 
he was transferred to Sacramento during December of 1909 as pastor 
of the parish of the Immaculate Conception. The first services he 
]:',eld in a temporary edifice, which soon was enlarged. At this writing 
plans are in readiness for a Romanesque structure of brick, to have a 
capacity of seven hundred persons. The parish property consists of 
one-half block, bought in 1909, and bounded by Orange, Sacramento, 
Thirty-second and Thirty-third streets. On the corner of Thirty-sec- 
ond street and Sacramento avenue he has erected an attractive par- 
ochial residence. Soon a parochial school will be added to the group 
of buildings, and these, upon the completion of the edifice, will give 
ample facilities for the training of children and the religious needs 
of the five hundred families comprising the parish. In the parish 
there are various organizations for the upbuilding of the church, in- 
cluding the Altar and Sanctuary societies, Children of Mary and the 
Holy Name society, all of which are proving most helpful as an aid 
to the pastor in his many responsibilities. 



DANIEL D. SULLIVAN 

A complete enumeration of the citizens identified with the ma- 
terial advancement of Sacramento associated with the progress of the 
Republican party in the community and helpful in the interests of 
labor throughout the state, could not fail to include and give prom- 
inence to the name of Daniel D. Sullivan, who for many years has 
been connected with the state printing office. In many respects a list 
of his activities is also a list of measures for the growth of Sacra- 
mento. His enterprises have been varied, but always for the better- 
ment of local conditions. His activities have been large, Init never 
for any movement not calculated to develop the permanent welfare of 
the region. While aiding civic and district projects, he has not lost 
sight of individual needs, but has been active in his aid to charitable 
organizations and in his personal help to the poor. As chairman of 
the police and fire commission, and as a member of the committee on 
safety and health, he has conserved the interests of the people, and 
his citizenship has been further made valuable through his service as 
a member of the committee that outlined the park system at Haggin 
grant, a subdivision adjoining Sacramento on the north. 

Born in New York City in 1859, Daniel D. Sullivan is a member 
of a family that included ten children, whose ])arents, Jeremiah J. and 



754 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Annie (Bonclier) Sullivan, were natives respectfully of New York 
and New Jersey. For years the father followed the trade of a baker 
in New York City, but during the Civil war he left his business and 
his home in order to aid the Union. For three years he served with 
fidelity and took part in all the engagements of his regiment during 
that period, but finally a severe wound incapacitated him for further 
service, and he then received an honorable discharge. Some time 
after his discharge he determined to leave the east for the newer 
fields of the far distant west. About that time the railroad was being 
completed across the continent and public interest was aroused in the 
development of the coast regions. 

The family established a home at Sacramento during 1868 and 
the father found employment as a baker, but after five years he re- 
moved to San Francisco, where he was made foreman of a cracker 
factory. That position he continued to fill until 1882. Both he and 
his wife died in San Francisco during the year 1901. Instead of join- 
ing the family in the coast city, Daniel D. Sullivan remained in Sac- 
ramento, and in 1882 he entered the state printing office, where he 
learned the trade of a pressman. From that time to the present he 
has been in the same office, and since 1895 he has held the position of 
foreman of the press department, where he has twenty men under him 
and where he is responsible for much work of great importance. His 
eldest son, Elmo D., who married Celia Morton, is also a skilled 
printer, and is now employed by the Star Publishing Company of Sac- 
ramento. The other children, Athol F., Merced, Loraine, Gertrude E. 
and Frank, are still living at home. 

At the time of the organization of the State Federation of Labor 
Mr. Sullivan actively assisted in promoting the same and from the 
outset he was one of the officers. For three terms he was honored with 
the presidency, being the only man to whom has been given the dis- 
tinction of filling the important office for three terms. At this writing 
he is president of the Sacramento Federation of Trades Council. As 
one of the founders of Labor Temple, he took a prominent part in a 
movement of enduring importance to the cause of labor in the capital 
city. Elected the first treasurer of the Temple, he still fills the office, 
and in addition he has been a member of its board of directors ever 
since the start. For three terms he was honored with the presidency 
of the Sacramento Press Union, and in 1907 he served as a delegate 
to the National Convention of Pressmen at Brighton Beach. For 
years he has been a member of the Sacramento Chamber of Com- 
merce, and allusion previously has been made to his work as a mem- 
ber of its committees. As a member of the state central committee 
since 1898 he has exerted liis influence for the upbuilding of the Re- 
publican ])arty, as he has also when serving as a delegate to every 
state convention of the party held since 1899. In addition, he was 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 755 

honored by being chosen delegate from the fourth district to the 
national Republican convention at Chicago in 1904 that nominated 
Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency. As a progressive worker in 
the party, he has been in sympathy with the platform and principles 
of that renowned party leader. The Eagles and Elks number him 
among their members, being a life member of the Elks, but his interest 
in fraternities is less engrossing than that in public affairs and in 
labor problems. Accordingly, we find that it is in these two depart- 
ments of citizenship that he finds his most engrossing activities and 
has reached his a'reatest influence. 



HON. PETER J. SHIELDS 

The lineage of the Shields family indicates a long line of Celtic 
ancestors and it was not until 1843 that Patrick Shields transplanted 
this branch from the Emerald Isle to the shores of America. At the 
time of emigration he was a man of middle age, frugal, purposeful 
and industrious, but handicapped by lack of means. Accompanied 
by his wife, Mary, and their sons, he crossed the ocean to the new 
world and proceeded to the then undeveloped regions of the Missis- 
sippi valley, where he took up a tract of government land and en- 
tered upon general farming. With the aid of his boys he trans- 
formed a raw tract into a productive farm and ultimately acquired 
the title to two hundred and ten acres of fertile land, which he had 
stocked with a large herd of cattle as well as other stock. His death 
occurred in November of 1856, when he was sixty-five years of age. 
Surviving him were three sons, of whom Frederick and Dennis sought 
homes in the undeveloped lands of Minnesota, while John, who was 
born in Ireland April 26, 1835, became a pioneer of California, leav- 
ing his Illinois home May 4, 1856, and landing in San Francisco 
on the 14th of June after an uneventful trip by way of Panama. 
For three months after his arrival he operated a threshing-machine 
for the owner, after which for eight or ten months he worked at $3 
per day in the mines at Farmers' Diggings and elsewhere along the 
American river. 

The first association of John Shields with western agriculture 
occurred in 1857, when he bought the squatters' right to three hun- 
dred and twenty-four acres, covered with brush and timber, and con- 
taining a black and sandy loam soil which proved very productive. 
The ranch was in Brighton township, Sacramento county, thirteen 
miles from the city of Sacramento, and bounded on the north by the 
American river. The original Hano-town Crossino- was near this 



756 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ranch, but later that name was discarded for the present title of Mills. 
All of the improvements on the place were made by Mr. Shields, who 
about 1879 increased his holdings by the purchase of one hundred 
acres near the original farm. Twenty acres were planted in a vine- 
yard, and the crops were so large that it is said about twenty-four 
tons of grapes were harvested from three acres in one season. One 
hundred acres were planted to an orchard of peaches, pears, plums 
and French prunes. Eventually the owner relinquished his arduous 
ranching activities and removed to Yolo county, where he now makes 
his home. November 18, 1859, he married Mrs. Elizabeth (Bow) 
Lynch, who was born in Ireland, crossed the ocean to Massachusetts 
in early life and in 1855 became a resident of California. They had 
a family of five daughters and two sons, namely : Mary, who married 
Charles Deterding; Lizzie A., wife of M. C. Pike; Alice; Hannah, 
who made a specialty of instrumental and vocal music and rose to a 
high rank in the profession; Emily, Peter J. and Robert E. Four of 
the family are still living. The mother, who possessed unusual abil- 
ity, made a specialty of the fruit industry and attained a reputation 
as one of the most thorough and prominent orchardists in the entire 
state. As an authority on horticulture her advice was sought by 
people from all parts of the west. When she died in 1895 the State 
Fruit-Growers' Association passed suitable resolutions of regret and 
condolence and alluded to her as ''the fruit queen of California," a 
title which her wise and long-continued labors fully justified. 

At the old homestead on the American river Peter J. Shields 
was born April 4, 1862. The neighboring schools afforded him fair 
advantages. Later he was graduated from the Christian Brothers 
college in Sacramento. At the age of eighteen years he took up the 
study of law in the office of A. P. Catlin. Three years later he was 
admitted to practice at the bar of the state. With professional am- 
bitions and youthful hopes he took up the practice of law, only to 
find himself forced to abandon practice at the age of twenty-four 
and to give attention to the restoration of his health, which had been 
seriously injured by over-study. As the best means of physical re- 
cuperation he sought outdoor employment and turned his attention 
to a careful study of livestock, with such success that he since has 
been selected to act as judge in many of the most important stock 
shows in the entire country. It is said that his judgment of an 
animal is seldom at fault. At a glance he detects their favorable 
points as well as the apparently invisible weaknesses which prove a 
blemish to their record. 

During the period of open-air activities as a means of health 
restoration, the young man liad not wholly relinquished all identifica- 
tion with city affairs, but still held the office of trustee of the Cali- 
fornia state library, to which at the age of twenty-three years he 
had l)0(Mi a])ii()iiited by Governor Bartlett and in which his service 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 757 

was so intelligent tliat he was again appointed in 1897. When he 
returned to Sacramento in 1895 he became a deputy to the state 
librarian, filling the position for nine months. During the next two 
years he served as secretary of the California code commission, 
while later for a similar period he held the private secretaryship to 
the governor, during the same period likewise serving as secretary 
of the State Agricultural Society. Resuming the practice of law in 
1900 as an associate of Hon. Hiram W. Johnson, the present gov- 
ernor of California, he continued in private practice until a few 
months later, when he was elected judge of the superior court of 
Sacramento county by the largest majority ever given a judge in 
that county. While a Democrat in politics, he received a majority of 
eighteen hundred, the largest ever given up to that time. The first 
election was for an unexpired term, after which he was re-elected by 
a very heavy vote and then in 1908 he was chosen judge by the largest 
vote given any candidate on either side. 

In the office of jurist Judge Shields has proved impartial and 
tactful, the possessor of a profound knowledge of jurisprudence and 
the exemplifier in his own forceful character of the ethics of the 
judicial office. Only an admirable personality could attain to his pop- 
ularity and prestige. Democracy, civic duty and good government 
are among the causes that have enlisted his intelligence. Sincerity of 
purpose has directed his conduct in every relation of life and has 
governed his excellent administration of the affairs of his court. 
Every movement for the upbuilding of the Sacramento valley has en- 
listed his sympathy and he has been particularly helpful in promoting 
the reclamation work. Educational activities have benefited by his 
wise participation and probably the most important act of his life was 
his furtherance of the university farm and school of agriculture, lo- 
cated at Davis. From the first he favored the plan for such an in- 
stitution and realized that it could be made most valuable to the 
material development of the state. Not only did he aid the cause by 
forcible speeches on the subject, but in addition he drew the bill 
creating such a school, and through his etforts it was passed by the 
legislature. In its present usefulness and future value to state ad- 
vancement it is now and will continue .to be for years to come a monu- 
ment to the sagacious efforts of himself and other high-minded, patri- 
otic citizens broad in vision and prompt in action. 



JOHN LATOURRETTE 

The possession of decided business ability is indicated by the 
gratifying degree of success that has rewarded the painstaking efforts 
of Mr. Latourrette, one of the progressive and prominent business 



758 HIJSTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

men of Sacramento. From his earliest recollections he has been fam- 
iliar with this county. Fdncated in its schools, trained to a knowledge 
of its conditions, familiar with its possibilities and conversant with 
its history, he was prepared to enter into its business activities with 
every hope of success offered by painstaking industry and forceful 
determination. During young manhood he embarked in business for 
himself, and his subsequent career has been one of slow but steady 
advancement in the specialty selected for his life-work. The business 
established by his energy and pushed forward by his progressive 
spirit is now incorporated, with himself as secretary, treasurer and 
the principal owner, while W. D. Scoville fills the office of president 
and Dr. John L. White serves as vice-president. 

Brought to the west during his infancy, John Latourrette is a 
native of Dayton, Ohio, and was born February 18, 1876, being a son 
of Paredes and Eliza (Smith) Latourrette, natives respectively of 
Ohio and Pennsylvania. The father was a tinner by trade, and during 
early life, while following that occupation, he offered his services to 
the Union as a soldier, was accepted, sent to the front, assigned to 
the army of the west with an Ohio regiment under General Grant and 
for three years remained in active service, eventually receiving an 
honorable discharge at the expiration of his term of enlistment. Dur- 
ing 1876 he brought his family to California and settled at Gait, Sac- 
ramento county, where he opened a tin- shop and later developed the 
business into that of general hardware. During 1890 he was be- 
reaved by the death of his wife, and of recent years he has made his 
home with his son, John, in Sacramento. 

Upon the completion of the regular course of study in the county 
public schools and a business college of Sacramento, John Latourrette 
began to learn the trade of a tinner under his father. At the same 
time he gained a general knowledge of the hardware business and 
also studied the management .of heating apparatus as well as the 
putting in of plumbing. At the age of eighteen he was able to secure 
a position with Hallbrock, Merrill & Stetson, and for four years he 
continued with that firm. Desiring to embark in business for him- 
self, he resigned his position and rented a shop in Oak Park, where 
he engaged in sheet-metal work-, also in plumbing and heating. For 
six years he carried on the store alone, after which he was the senior 
member of the firm of Latoui-rette & Fical, continuing in that connection 
until July 18, 1910, when the business was incorporated with the 
present officers. The house is now one of the largest of its kind in 
Northern California, and enjoys an enviable reputation for thorough- 
ness of work and honesty in business transactions. Among the recent 
plumbing and heating contracts awarded the firm may be mentioned 
those for Hotel Sacramento, the White and Donnelly building. Forum 
building, Sacramento county courthouse, California National Bank 
and People's Savings Bank, as well as contracts for various sub- 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 759 

stantial residences in Sacramento and Northern California. In poli- 
tics Mr. Latourrette always has sustained Eepublican principles by 
his ballot. In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Improved Order of Eed Men, Eagles, 
Woodmen and Fraternal Union. On February 24, 1897, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Etta Larned, whose father settled at Placer- 
ville during the early mining era and became a man of prominence 
among the pioneers of the locality. Two daughters, Jessie and Leona, 
comprise the family of Mr. and Mrs. Latourrette. 



MAEK H. EBEL 

The artistic ability displayed by Mr. Ebel in floriculture comes 
to him as an inheritance, for his father, Frederick Ebel, has few 
superiors in landscape gardening and in the appropriate selection 
of plants to produce certain desired effects. The two have exercised 
an uplifting influence upon their art in Sacramento, influencing the 
residents to develop taste in the selection of plants, in the arrange- 
ments of flowers upon their lawns and in the massing of plants for 
display. The beautiful lawns of the capital city arouse the admira- 
tion of all visitors and not a little credit for the same justly belongs 
to the Ebels, who possess in an unusual degree a genuine love for 
flowers and a remarkable taste in the creation of artistic effects in 
landscape gardening. The elder florist, who was born in Hamburg, 
Germany, and came direct from his native land to Sacramento about 
1870, has always made a specialty of landscape gardening, in which 
capacity he was employed on the state capitol grounds. While in the 
employ of the Crocker family during the early days he assisted in 
their important designs for artistic landscape effects and platted as 
well as superintended the grounds of their art gallery. Throughout 
his entire life he has engaged in the one occupation. No induce- 
ments have been sufficient to divert him from the business of his 
choice and he is now conducting a. florist's establishment on Tenth 
and P streets, where he carries a complete stock of cut flowers as 
well as every variety of plant life appealing to his large circle of 
customers. 

At the time of his arrival in Sacramento Frederick Ebel was 
a single man, but shortly afterward he was united in marriage with 
Miss Dora Stehr, a native of the same German city as himself. 
They have lost one of their children, a son, Augiist, and the surviv- 
ing members of their family are Mark H. and Lucy, the latter being 
the widow of William Woolston, of Sacramento. Mark H. was born 



760 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

in Sacramento November 10, 1874, received a conmion-school educa- 
tion in his native city and after leaving school worked for his father 
for a time, meanwhile acquiring a thorough knowledge of plants 
and flowers. For three years he had the management of the floral 
business of C. B. Strong & Co., and upon the discontinuation of the 
same by the owners he purchased the florist's department, which 
he has since conducted, having been at different locations at various 
times since he started in business for himself during 1893. At this 
writing he is the owner and manager of the establishment at Nos. 
lOlG-18 Seventh street, where he conducts one of the most attractive 
stores of its kind in the city. He has established home ties, having 
been married September 7, 1911, to Miss Louise Dougherty, of Sac- 
ramento, a lady of education and culture, who joins with him in 
maintaining an intelligent interest in all movements for the better- 
ment of the city. By virtue of his birth in Sacramento he has 
become identified with the Native Sons of the Golden West, while his 
fraternal relations are further expanded through membership with 
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order 
of Foresters. Ever since he attained his majority he has voted the 
Republican ticket at national elections and has maintained a warm 
interest in public enterprises, but has not aspired to official honors 
nor cared to identify himself with partisan politics. 



DANIEL D. AMAYA 

The list of honored pioneers of California contains the name of 
the Amaya family, whose identification with the west has covered a 
long period of development. When the Indians still roamed un- 
molested through the wide expanses .of forests and over the broad 
unsettled prairies, they proved a constant source of menace to the 
settlers and at times their depredations brought fatal consequences. 
One such occurrence happened when Joe Reyes Amaya, Sr., finding 
that his stock had been stolen by the savages, hastened alone in pur- 
suit of the cattle thieves. At the Big Basin he overtook them and 
endeavored to regain his stolen property, but single-handed he was 
unable to co])e witli the Indians and was killed by them. In his family 
was a son who ])ore his own name and who for years followed the 
trade of a butcher, but eventnally, when out lumting with his son, 
Daniel D., he was wounded by the accidental discharge of the gun. 
Blood poisoning followed and in three weeks he died. From early life 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 761 

he liacl been fond of hunting game and was an expert marksman, 
usually returning from his hunting expeditions with abundant evi- 
dences of his skill. Throughout much of Ms life he made his home at 
Santa Cruz, this state, where his wife was born and reared. They 
became the parents of eight children, but only two of these are now 
living, Daniel D. and Arthur, the former born June 26, 1870, at Santa 
Cruz, and identified throughout life with the interests of California. 

It was not the privilege of Mr. Amaya to receive a thorough edu- 
cation, as he began to be self-supporting at an early age and for some 
time helped his father in the meat market, also working in a res- 
taurant for a time. His first trip to Sacramento was made in 1890, 
but he did not then become a permanent resident. Other places claimed 
his attention, and he gratified a desire to see more of the state, trav- 
eling through ditferent localities and meantime earning a livelihood at 
his trade. In 1897 he returned to Sacramento and this city has since 
been his home. For two years he acted as manager of the Kleinsorge 
store and then formed a partnership with William Atkinson in the 
meat business, opening a market on Second and M streets. Eventu- 
ally he erected a modern business block, in which he opened a market 
August 14, 1909, and since then he has continued at the same location, 
meanwhile leasing the grocery department. As a business man he 
possesses exceptional capabilities. Through energy and sagacious 
judgment he is making steady progress and now ranks among the 
prosperous citizens of Sacramento. 

The marriage of Mr. Amaya took place January 29, 1899, and 
united him with Miss Adelaide M. Porter, who was born at Live Oaks, 
Sutter county, this state, and is a woman of education and culture, 
and a devoted member of the Christian Science church. The only child 
of their union is a son, Arthur Elwood, born January 4, 1900, and 
now a student in the city schools. Mrs. Amaya is a daughter of J. C. 
and Melissa (Stevenson) Porter, natives respectively of Kirtland, 
Lake county, Ohio, and Missouri. At an early age Mr. Porter mi- 
grated as far west as Missouri and during his sojourn in that state 
he married Miss Stevenson. Later he established a home in Califor- 
nia, where he engaged in raising stock and grain. Of later years he 
owned and operated a hotel. His death occurred in May of 1907, and 
since then Mrs. Porter has made her home with Mrs. Amaya, who was 
one of four children forming the parental family, three now living. 
Fraternally Mr. Amaya has been identified with the Elks and Eagles 
for some years and he also belongs to several organizations for busi- 
ness development, notably the Butchers' Association. In politics he 
is an active, zealous Republican, but never a candidate for office. Be- 
sides the ownership of his residence and business property in Sac- 
ramento he owns one-half interest in a valuable fruit farm of ten 
acres located near Fair Oaks. 



762 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



NICHOLAS JOSEPH HULLIN 

Possessed of a magnetic and pleasing personality, as well as an 
intense power of concentration of energy, Mr. Hullin is peculiarly 
fitted for his duties as superintendent of the Sacramento Street Rail- 
way Company, a position requiring a high degree of tact, ability and 
diplomacy, and by his fair judgment and impartial favor enjoys the 
esteem of all with whom he is associated. The youngest son of George 
and Margaret (Barry) Hullin, the latter natives of Swansea, Wales, 
and London, England, respectively, Nicholas J. Hullin 's birth occurred 
in Onehuuga, New Zealand, February 19, 1860. When a babe he 
removed with his parents to Australia, and upon reaching school age 
attended private school in Sydney, and afterward in the Society Is- 
lands, but soon returned to Sydney. It was in 1879 that he came to 
San Francisco, Cal., where he served for a time as machinist with the 
Risdon Iron works, and the experience acquired during this employ- 
ment has proved of great value to him through life, serving as a step- 
ping stone to increased success. As a road machinist he was in the 
service of the Market Street Railway Company of San Francisco from 
1882 until five 3^ears later, when he accepted a position as machinist 
with the Sutter Street Railway Company of San Francisco. Resign- 
ing the latter position in 1891, he entered the service of the Piedmont 
Cable Company of Oakland, Cal., serving first as machinist and after 
eight months' service being promoted to master mechanic and super- 
intendent of track construction. In 1896 he came to Sacramento, hav- 
ing accepted a position with the Sacramento Street Railway Company,^ 
serving first as construction foreman, and a year later became super- 
intendent of track construction, filling this position acceptably and 
faithfully until his appointment to his present position as general 
superintendent in August, 1910. 

Mr. Hullin 's marriage took place in San Francisco, on April 24, 
1884, when he was united with Miss Marie Menjou, a native of Pau, 
France, whose parents, Pierre and Claire (Vigneau) Menjou, were 
natives of Basses-Pyrenees, France. Five children blessed this mar- 
riage. Claire is the eldest. Nicholas is a machinist for the Pacific 
Gas and Electric Company. Albert is timekeeper and construction 
clerk for the same organization. Philip and Dorothy are students in 
the Sacramento public school. 

Mr. Hullin has been identified with the Masonic fraternity for the 
past nine years, holding membership in Sacramento Lodge No. 40, 
F. & A. M., which in 1909 he served as master. He is also a thirty- 
second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Islam Temple, 
N. M. S., of San Francisco. He is a past chancellor commander of the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 763 

Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Confidence Lodge of that 
order, and is also a member of Court Twin Peaks, A. 0. F., in San 
Francisco. An ardent Republican in his political views, he believes 
in the principles of that party, and in a broad-minded and practical 
manner lends his aid to the community, his citizenship being beyond 
censure. He is widely known as a stanch supporter of all enterprises 
relating to the public good. 



CARL KAUFMAN 

The distinctive mental endowments that peculiarly adapt the peo- 
ple of his race for successful identification with mercantile pursuits 
appear among the most prominent attributes in the character of Mr. 
Kaufman and lie at the foundation of his present prosperity. It was 
his good fortune, when he left his native land of Germany and came 
to the United States at the age of fifteen, to secure employment with 
one of the leading firms of Sacramento; and, while his position was 
at first the very humble and illy-paid work of bundle boy, he was so 
eager to learn, so quick to perceive and so energetic in action that he 
soon learned the details of the business and won his way to deserved 
promotion, ultimately through the frugal saving of his wages and the 
complete mastery of mercantile principles, becoming interested finan- 
cially in the business that gave him his first start toward wealth. 
Although now in a financial position that would justify retirement and 
a life of ease, his love of business is so keen that he continues at the 
head of an establishment of note in Sacramento, said indeed to be 
one of the finest stores of its kind in all of Northern California. 

The family represented hj Mr. Kaufman has long been identified 
with Hohenzollern, Germany, where he was born in October, 1861, and 
where his parents in 1897 celebrated tlieir golden wedding. On that 
memorable occasion they were honored by receiving a private com- 
munication from Emperor William, through his minister, conveying 
compliments and appreciation and also bestowing upon them a gold 
medal in commemoration of the event. One of the sons of the fam- 
ily, Max, came to America at an early age, and by perseverance and 
wise management established a profitable ladies' tailoring business in 
Portland, Ore. Greatly prospered in the undertaking, he finally 
sold out in 1911, and since then has been traveling in Europe. 

The dry-goods house of Lipman & Co., with headquarters in Sac- 
ramento and a l)ranch store at Virginia City, was the ]ilace where 
Carl Kaufman learned the mercantile business, working his way up 
from bundle boy to bookkeeper. For a time the firm stationed him 

42 



764 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

at Virginia City, but when that store was closed and another estab- 
lishment opened at Portland, Ore., he was brought back to Sacramento. 
During 1892 the business was sold to S. Wasserman, who took into 
partnership E. D. Davis and Carl Kaufman, under the firm title of 
Wasserman, Davis & Co. The co-partnership continued for six years. 
Upon the retirement of Mr. Davis at the expiration of that time the 
title was changed to Wasserman, Kaufman & Co., and continued as 
such until 1898, when Mr. Kaufman disposed of his holdings to the 
senior member. The relinquishment of business interests gave him 
an opportunity to travel with his family through the east and in 
Europe, where he spent two years, renewing the associations of early 
life and visiting relatives in the old country. The business of which 
he is now the head was started in October of 1908 at its present loca- 
tion on Seventh and K streets, opposite the postoffice, and is devoted 
to ladies' furnishings, a specialty being made of cloaks and suits, in 
the selection of which the owner displays a thorough knowledge of 
materials and changing styles. The trade has increased to such an 
extent that emplojTiient is furnished to about thirty-five persons, the 
more experienced of whom relieve the proprietor of the heaviest re- 
sponsibilities incident to the management of so large an establish- 
ment. 

The marriage of Mr. Kaufman was solemnized in 1886 and united 
him with Miss Sallie Kosmisky, of Sacramento, daughter of a pioneer 
family who came to California via the Isthmus prior to the comple- 
tion of the first trans-continental railroad. Her father conducted a 
wholesale and retail cigar business in Sacramento, where for years he 
was prominently identified with the Democratic party and with various 
fraternal organizations. Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman have two sons, Carl, 
Jr., and Bernard. The elder, born in 1894, has received high school 
advantages in Sacramento, while the younger, preferring business 
{Hirsuits, entered his father's establishment as a clerk at an early age. 
The family adhere to the accepted religion of the Hebrew race and 
have been generous contributors to the work of the S^magogue as well 
as to many of the great charities maintained by their people in the 
new world. 



HUGH McWILLIAMS 

A love of ]ilant life that found no o]iportunity for development 
amid tlie rugged hills and barren farms of his native Scotland came 
strikingly into evidence with the settlement of Mr. McWilliams in 
America. Although deprived of the privilege of a thorough educa- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 765 

tion and untrained in botanical lore as well as unfamiliar by experi- 
ence with plants and flowers, he bad an opportunity after coming 
across the ocean to learn tbe business of a florist and with eager 
expectancy be entered into tbe work in Massachusetts, where he re- 
mained for about two years. After he came to the Pacific Coast he 
found employment as a landscape gardener and subsequent experience 
broadened his knowledge of the florist's art, so that he was fully quali- 
fied to win success when eventually he embarked in the business of a 
nurseryman in Sacramento. His knowledge of the industry is not 
only broad but also thorough and he has come to be regarded as a 
western authority in matters relative to floriculture. 

An isolated farm near Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland, formed 
the early environment of Hugh McWilliams, who was born January 
15, 1863, and whose limited educational opportunities came solely 
through his own determined efforts. From an early age he worked 
for farmers in the home community and during that period he ac- 
quired a knowledge of cheese-making, but did not afterward follow 
the occupation. His father, Alexander, a man of high principles of 
honor, but of limited means, lived to be eighty-three and always fol- 
lowed farm pursuits ; the mother, who bore the maiden name of Agnes 
McClumpha, died shortly after the demise of her husband. Their 
son, Hugh, came to the United States at the age of twenty years, and 
learned the florist's trade in the vicinity of Boston, whence in 1885 
he came to San Francisco. From January until October he had 
charge of the gardens at the summer home of D. 0. Mills near San 
Mateo, this state, and later he held a similar position with Mrs. E. 
B. Crocker for five years. A sojourn of two years in Sonoma county 
was followed in 1892 by his removal to Sacramento. 

Shortly after his arrival in this city Mr. McWilliams bought a 
very small business known as the Elm nursery, located on Twelfth 
and U streets. From that humble beginning he has built up a busi- 
ness known throughout this part of the state. The equipment is 
thoroughly modern and the assortment of stock extensive and indeed 
exhaustive. Not long after he purchased the nursery he bought five 
acres adjacent to Sacramento and this new nursery he named Sutter- 
ville Heights, utilizing the grounds there as a farm for his growing 
business. Of recent years he has not only had a trade throughout 
Northern California, but extending even to Nevada and Oregon. Ship- 
ments of flowers as well as plants are made in every direction and 
it is noticeable that those who once send in an order afterward be- 
come permanent customers, finding that they may place the utmost 
confidence in the reliability of the nurseryman and in the care with 
whicli he fills all orders. The Ramie Fibre Company secured his 
services in experimenting in the growing of the ramie plant. He was 
successful in its propagation, using the same methods he had em- 
ployed in raising his other plants. The results of his efforts have 



766 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

been embodied each year in a report to the government as well as to 
the county. 

A visit to the home land in 1888 gave Mr. McWilliams a desired 
opportunity to renew the associations of youth. When he returned 
to California he brought with him from Scotland a brother, Peter, 
who is now a valued assistant in the nursery business. September 
26, 1894, Mr. McWilliams was united in marriage with Miss Georgia 
P. Shaw, of Santa Rosa, daughter of George P. Shaw, owner of a 
general mercantile store at Duncan Mills, Sonoma county. The young 
couple established a home in Sacramento and since then have become 
well known to a large circle of congenial acquaintances. For two 
years Mr. McWilliams officiated as chief of the Caledonian Associa- 
tion, whose activities have enjoyed his interested co-operation and 
intelligent support. In addition he has been a leading local worker 
in the Glide Gun Club and with the Woodmen of the World and the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Often his name has been men- 
tioned for various offices within the gift of the Republican party in 
his city, but invariably he has declined to become a candidate, pre- 
ferring to devote his time and attention to the advancement of his 
business interests. 



FREDERICK C. CHINN 

An ambition for the acquisition of a profound knowledge of the 
science of optics has been the impelling influence in the studies of 
the popular and successful optician whose name introduces this article, 
whose personality is familiar to the people of Sacramento, and whose 
professional and business standing as the president of the Chinn- 
Beretta Optical Company has brought him into prominent associa- 
tion with leading people of Northern California. From youth he has 
been a close student of this, his chosen calling and has made a scien- 
tific study of every phase of investigation pertaining to vision. The 
result of such long-continued concentration has been the attainment 
of an enviable reputation in his specialty and this led in its turn to an 
appointment as a member of the state board of optical examiners, of 
which he officiated as secretary for a considerable period of helpful 
association. 

Descended from an old and honored southern family, Frederick 
C. Chinn was born in the city of Baton Rouge, La., November 2, 
1870. While that family, like all others of its locality and generation, 
had suffered heavy losses by reason of the devastating effects of the 
Civil War, he nevertheless enjoyed exceptional advantages, although 
these were partly made possible through his own determined efforts. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 767 

An early attendance at tlie public schools was followed by a period of 
study in private institutions, after which he resumed attendance at 
a public institution of great value, the state university, where he con- 
tinued his earnest endeavors to acquire an education satisfactory to 
his aspirations. The year 1887 witnessed his arrival in San Francisco 
and his fortunate association with the profession of an optician, which 
ultimately led to greater successes than even the most glowing dreams 
of his youth had i3rognosticated. Coming to Sacramento in 1897, the 
following year he organized the optical company which he now serves 
as president and which has the reputation of being the largest firm 
of the kind in the world. Besides the establishment at Sacramento, 
the company owns and conducts stores at Oakland, San Francisco, 
Vallejo, Fresno and Stockton, each of which has a gratifying pat- 
ronage in its own city. 

Necessarily the demands upon his time made by a business so ex- 
tensive and engrossing leave Mr. Chinn little leisure for participa- 
tion in public affairs, yet he keeps well posted concerning all move- 
ments for the general welfare and is especially interested in enter- 
prises for the advancement of his home city of Sacramento. In poli- 
tics he votes with the Republican party. Fraternally he holds mem- 
bership with the Elks and the Knights of Columbus. February 22, 
1892, when little more than twent^^-one years of age, he was united in 
marriage with Miss Rose McKenna, of San Francisco. They are 
the parents of three sons, namely: Frederick Harold and Boiling 
Robertson, who have enjoyed the excellent advantages offered by St. 
Mary's College in Oakland, this state; and Francis Conrad, who was 
born in 1902 and is now a student in the public schools of Sacramento. 



BURTON M. HODSON 

A high degree of artistic ]:>erfection marks the exhibits of the Hod- 
son studios in Sacramento and Oakland. The consensus of opinion on 
the part of competent judges indicates that Mr. Hodson possesses ability 
as a photographer far above the average. An innate knowledge of 
proportion, an instantaneous comprehension of artistic outlines and a 
highly developed appreciation of graceful poses form characteristics 
admirably qualifying him for success in art. These qualities, while 
justly belonging to him through inheritance from a gifted father, 
have been so developed and perfected through study and experience 
that they have brought him professional prominence and local pres- 
tige, combining to give him a reputation which has been onlinnced 
through his ease of manner and affability of demeanor. 



768 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

When it is mentioned that Mr. Hodson has been actively iden- 
tiiiod with Sacramento Parlor No. 3, N. S. G. W., it will be recog- 
nized that the success of his work reflects added credit upon his 
native commonwealth. Oakland is his native city and July 22, 1875, 
the date of his birth, his father having been J. E. Ilodson, a native of 
Illinois and from youth a photographer of eminent skill. As early 
as 1872 the elder Mr. Hodson established a studio in Sacramento. 
At different times he had art galleries in various bay cities. Eventu- 
ally in 1894 he established his studio in San Francisco, where for 
a few years he limited his attention strictly to photography, but 
the development of his genius led him into the field of portraiture 
and he since has become a popular portrait painter of the exposi- 
tion city. 

At the age of five years Burton M, Hodson accompanied his par- 
ents to Sacramento and here he was sent to the primary school, 
later to the grammar and then to the high schools. He can scarcely 
recall a time when he was uninterested in photography. The science 
appealed to him in early years. The difficult process incident to pro- 
ducing a finished picture appealed to his interest. Having made a 
life study of the science he is eminently qualified for successful work 
in all of its specialties. Eeading and research have broadened his 
knowledge of art, while practical experience has developed his in- 
born tastes until now he occupies a rank of unquestioned prominence 
among the photographers of Sacramento and Oakland. From boy- 
hood he has devoted himself to his profession. Politics has not di- 
verted his attention from his art. Fraternal interests, limited to 
membership with the Native Sons and the Sacramento Lodge of 
Elks, have not been allowed to infringe upon his constant devotion 
to his chosen calling, and it is to this persistent devotion, supple- 
menting intelligence, affal3ility and refinement, that he owes his 
growing success. Sharing with him in the good-will of acquaintances 
is his wife, who prior to their marriage in 1908 in her native city of 
Sacramento, was Miss Lillian May Nelson, member of an old and 
honored family of the capital city. 



AUGUST KAUFMAN 

Industry and integrity were the foundation stones upon which 
the late August Kaufman erected the superstructure of an honorable 
existence, devoted to the welfare of wife and children, and to the 
discharge of duties devolving upon him as a citizen of his adopted 
country. With the exception of the first eleven years of his life, which 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 769 

were passed in his native Grermany, he was identified with the United 
States throughout all of his busy career. Loyal and patriotic in the 
highest degree, he maintained a peculiarly deep devotion for the west, 
which was the scene of his mature efforts and his permanent suc- 
cesses. Although in early life he had learned the trades of butcher 
and blacksmith, and had followed both of these occupations for a 
time, he gained prosperity through the tilling of the soil, and it was 
by diligence as a farmer that he acquired the valuable estate left to 
his heirs. 

Upon crossing the ocean in company with his mother when eleven 
years of age and settling at Boonville, Mo., August Kaufman entered 
the public schools in order to acquire a knowledge of the English 
language and the education necessary for life's activities. After he 
had completed the grammar course be began to assist his step-father 
in the butcher business and thus gained a thorough knowledge of the 
trade. At the age of twenty-one he came to California and settled 
in Sacramento, but after a time removed to Woodland, Yolo county. 
Later he established himself in business in Plainfield, where he in- 
vented and patented a plow. During 1876 he was united in marriage 
with Miss Minnie Krinki, a native of Germany, born January 2, 1852, 
but from childhood a resident of the United States. The family lived 
for some years in Ohio, near Belmont, and two of her brothers still 
reside in that state. Four years before the family came to the western 
coast her father, Charles Krinki, left Ohio and sought the oppor- 
tunities of California. When finally he had established himself on 
a firm financial footing in this state he sent for his family, who 
came by ship, one brother dying during the course of the voyage. 
At that time Mrs. Kaufman was a young lady of eighteen and she 
settled at Woodland, living there and at Davisville until the time of 
her marriage, which was solemnized in Sacramento. 

The united and unwearied efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman 
resulted in the acquisition of a comfortable home and a well-improved 
farm at Plainfield. Later they also bought four hundred and fifty- 
two acres in Capay. Had his life been spared to a good old age un- 
doubtedly a greater prosperity would have crowned his efforts, but 
when he lacked just two months of fifty years death removed him 
from the sphere of his activities. Later his widow was married to 
Emil Kirch, who passed away in 1907. Although bearing a different 
name, he was a brother of Mr. Kaufman, the difference being due to 
the fact that he was reared in the home of a grandfather and was 
given his name. For years he was identified with the Ancient Order 
of United Workmen in San Francisco. Both brothers were brought 
up in the German Lutheran faith and always remained firm believers 
in its doctrines. For years the family have been connected with 
that denomination in Sacramento. The widow still owns and occupies 
the comfortable familv residence at No. 2511 F street, but her children 



770 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

have left the old homestead to take up the activities of life and to 
establish homes of their own. Of the eight children comprising the 
famil}' all but one are still living, namely: Mrs. Rosa Grover, of San 
Francisco; Jessie, who married William Born of Sacramento and 
has three cliildren; Lillian, who married Frank S. Schoenbackler, also 
of Sacramento, and has three children; Minnie, Mrs. Julius Haller, of 
Sacramento, who is the mother of two children; Emma, Mrs. Wolga- 
mott, who died in 1905, leaving two children, and Albert and Emil, 
both of Sacramento. Mrs. Kaufman now leases the ranch of three 
hundred and twenty acres purchased through her unremitting labors 
and keen judgment. 



LOUIS D. EHRET 

The family name borne by Mr. Ehret indicates Teutonic an- 
cestry, but he himself claims a lifelong identification with California, 
to whose welfare he is devoted with an enthusiasm and loyalty char- 
acteristic of his affectionate regard for the commonwealth of his 
nativity. The fortunate possession of the western qualities of pluck, 
energy and determination, grafted upon the foundation stock of thrift, 
economy and patience characteristic of the German race, has en- 
abled him to push his way forward in his chosen calling and has 
brought to him a high reputation therein. Indeed, as chief engineer 
of the Sacramento water works, he not only has made an enviable 
record among those directly connected with the plant itself, but he 
has risen to a position of distinct importance as one of the most 
capable engineers in the entire valley, where it is asserted by well- 
informed men that he has few superiors in the efficient discharge of 
occupational duties. 

During the sojourn of his parents, Joseph and Pauline Ehret, 
at one of the mining towns of Tuolumne county, Louis D. Ehret was 
born at Columbia, April 1, 1879, but his childhood memories cluster 
around the city of his present residence, for the family removed hither 
during the year 1881, and his education was secured in the excellent 
schools of the place, while his later acquisition of the trade of a 
machinist dates from an apprenticeship in the Southern Pacific rail- 
road shops in this city. His father, who was of German parentage 
and nativity, received the advantages offered by the excellent schools 
of the country and at the age of fourteen gave up his studies in order 
to begin an apjDrenticeship to the trade of cabinet-maker. At the 
expiration of his time he followed the trade as a journeyman in Ger- 
man vilhiges, but soon becoming dissatisfied with prospects in his 
native land he determined to seek the op])ortnnities of the new world. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 771 

At tlie age of twenty-one years lie crossed the ocean to New York 
City and there boarded a ship bound for San Francisco via the Horn. 
The port of his destination remained his headquarters for a brief 
period, but soon he became interested in mining and for some time 
worked in various camps with more or less success. After he estab- 
lished a home in Tuolumne county in 1877 he still retained his mining 
interests and engaged actively in the occupation in local mines. When 
he came to Sacramento in 1881 he entered into pursuits connected 
with his early life and engaged as a cabinet-maker in the shops of 
the Southern Pacific Eailroad Company, in whose employ he re- 
mained until his demise, at the age of seventy-three years. 

The Southern Pacific shops, with which his father was connected 
during the latter period of his life, furnished Louis D. Ehret with 
employment during the period of his apprenticeship to the trade of a 
machinist. On the completion of his time he began to follow the trade 
at Mare Island, where he continued in the employ of the government 
for three years, meanwhile doing considerable work as an engineer. 
Upon his return to Sacramento he secured a position in the Buffalo 
brewery as a machinist and engineer. The satisfactory nature of his 
services was indicated by his long retention in the employ of the 
company. When he resigned in April of 1910 it was to accept an 
appointment as chief engineer of the city water works under the 
administration of Mayor Beard. Since then he has devoted his time 
and attention to the duties of the office, which he fills with character- 
istic energy and capability. The demands of his various positions 
have been so numerous and important that he has enjoyed little 
leisure for participation in public affairs and his connection with 
politics extends no further than the casting of a Republican ballot 
at general elections. He was made a Mason in Tehama Lodge No. 3, 
F. & A. M., of which he is past master, is a member of Sacramento 
Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., and was exalted a Sir Knight in Sacra- 
mento Commandery No. 2, K. T. By his union with Miss Agnes 
Druck, which was solemnized October 12, 1904, in Sacramento, he is 
the father of a daughter and son, Grladvs M. and Louis D., Jr. 



WILLIAM E. GRANT 

The proprietor of Hotel Clayton claims Sacramento as his birth- 
place as well as the chosen home of his maturity. While at times 
the interests of business have required his presence temporarily in 
other parts of the west, always h-e has considered Sacramento as 
his home and headquarters. In entering the hotel business he selected 



772 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the capital city as the seat of his operations and chose the Hotel 
Clayton, a new and modern building with first-class accommodations, 
as his special center of activity. The management of the place 
proves the energy and sagacity of the proprietor, whose courtesy 
and Chesterfieldian polish supplement a keen business ability and 
indicate his adaptability for that difficult undertaking, the successful 
operation of a modern caravansary. The Clayton is a commodious 
building with one hundred rooms, equipped with modern conveniences 
and supplied with every requisite for the comfort of the guests, who 
after having been entertained here once are ready to return should 
business or pleasure bring them back to Sacramento. 

In this city Mr. Grant was born September 9, 1866, being a son 
of George Robert and Mary Helen (Van Arden) Grant, natives of 
New York state. As early as 1862 the father became a pioneer of 
the Sacramento valley, and from that time until his death, which oc- 
curred June 19, 1889, he followed general farming, meanwhile ac- 
cumulating large tracts of unimproved land in Placer and Sutter 
counties. Since his death the wife and mother has resided in Sacra- 
mento and now makes her home with her son, William E. Of her 
other children all are living except George Robert, Jr., who died in 
1894. The remaining members of the family are as follows: Mrs. 
Mildred Pierce, a widow; Sarah 0., the widow of the late Robert 
F razee, who for twenty years or more was connected with the Sac- 
ramento police force; Julia A., the widow of Leroy L. Crocker, a 
fruit-grower in Placer county, who at his demise left a large estate 
in that county as well as holdings elsewhere; Henrietta, wife of C. 
W. Earle, of Los Angeles; William E., and Ada, a resident of 
Berkeley, this state. 

After he had completed the usual course of educational training 
Mr. Grant became a traveling salesman and in that capacity gained 
a broad knowledge of the west. For several years he was connected 
with the Wood-Curtis Company as manager of their Reno branch, and 
afterward he held the position of vice-president of the McMillan- 
Gordon Company for four years, resigning in order to devote his 
attention to the hotel business. Ever since attaining his majority he 
has voted the Republican ticket at all general elections. Fraternally 
he has been a local leader in Masonry and has risen to Islam Temple, 
N. M. S., of San Francisco. With his wife, who was Miss Matilda 
Andrews, and his daughter, Miss Viola M., a popular student in the 
high school, he has a host of warm personal friends among the people 
of Sacramento. In his devotion to Masonry he shows the zeal and 
intelligence which have brought into national prominence his uncle, 
Hon. IT. B. Grant, of Louisville, Ky., widely known as the author of 
the Masonic Code, Templars' Tactics and other manuals used in the 
order; also known as the head of the command that won the com- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 773 

petitive drills at both of tlie San Francisco conclaves, the remark- 
able tactical skill displayed by the command having been achieved 
through the earnest efforts of their commander. 



JEREMIAH CxlRROLL 

Many successive generations of the Carroll family lived and died 
in Ireland. Notwithstanding the intense struggle to earn from the 
soil the barest necessities of existence they exhibited a tenacious de- 
votion to their native land. The patriotism characteristic of the true 
Celt was in their blood. The cheerful humor of the race showed 
itself in the optimism which enabled them to rise above the darkest 
blows of fate. There came a time, however, when a young man de- 
termined to avail himself of the opportunity offered by America. 
Crossing the ocean to Massachusetts he there learned the trade of a 
stone-cutter. After a sojourn of some years in the old Bay state, 
where he married, he returned to Ireland in 1859 and followed farm- 
ing. A son was born in county Cork November 29, 1860, and to him 
was given the name of the father, Jeremiah. The infant was only 
one month old when the family came to America and settled in 
Massachusetts, where again the stone-cutter found employment at his 
chosen occupation. Another removal was made in the year 1866, at 
which time California was selected as the destination and Sacramento 
as the site of the future home. For a considerable period the father 
worked for others, but meanwhile he carefully hoarded his frugal 
savings and thus was enabled in 1878 to embark in business for him- 
self. For two years he had his place of business on Sixth street be- 
tween J and K. From there he removed to No. 808 K street, where 
he carried on business for eight years. During 1888 he moved to 
Tenth and S streets, where he had his headquarters for eight years. 
When finally the infirmities of age rendered further work unadvisable 
he retired to private life, but remained a resident of Sacramento 
until his death, which occurred in 1903. As a youth in the old country 
he had been a devoted Catholic and he gave steadfast allegiance to 
that church throughout the balance of his life. 

The family of Jeremiah Carroll, Sr., and wife, the latter of whom 
died two years prior to the demise of her husband, comprised five 
children, of whom two daughters are now deceased and two daughters 
still survive, namely: Mary, who is the wife of D. J. Considine, of 
Sacramento, and Margaret. The only son in the family, Jeremiah, Jr., 
received his education in the grammar and high schools of Sacra- 
mento. "When quite youno- he began to learn the trade of stone-cutting 
under Devine Bros., of Sacramento. After he had been with them 
for three years his father took up the same line of business and he 



774 HIISTOEY UF ISACRAMENTO COUNTY 

entered his employ, remaining in the same position for eleven years. 
His next venture was the opening of a stone quarry in Placer county, 
Cal., and this he operated for a number of years. Upon returning to 
Sacramento he secured employment with the state as superintendent 
of stone work on the cajjitol park, and for eighteen months he en- 
gaged in the construction work on stairways. When the contract 
had been completed he returned to Placer county and resumed the 
operation of the quarry, also taking contracts for stone work. At 
the expiration of three busy years he left Placer county and went to 
Cascade Locks, on the Columbia river, where for two years he was 
retained as foreman for the Day Construction Company in the con- 
struction of the locks for the canal. With the completion of that 
responsible task in 1895 he returned to Sacramento and here he has 
since engaged in business for himself, first having his headquarters 
at No. 1902 Tenth street and after the death of his father removing 
to his present location, No. 2431 Tenth street, where he has one of the 
most modern marble-cutting plants in all of Northern California. 

From early manhood Mr. Carroll has been interested in public 
affairs and active in politics as a member of the Democratic party. 
When only twenty-three years of age he was chosen as secretary of 
the Democratic central committee and since then he has frequently 
aided the local progress of his preferred political organization. 
Reared in the Roman Catholic faith, he always has been sincere in 
his allegiance to the church and generous in his offerings to its main- 
tenance. His wedding was the first solemnized in the Sacramento 
Cathedral after its completion and he and his family have been 
especially interested in that church, not only for this reason, but also 
because of their large circle of friends in the congregation and their 
earnest devotion to its missionary and charitable enterprises. The 
marriage to which reference has been made occurred August 18, 1889, 
the bride being Miss Catherine O'Keefe, of Prairie City, Sacramento 
county, daughter of Michael and Mary O'Keefe, natives of Ireland. 
His wife died in 1893, leaving three children, and he suffered a further 
deep bereavement in the loss of one of their daughters, Mary, wlio 
died at the age of three years. The surviving daughter, Catherine, is 
employed in one of the large department stores of Sacramento, and 
the son, Charles, is an employe of Baker & Hamilton, a wholesale 
firm of this citv. 



AMOS LUTHER BOWSHER 

The courage that had aided him in early life to face without 
dismay or tremor the dense ranks of gallant southern soldiers on 
more than sixtv battlefields enabled him in more mature years to fill 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 775 

the difficult position of engineer and to meet its dangers, seen and 
unseen, with trained intelligence and quick decision. But in all the 
vicissitudes of his adventurous career perhaps at no time was he in 
greater danger of instant death than on the occasion of his trip, 
November 1, 1903, as engineer on the first section of train No. 16, 
known as the Oregon express. At the Tehama bridge on the Sacra- 
mento river there was a high trestle approach, the view of which was 
cut oif by reason of dense timber, so that until a sharp curve was 
made close to the trestle it was completely hidden from view. Early 
in the morning of the ill-fated day the train was making its usual 
run at the customary speed, and the trestle was shown to be on fire 
as it came into the vision of the startled engineer. With the quick- 
ness of a trained mind he made an emergency application of the 
brakes, reversed his engine and sanded the rail. The engine left the 
rail at the burning portion of the trestle and safely crossed and 
stood upright just beyond, carrying the engineer to life and safety. 
The tender and two cars went down, and the fireman, caught under 
the tender, was killed. The cars caught fire from the burning trestle. 
The pitch gas tanks exploded, thus adding to the fierceness of the 
conflagration. Three of the cars, a mail, baggage car and empty 
coach, were burned before the second section could pull the rear por- 
tion, consisting- of sleepers, back to a place of safety. The wreck 
and scene presented to all who viewed it the most convincing evi- 
dence that had anything but an unusually good stop been made a 
larger portion of the train, if not all of it, would have shared the 
fate of the three head cars and many of the sleeping passengers 
would have shared the fate of the unfortunate fireman. 

This veteran of the Civil war and skilled engineer, who now in 
his retirement from active labors receives a pension from the United 
States government and from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 
was born at Adelphi, Ross county, Ohio, February 4, 1841, and re- 
ceived a common school education. Immediately after the opening 
of the Civil war he enlisted at Columbus, Ohio, with the First United 
States cavalry, and served during the entire period of the struggle, 
meanwhile taking a brave part in more than sixty battles. When 
peace had been declared he was honorably discharged, and on the 
10th of September, 1865, he was mustered out of the service. At once 
he came via Panama to California and established his headquarters in 
Sacramento. From that time until 1883 he was engaged in telegra]')h 
construction work for the Central Pacific Railroad Company, being 
foreman of a gang for much of the time and superintending the 
construction of lines all along the coast. During 1883 he became a 
fireman, and in 1884 was promoted to be engineer, which position he 
held on the Southern Pacific railroad until March of 1911. when he 
was honorably retired on account of advancing years. For many 
years he has been associated with the Locomotive Engineers, and his 



776 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

interest in tlie order did not cease with his retirement from active 
work. Fraternally he holds membership with the Concord Lodge, 
F. & A. M., in Sacramento. During 18/2 he married Miss Delia Cas- 
sidy, and of their union four children were born. The sons, Joseph 
and Robert, are engineers with the Southern Pacific company, the 
former being on the Coast division. The older daughter, Mary, is the 
wife of Charles Johnson, and lives in Sacramento. The youngest 
member of the family circle, Laura, resides with her parents at No. 
1615 Seventh street, Sacramento, and shares with them the good 
will and esteem of associates. 



FRED J. BISHOP 

An identification with the horticultural interests of Sacramento 
county beginning during the spring of 1901 and continuing up to the 
present time has given Mr. Bishop a very favorable impression con- 
cerning the possibilities of this section and particularly concerning 
the opportunities afforded by the district of Fair Oaks. There are 
few places in the settlement more favorably located and none more 
productive than the one which he owns and operates. This is due 
not particularly to superiority of soil, although that is rich and fer- 
tile, but especially to the care and cultivation exercised by the owner, 
who follows scientific methods in the supervision of the land, the 
care of the trees and the developing of the fruit. A desire to possess 
on the ranch a residence worthy of the land and indicative of its 
value caused him to erect a two-story house with all the modern 
improvements, and this building, recently completed and tastefully 
furnished, now ranks among the finest in the neighborhood. 

The entire life of Mr. Bishop prior to his removal to California 
was spent in Kane county, 111., where he was born December 15, 1858, 
where he grew to manhood on a farm and where he received such ad- 
vantages as country schools afforded. After he had attained maturity 
he chose agriculture for his occupation and became interested in the 
cultivation of land not far from the old homestead. For a consider- 
able period he engaged in the raising of grain and stock and also 
made a specialty of the dairy business. Meanwhile he had estab- 
lished domestic ties, selecting for his wife Miss Annie Forrdrescher, 
who was born in Elgin, 111., of German parentage, and who possesses 
the sterling qualities of mind and heart that contributed not a little 
to their success. They became the parents of five children, namely: 
Henry, Frank, Fred, Charlotte and Dorothy. All are at home ex- 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 777 

cepting Frank, who is married and rents a place not far from the 
ranch of his parents. 

A desire to escape the rigorous winters characteristic of Northern 
Illinois led Mr. Bishop to dispose of his farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Kane county and forthwith he brought his family to 
California. The presence of his brother, Percy, at Fair Oaks led him 
to investigate conditions at this settlement, and he was so favorably 
impressed that he acquired property during the spring of 1901. This 
first purchase, which continues to be his home and the scene of his 
extensive horticultural enterprises, comprises fortj^-one acres under 
cultivation to peaches, almonds, oranges and olives. Much of the 
acreage is now in thrifty bearing condition and the young trees will 
soon reach an age where they will add materially to the annual in- 
come from the place. The crops are marketed through the Fair Oaks 
Fruit Company, in which Mr. Bishop is a stockholder and which he 
has assisted in making one of the most important business enter- 
prises of the district. 

Far-reaching activities and beneficent influences have character- 
ized the life of Mr. Bishop, whose loyal devotion to his adopted com- 
munity and commonwealth forms one of his leading attributes. Al- 
though never losing an affectionate regard for the home of his birth 
and the scenes of his early labors, he is a true Californian in spirit, 
and by developing his own place he has aided in the upbuilding of the 
district, which he has seen undergo a great change in appearance 
through the efforts of energetic land-owners. The prospects of the 
successful cultivation of fruit ranches convince him of the perman- 
ence of the prosperity of the region and this, supplementing a genial 
climate, proves to him that he made no mistake in the choice of his 
location. All movements for the general welfare receive his co- 
operation and support and the same may be said of his citizenship in 
Illinois, where he served with efficiency as a road commissioner in 
Kane county, besides being president of the school board of his dis- 
trict and afterward for nine vears the clerk of the district schools. 



WILLIAM AUGUST MEYEE 

The fact that Mr. Meyer scarcely yet has reached the prime of 
life is not inconsistent with the statement that he has devoted twenty 
years of painstaking study to the profession of an optician. When 
only fourteen, in the year 1892, he was apprenticed to a prominent 
member of the craft in San Francisco, and under that skilled optician. 
L. A. Berteling, he studied with a persistence and intelligence that 
inevitably brought satisfactory results. Everv detail of the business 



778 liilSTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

was learned with a sincerity and earnestness indicative of high aspira- 
tions. As is the case in every trade or profession where attention 
to details is made the creed, so with him in his intelligent and pur- 
poseful studies of the science of optics. While it is a very difficult 
task to acquire a thorough knowledge of the business (for no work 
entails greater responsibilities than that of examining eyes and fitting 
glasses), many competent judges have asserted that he is unsur- 
passed in his .specialty and all agree that his judgment is authorita- 
tive in questions relating to his chosen calling. 

The distinction of being a native-born Calif ornian belongs to Mr. 
Meyer, whose birth occurred in the city of San Francisco March 18, 
1878, and who is a son of John N. and Sophie M. Meyer. When he 
had conqjleted the studies of the grammar school he began to study 
under Mr. Berteling in the vacation seasons, but in addition he took 
up high school studies and at the age of eighteen was graduated with 
a high standing from the San Francisco schools. After he had ac 
quired a thorough knowledge of optics he began to earn his liveli- 
hood through the pursuance of the specialty, and in 1899 he came to 
Sacramento to act as manager for the Chinn-Berretta Optical Com- 
pany, in whose employ he remained for five years. A desire to em- 
bark in business for himself led him to relinquish a position both 
congenial and profitable. Since then he has carried on a store at No. 
903 K street, Sacramento, besides which. May 18, 1911, he opened an 
establishment in Stockton, both of these being popular and well 
])atronize(l by people of the two communities. 

The marriage of Mr. Meyer and Miss Ruby H. Brown was 
solemnized in Sacramento December 3, 1901, and has been blessed 
with two children, a daughter, Margaret, and a son, William August, 
Jr. The family hold membership with the Episcopal church and 
maintain a deep interest in religious movements, as well as in all 
enterprises for the upbuilding of the city and the welfare of its peo- 
ple. The Republican party has received the allegiance of Mr. Meyer 
in national and local elections. The Native Sons of the Golden West 
have numbered him among their members in their Sacramento parlor, 
and in addition he has enjoyed fraternal relations with the Elks, in 
which he officiates as past exalted ruler of the Sacramento Lodge No. 
6. He is a member of the Sutter club and is past president of the 
California State Association of Opticiatis. 



HUGH MAULDIN 

An inheritance of the chivalrous traits characteristic of a long 
line of southern ancestors has given to Mr. Mauldin a personality 
reflecting the qualities of his gallant forefathers, while his almost 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 779 

lifelong association with the west has endowed him with the physical 
and mental attributes inbreathed with the air and sunshine of the 
Pacific coast. Supplementing other qualifications are the sagacious 
business judgment, the keen commercial sense and the quick compre- 
hension of detail that presage success in any avenue of labor; and to 
the possession of these traits may be attributed much of his rise in 
the jewelry business in San Francisco, while the same qualities have 
assisted him in the profitable management of his personal holdings 
since his return to Sacramento, where now he devotes his entire at- 
tention to the oversight of his property interests. 

The founder of the Mauldin family in California was Benjamin 
Francis Mauldin, who was born in Cecil county, Md., May 26, 1813, 
and received a fair education in that locality, where, May 5, 1845, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Millicent R. Brown, a daughter of 
Hugh Brown, one of the defenders of Baltimore. Their son, Hugh, 
was born at the family home in Cecil county February 9, 1848, and 
the second son, Lopez, was born in the same county during September 
of 1849. Mr. Mauldin joined General Lopez' filibustering expedition 
to Cu])a, was dubbed colonel, and made his escape back to New 
Orleans and then up the Mississippi river. During 1850 he came to 
California by way of Panama and after landing at San Francisco 
in the month of July proceeded to Sacramento on the bark Winthrop. 
He was much pleased with the country, and the same fall returned to 
Maryland, in 1851 bringing his family and settling in Sacramento. 
Later he took up land and embarked in ranching pursuits. ^ For a 
considerable period he devoted his attention closely to ranching, but 
during 1867 he leased his farm and removed to the city of Sacra- 
mento, where he interested himself in real estate and political enter- 
prises. When somewhat advanced in years, but still very active in 
business, he died while on a trip to Montana, June 10, 1882. Through 
all of his life he had been loyal to the doctrines of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and to the principles of the Democratic party. He 
was a member of the Territorial Society of California Pioneers. His 
son, Lopez, who also settled in Sacramento, entered the government 
service as a mail carrier and continued in that capacity until his 
death, which occurred June 12, 1894. The third son, Brown, born in 
Sacramento in 1852, still makes his home in his native city. 

After having completed the studies of the Sacramento granmiar 
and high schools, Hugh Mauldin went to San Francisco and secured 
employment with the jewelry house of John W. Tucker. From a 
humble position he rose to be a trusted salesman and eventually was 
chosen manager of the establishment, which position he was filling at 
the time of his final resignation May 1, 1883. He then engaged in 
the manufacture of jewelry in San Francisco and later opened a 
jewelrv store in Los Angeles. His place of business in the Bryson 
block was considered the finest of its kind in the state. Subsequently 

43 



780 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

lie returned to San Francisco, the headquarters of his jewelry opera- 
tions, and there continued until 1894, when he returned to Sacramento 
to look after two large property interests, and has since made this 
his home. With his wife, formerly Miss Eve Gaylord, whom he mar- 
ried in San Francisco December 15, 1880, he has a host of warm per- 
sonal friends among the most select social circles of Sacramento. Like 
his mother, he cherishes a deep devotion for the doctrines of the 
Methodist Episcopal denomination, and like his father he upholds 
Democratic tenets with his influence and ballot. 



STEPHEN S. DAY 

New England has contributed much to the good citizenship of the 
Pacific coast. This contribution has been both direct and indirect, 
and, taken all in all, it has been almost incalculable, both in its extent 
and its influence. One of its direct contributions in a purely per- 
sonal and individual way is Stephen S. Day, of Sacramento, who 
was born at North Hampton, Mass., August 2, 1868. He was educated 
in the i3ublic and high schools of his native city, graduating from 
the latter in 1886. Then he acted on a well-formed determination to 
go west, and made his way to Omaha, Neb., where he entered the 
establishment of Crane Company, who handle steam and plumbing 
supplies, acting as stock clerk. His aptitude for business was recog- 
nized by ]iis promotion to the sales department. In 1893 he was trans- 
ferred to their main otlfice at Chicago, where he had a successful 
career, as a salesman till 1903. From then until 1910 he was in 
charge of the company's agency at Sacramento. In September, that 
year, the house established a branch to supersede its agency, and Mr. 
Day was made its manager. Under his supervision they built the 
present building, 86x150 feet, on the corner of Front and M streets, 
consisting of two stories, and the company occupy the entire building. 
The leading products of the concern, recognized throughout the 
United States as the best of their kind, are valves and fittings of their 
own manufacture, and they are extensive jobbers of a general line 
of steam and plumbing supplies. 

In Sacramento, September 1, 1908, Mr. Day married Miss Minnie 
Schaw, who was born in Australia, but came to Sacramento, Cal., 
when a child. He is a member of the Sutter and Sacramento clubs, 
and has been a director of the Sacramento Chamber of Chamber since 
its re-organization. In his religious alliance he is a Conirregationalist, 
and in his political allegiance he is a Republican. While he is not 
an active politician in the now nearly obsolete sense of the phrase, 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 781 

he is an active politician of the new school— that, not of the office- 
seeker, but of the thinker and voter who considers his duty to his 
fellow men illy discharged if he does not plan for their welfare and 
vote to promote their best interests. It is such a public spirit as has 
been suggested that makes the modern business man a success and a 
good citizen, and Mr. Day is that to the greatest extent. 



JOHN L. MAYDEN 

Three generations of the Mayden familv are at present identified 
with Northern California, the first of these being represented bv John 
Mayden, the founder of the name in the west and a man of energy and 
mtelligence, who came to the coast country prior to the building of 
the first trans-continental railroad. A native of Indiana, born Novem- 
ber 5, 1843, he received such advantages as the schools of his locality 
and day afforded. These were small indeed in comparison with the 
advantages now offered to the young, but he has supplemented them 
by observation and reading, so that he is now a man of broad general 
information. During 1865, at the age of about twenty-two vears, he 
came to California via Panama and settled in Amador county, near 
Plymouth, where for a long period he owned extensive mining in- 
terests. ^ Since his retirement in 1893 from mining operations he has 
lived quietly but happily at his old homestead, where he and his wife, 
Mrs. Mary (Thomas) Mayden, reared their family and passed manv 
years of pur|)oseful activity. 

It was during the residence of the family at Drytown, a mining 
town in Amador county, that John L. Mayden was born January 28, 
1875, and his earliest memories cluster around the village of Plymouth.' 
Later the family lived again at Drytown and there he attended the 
public schools. After he had completed the regular public school 
course he attended the business college at Stockton for one year and 
there prepared for commercial activities, graduating in 1891. At the 
age of seventeen years, in 1892, he came to Sacramento and secured 
employment as a bill clerk with Baker & Hamilton, dealers in carriages 
and farming imi^lements. His work was so intelligent and the results 
so satisfactorv that the firm retained him in their employ, but recog- 
nized his abilitv by promoting him until finally they appointed him 
department manager, in which position he served for five years, on 
December 25, 1911, being made general manager, and he is now filling 
the ]ilace with characteristic energy and capabilitv. The business of 
the Sacramento house extends all over Northern California, Southern 
Oregon and Nevada. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen 



782 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the AVorld and the National Union, while in politics he votes with 
the Eepiiblican party. In Sacramento, November 28, 1898, occurred 
his marriage to Miss Ella Darrow Hatch, a native daughter of this 
city. They are the parents of two daughters, Helen Molter and 
Eleanor. 



CHARLES M. BECKWITH 

To many the attainment of material prosperity proves a severe 
temptation to relax the vigilance previously exercised over the na- 
tural inclination to enter upon a wordlj'^ career and place in the back- 
ground the finer virtues, chief among which is altruism. To Mr. 
Beckwith, however, the struggle for a place among the most influential 
members of the legal profession in Sacramento served as an impetus 
to further arouse his sympathies for mankind in general and his de- 
termination to do all in his power to disentangle the legal problems 
of those who appealed to him, his chief concern being not the financial 
reward he might receive, but the true service he might render. 

Mr. Beckwith is a native son, his birth having occurred June 28, 
1863, in Woodbridge, San Joaquin county, where he received his pre- 
liminary education. Later, he attended both private and public 
schools in Lodi, after which he entered Oberlin college, Oberlin, Ohio, 
graduating in 1884. His father, F. Marion Beckwith, was born in 
1830, in Mentor, Ohio, and immigrated to California in 1849 in com- 
pany with his brother, DeWitt Beckwith, and other colonists, many of 
whom desired to enter the mines of Eldorado county rather than re- 
sume their former occupations, believing that the gold fields offered 
the shortest route to wealth. Many, however, soon abandoned the 
role of Argonaut, and, satisfied that the west held many opportunities 
for those who possessed perseverance, settled in various sections. 
Upon his arrival in California, Mr. Beckwith proceeded at once to 
San Joaquin county, where he combined mining and farming with 
fair success until his death in January, 1863. Five months after his 
father's death, Charles Beckwith was born, his mother, formerly Miss 
Betsey L. Quiggle, of Hampden, Ohio, exerting every effort thence- 
forward in the interests of her child. Until he was seven years old 
he received the benefits derived from the atmosphere of love and 
tenderness created by his loving mother, but her death at that time 
caused him to go to his uncle, Byron D. Beckwith, at Lodi, Cal., who 
reared him to manhood, guiding him through his formative and educa- 
tional period until he reached the age of twenty-one. His influence 
left a deep imprint on the boy, who developed a nature of rare truth 
and sjTupathy, and it is the ambition inspired by this uncle's love and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 78.? 

devotion, his careful training and self-sacrifice, to which he owes his 
success in after life — the inspiration gained from his noble life and 
worthy example. Upon his return to San Joaquin county after his 
course at Oberlin college, Charles M. Beckwith worked at various 
occupations for a year, going thence to Tulare county, where he en- 
gaged in farming and stock raising. Two years later, having decided 
to enter the legal profession, he took up the study of law in Stockton, 
soliciting insurance during his spare time. Having completed his 
course, he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of California 
at Sacramento, November 14, 1893, and immediately established him- 
self there in business, building up a practice of importance. He has 
not only a large clientele among the substantial citizens of the 
county, but also in various counties of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin valleys. 

Mr. Beckwith 's first marriage occurred in Sacramento, November 
22, 1895, uniting him with Mrs. Annie M. (Ross) Hurd of Sacramento, 
who passed away December 31, 1907, leaving a son by her former 
marriage, Horatio Hurd, of Sacramento. On October 31, 1908, he 
married Miss Bess M. Blake, whose birth occurred in New Hamp- 
shire, and whose father, C. W. Blake, makes his home with them. 
Mrs. Beckwith is in full sympathy with her husband's interests and 
aids him immeasurabh^ by her tact and comradeship. He was made a 
Mason in 1884 in Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., of Wood- 
bridge, retaining his membership in the lodge where his father and 
uncle were members. By his prompt, decisive action and excellent 
judgment he has won the esteem of many friends and associates, who 
predict for him a future commensurate with his unquestioned ability. 



F. S. PECK 

The educational advantages of the east supplemented by uni- 
versity training in Germany afforded Mr. Peck exceptional oppor- 
tunities in youth, and of these he was not dilatory in acquisition, the 
result being that he gained a breadth of cosmopolitan culture that 
easily places him among the most courteous and polished gentlemen 
of Sacramento as well as one of the most popular members of the 
exclusive Sutter club. While he has been a resident of California 
since 1900 and meanwhile has gained the warm friendship of many 
commercial enterprises of Sacramento, his birth and parentage unite 
him with the cultured classes of the east. Into the home of Frank A. 
and Elizabeth R. Peck, at Syracuse, N. Y., he was born December 1, 
1877, and all of his earliest recollections cluster around that influential 



784 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

eastern city. Primarily educated in its schools, he later spent a period 
of stud}^ at Andover, Essex county, Mass. At the age of fourteen 
years he was sent abroad to study, hrst being entered as a student in 
a private school at Freiburg, Germany, and later taking up a uni- 
versity course in an historic German institution. Upon his return to 
the United States, in 1896, at the age of about nineteen years, he 
became interested with a brother in the manufacture of china at 
Syracuse, N. Y., where he acquired an interest in the business and 
continued for several years. 

Disposing of his stock in the concern in 190U, Mr. Peck removed 
from New York to California and settled in Tehama county, where 
he became interested in the buying and selling of land and the handling 
of real estate. During 1902 he removed to Sacramento and entered 
iuto association with the W. P. Coleman Company as manager of 
their country land dei)artment. In that responsible position he proved 
capable and efficient, but his tastes led him iuto other lines of enter- 
prise, so that he resigned at the expiration of two years in order to 
engage in the general insurance business. As agent for various old- 
line companies he acquired a wide influence in his line, but in 1906, 
having decided to specialize, he disposed of the life and fire depart- 
ments, since which he has confined his attention to the building up of 
a large business in accident and liability insurance. To this phase of 
protection, hitherto all too neglected, he has given much time and 
study, and his efforts to interest others have been so successful that 
already a large proportion of the citizens of Sacramento have availed 
themselves of this class of insurance. Although well qualified by na- 
tural endowments and educational attainments to represent the people 
in offices of trust, his tastes have led him to keep aloof from partisan 
affairs, and he takes no part in politics aside from being an ardent 
devotee to Republican principles. In religious belief he is of the 
Christian Science faith. Fraternally he holds membership with the 
Elks. It was not until some time after he came to Sacramento that 
he established a home of his own, his marriage to Miss Maud Shafer 
liaving occurred July 1, 1908, and uniting him with a young lady pop- 
ular in the most select circles of society in the capital city. 



OTTO J. KOCH 

One of the native sons of Sacramento who are achieving success 
in the city of their birth is Otto J. Koch, the well-known hop buyer, 
whose friends are many and whose business acquaintance is • co-ex- 
tensive with the best part of Central California. Mr. Koch was born 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 785 

November 2, 1876, a son of Anton and Marie (Carrow) Koch, who 
came to Sacramento in 1859. When he reached school age he was sent 
to the local schools and continued nntil he was seventeen, when he 
was well fitted educationally to take up the task of self-support. Dur- 
ing the ensuing two years he was employed on his father's ranch, and 
at nineteen he secured a clerkship in the office of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad Company at Sacramento, and was continued in that relation 
seven years, during which period he established himself firmly in the 
good opinion of his superiors. 

Leaving the employment of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany, Mr. Koch engaged in farming and raising hops at West Sacra- 
mento, Yolo county. He now has five ranches leased, covering about 
five hundred acres, of which about a hundred and sixteen acres are in 
hop fields. Aside from growing hops he is a dealer in that com- 
modity, buying in Sacramento and Yolo counties for large eastern 
houses in the trade. He made such a success of this business that 
he may be said to have formed a permanent connection with it, and 
his oi^erations have brought him in contact with hop men throughout 
a wide territory, where he has won a reputation for honesty and fair 
dealing that commend him to all intelligent growers. The amount 
of his business annually, could it be here stated in the figures that 
cannot lie, would be found to reach a large sum. It is increasing 
from year to year as he grows more and more successful in his 
specialty. 

In his social affiliations Mr. Koch is an Odd Fellow and an 
Elk, and in his political sentiment he is a stanch Republican. He 
married, at Sacramento, October 15, 1903, Miss Margaret Hansen, 
who was born in Dallas, Texas. To them have been born three 
children, Gladys, a child of seven, who is attending the public school; 
Helen, five years, and Marian, who was two years of age on her last 
birthdav. 



ALEXANDER WYLIE MORRISON 

In point of years of active service Mr. Morrison has the distinc- 
tion of being the oldest hotel clerk on the entire Pacific coast. Coming 
to the west in young manhood, accident turned him into the hotel 
business,^ and the subsequent success of his efforts proved that he 
was admirably qualified for the occupation in which chance or destiny 
had placed him. To the traveling public he is known as a genial, 
tactful clerk and a companionable man whose interest in his guests 
impels him to do everything possible to enhance their comfort during 
the period of their sojourn at his hostelrv. As mav be imagined of 



786 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

one wJio has been connected with the same hotel for forty-four years, 
his circle of acquaintances is wide, and it may be further added that 
his friends are as numerous as his acquaintances, for all who have 
once come within the sphere of his cordial interest and his intelligent, 
courteous attentions consider themselves his friends and well-wishers. 
His personal tact and gentlemanly l)earing are largely responsible for 
the continued popularity of the Western hotel, and when finally on 
New Year's of 1901 he purchased a one-half interest in this leading 
inn of Sacramento there were a host of patrons to step forward with 
timely congratulations and hearty wishes for continued prosperity. 

The Morrison ancestry is traced back to Scotland, whence some 
of the name were forced to flee to Ireland during the religious perse- 
cutions in their home land. Several generations lived and labored in 
the north of Ireland, and there James Morrison was born at Maguire's 
Bridge in county Fermanagh. Early in life he migrated to Canada 
and settled in tlie i^rovince of Ontario, where he met and married 
Miss Abigail Higginson, a native of Lisburn, near the city of Belfast, 
Ireland, but from young girlhood a resident of Canada. The young 
couple settled at Boyd's Bridge in the township of Mountain, where a 
son, Alexander Wylie, was born December 15, 1846. Altogether 
their family numbered ten children, and seven of these are still living. 
During the year 1856 the father bought one of the finest farms in 
Ontario, this comprising a tract on the St. Lawrence river long known 
as the Col. James McDonald homestead. On that well-im^^roved 
farm the children passed the happy years of early life and from there 
they started out to earn their own livelihood in the world of affairs. 

After having completed the studies of the grammar school at Iro- 
quois, Dundas county, Canada, and after subsequently, September 7, 
1867, receiving a diploma from the Toronto Commercial college, Mr. 
Morrison, in January, 1868, sailed from New York en route to Sail 
Francisco. Immediately upon his arrival he sought and found em- 
ployment in the American Exchange hotel, where he remained for ten 
months. A desire to visit relatives led him to resign liis ])osition and 
return to Canada, but he found himself dissatisfied amid the once 
loved surroundings. The spirit of the west had called to him and he 
was not content elsewhere. As he was about to start back to resume 
his old position in San Francisco, he was asked by a friend, Mrs. 
Haitley, to stop over in Sacramento and see her son, Walter Haitley, 
in that city. He came over the route on one of the first overland 
trains in 1869, and in accordance with the promise made to her stopped 
in Sacramento on Saturday and looked up the friend. N. D. Thayer, 
of the Western hotel, importuned him to become his clerk, and on 
Monday he accepted the position in the Western hotel and never since 
then has he sought another position or considered a change of em- 
plo>mient. During 1880 he was united in marriage with Miss Mattie 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 787 

Martha Jones, of Sacramento, daughter of a one-time famous sea 
captain and descended from Welsh ancestry. In fraternal relations 
he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. 



FRANK A. LAFFERTY 

As the successor of his father in an important and well-known 
business Mr. Lafferty has become associated with commercial activ- 
ities in Sacramento, where for a long period he has owned and man- 
aged a livery and boarding stable located at No. 1510-14 J street. 
Until the death of his father and for some time afterward the busi- 
ness was conducted under the firm title of J. A. Lafferty & Son, while 
the management of the stables differed little from that of the present 
time, although recently special attention has been given to the main- 
tenance of pleasure vehicles suitable for excursion and tally-ho par- 
ties. No stable in the city surpasses this establishment in the elegance 
of its outfits and the beauty of its teams, nor does any excel it in the 
possession of a modern structure equipped with every facility for the 
expeditious and thorough dispatch of work. The building, indeed, 
represents a style of architecture admirably suited to the west, and 
affords visible evidence of the proprietor's wisdom in harmonizing 
the structure with the environment. 

Membership in the Native Sons of the Golden West (in which he 
has been very active as president and influential worker) comes to 
Mr. Lafferty by virtue of his nativity in California, where his birth 
occurred at Colfax, Placer county, June 30, 1871, in the home of John 
Allen and Mary J. Lafferty. His father, who was born in Des Moines, 
Iowa, April 27, 1845, was brought to the west by his parents in 1850 
and entered the primary room of the school at Iowa Hill. Later he 
com])leted the studies of the grammar school. When he started out 
to earn his own way in the world he took up teaming and for a short 
time followed the occupation at Colfax. Next he was employed as a 
brakeman with the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company. Later he 
drove a stage out of Colfax to various i^oints until 1872, when he re- 
moved to Sacramento and embarked in the teaming business. From 
that beginning he drifted into the livery trade and established a large 
patronage, continuing at the head of the stables until his death in 
1904, when he was succeeded by his son, the latter having been identi- 
fied with the work ever since he left school and thus being thoroughly 
familiar with all of its details. Besides his membership with the Native 
Sons previously mentioned, he is associated with the Elks and the 



788 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he votes with the 
Republican party. His marriage took place in Sacramento November 
22, 1897, and united him with Miss Emma Schwartz, who was born in 
Sacramento, being a daughter of Benjamin Schwartz. They are the 
parents of two daughters, Beatrice and Frances, both of whom are 
pupils in the city schools. 



CHARLES 0. GEIGER 

This well-known citizen of Sacramento, Cal., was born of German 
parentage at Allegheny, Pa., in 1875, being the son of William and 
Ernestine (Ploss) Geiger. His father was a carpenter by trade be- 
fore he came to America and found emplojTiient at it during his 
active years in this country. In 1878 he brought his family to Sacra- 
mento. Of his nine children, six are living. C. C. Geiger was edu- 
cated in public schools and at Atkinson's business college, in Sacra- 
mento. During his school days he was employed in the mailing room 
of the Sacramento Bee, and in 1893 he was employed by Scheunert 
Brothers, wholesale dealers in cigars, as a bookkeeper, and has re- 
tained the position to the present time. This is one of the reputable 
business concerns of Sacramento, and Mr. Geiger 's position is one 
of confidence and responsibility. 

November 5, 1902, Mr. Geiger married Mabel Laing, of Sacra- 
mento, who has borne him two children, Jeanette, August 22, 1906, 
and Marian, February 2, 1911. A Republican in politics, Mr. Geiger 
affiliates fraternally with the Elks and the Foresters. Mrs. Geiger is 
a communicant of the German Lutheran church. The family is pop- 
ular socially, and Mr. Geiger has in many ways demonstrated his pub- 
lic spirit. 



GEORGE H. CLARK 

This is essentially the time of the self-made man. Time was 
when self-made men were born in log houses and made their way to 
fame and to fortune without education except as they were able to 
obtain a little, crude and unclassified, through the reading of mis- 
cellaneous books of Ilobson's choice by the light of pitch-pine torches 
stuck in the ground beside them. Now the self-made man sets out 
along the devious way of business life with more education, but he 
has to encounter greater obstacles and more determined competition. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 789 

He has no recollection of a log domicile, but his goal is a brownstone 
one Sacramento has many men of both classes, the old and the 
new. Among the latter is George H. CUark, who is forging ahead to 
eminence in the field of building, the visible evidence of the growth 
of everv city. 

Born in Stockton, Cal., in December, 1880, his education was begun 
m the public schools of his native city and continued in high school 
in San Mateo county, where he was duly graduated in 1899. Then he 
matriculated at Stanford university and was graduated therefrom, 
with the degree of A. B., with the class of 1904. " 

It was a business life rather than a professional life that Mr. 
Clark chose for himself. Coming to Sacramento he found employment 
with the Clark & Henry Construction Company as manager. Later 
he went in a similar capacity to the Sacramento Cement Company, 
dealers in building material, rock, lath and other merchandise in the 
line, and has been so successful and so useful to the enterprise that 
his connection with it is by all his friends regarded as permanent. 

The captaincy of the football team of 1904 at Stanford universitv 
fell to Mr. Clark. He is a member of the University club and of the 
Sutter club. The Republican party commands his political allegiance. 
He married Miss Esther Numan of Stockton, Cal., in Julv, 1905, and 
they have a son and a daughter, William R. and Katharine. 



HON. ALDEN ANDERSON 

Few men have been associated more actively and none more hon- 
orably with the financial and political history of Northern California 
than Hon. Alden Anderson, president of the Capital National bank of 
Sacramento, president of the Redding National bank at Redding, this 
state, vice-president of the Red Bluff (Cal.) National bank, and presi- 
dent of the Central California Traction Company, owners and oper- 
ators of the traction line between Sacramento, Lodi and Stockton. 
Wide has been the influence exerted by him in the banking circles 
of his ])ortion of the state and varied as have been his commercial 
connections, they have been equalled by his intimate identification 
with the public life of the commonwealth and by his patriotic partici- 
pation in movements for the permanent upbuilding of his community. 
From the year 1902, which marked his advent into Sacramento's com- 
mercial life, up to the present time, his vigorous mind has been felt 
continually as an important factor in civic progress, his public-spirited 
labors have promoted the community welfare and his life has become a 



790 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

part of Sacramento that will find an enduring place in the annals 
of local history. 

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr, Anderson Was born in Meadville, 
Crawford county, in October of 1867, while his parents were at their 
old home on a visit. The family have been identified with the west 
ever since the thrilling period of mining adventures, had an honorable 
identification with the east through several successive generations, and 
genealogical records indicate their patriotism and progressive devo- 
tion to the country. His father, J. Z. Anderson, was born in Mead- 
ville, Crawford county, Pa., September 30, 1829. At the time news 
came concerning the discovery of gold in California he was at the 
threshold of manhood, eager for adventure and ambitious to see 
something of the world. Immediately there sprang into his mind a 
determination to seek the gold mines, but it was not practicable for 
him to make the journey until 1852, at which time he left the scenes 
of happy youth for the untried conditions of the undeveloped west. 

An uneventful journey via Nicaragua found its safe termination 
in the gold fields of Northern California, where the young Pennsyl- 
vanian endeavored in vain to find the hoped-for fortune. Despairing 
of quickly gained wealth, in 1851 he turned his attention to ranching 
and settled in Solano county, where he placed a large tract of land 
under cultivation. Shortly before the birth of their son, Alden, he 
and his wife removed to San Jose, and from that time until his demise 
in 1897 he was interested in the raising of fruit and in the packing 
business. During the forty-five years of his residence in California 
he had witnessed remarkable changes and, as a patient, purposeful 
pioneer, he had contributed to the work of advancement by his per- 
sonal efforts. Cities had sprung up, as by magic; vast tracts of un- 
inviting lands had been transformed into productive ranches or re- 
munerative fruit farms ; railroads had superseded the old-fashioned 
stage-coaches and the freighting vehicles drawn by mules or oxen. 
Out of the crude environment of the frontier had arisen a common- 
wealth great in resources, ambitious in purpose and rich in a citizen- 
ship of unsurpassed loyalty. 

With such educational advantages as were afforded by the pub- 
lic schools and the University of the Pacific, Alclen Anderson began 
to earn his own livelihood at a very early age, his first occupation 
being that of an assistant in the fruit business conducted by his father. 
During 1886 he went to Suisun City, Solano county, and embarked in 
the fruit industry for himself, later drifting from the growing of 
fruit into the shipping of the same. From that place he came to 
Sacramento in 1902, and afterward disposed of his interests in Solano 
county at intervals as opportunity offered. From his arrival in the 
capital city until the year 1908 he acted as vice-president of the 
Capital National Banking and Trust Company. Wlien he disposed of 
his stock in that concern he removed to San Francisco, where, until 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 791 

July 1, 1909, lie lield office as vice-president of the Anglo-London Paris 
National bank, and later until February of 1911 served by appoint- 
ment as superintendent of the banks of California. 

A pleasant and protracted continental tour, which afforded him 
an appreciated opportunity to enjoy the scenery and historical at- 
tractions of Europe, Asia and Africa, was followed by the return of 
Mr. Anderson to Sacramento December 1, 1911, at which time he 
purchased the Capital Banking and Trust Company, and of this in- 
stitution, under its present title of Capital National bank, he officiates 
as jjresident. The concern has a reputation for reliability and high 
principles of honor. The conservative spirit of its president appears 
in the caution exercised for the protection of its depositors, yet he 
supplements caution with progressive principles, so that he lends 
timely aid to worthy commercial projects. His place in the banking 
circles of Northern California is one of assured influence and in- 
creasing responsibility. In addition to the organization of this popular 
institution of Sacramento, he helped to organize banks at Red Bluif 
and Redding and acts as vice-president of one and president of the 
other, besides being a director in both, as well as a member of the 
directorate of his city concern. As president of the company building 
the electric line from Sacramento to Stockton he has aided an enter- 
prise of the greatest importance to the permanent upbuilding of the 
rich agricultural region through which it passes. In addition, he holds 
the office of president of the Sacramento Hotel Company, and is con- 
nected officially or as a stockholder with other organizations important 
to the municipal growth. His home is graciously presided over by 
the lady whom he married at Rockville, CaL, March 2, 1893, and who 
was Miss Carrie L. Baldwin. There is one daughter in the family, 
Miss Kathryn, now a student in the state university at Berkeley. 

Any account of the life activities of Mr. Anderson would be in- 
complete were no mention to be made of his association with the 
political history of the commonwealth. When only thirty years of 
age he began to serve his fellow-citizens in positions of honor and 
trust, and in every position accepted by him he gave the weight of his 
ripened counsel, keen intelligence and discriminating judgment. Elected 
to the assembly in 1897-99 and 1901, he soon became a force in the 
legislature. Measures for the benefit of his district received his 
stanch support, nor was he less earnest in the promotion of all move- 
ments for the welfare of the entire state. The possession of superior 
talents and the devotion displayed toward the state led to his selec- 
tion as speaker of the house in 1899, and he filled that difficult post 
with the same tact and ability displayed in every relation of public 
life. A still higher honor awaited him in 1902, when he was elected 
lieutenant-governor of California, and he filled that eminent position 
for four years, retiring with the good will of the party he had served 
with such fidelitv and distinction. It would seem impossible for a 



792 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

citizen having so many duties in public office, in business connections 
and in banking circles, to enter with any activity into fraternal and 
social circles, but Mr. Anderson has not allowed his existence to be 
dwarfed into a tedious round of irksome cares. On the other hand, 
he has enjoyed society with the saiue enthusiasm characteristic of his 
identification with the other opportunities of life, and at different times 
he has been a leading member of the Bohemian, Pacific Union and 
Family clubs and Union League, all of San Francisco, and the Sutter 
club of Sacramento, also the Woodmen and the Benevolent Protective 
Order of Elks. Practical philanthropy, whether exercised privately 
or through the medium of fraternal organizations, receives his stead- 
fast support, and movements inaugurated and inspired by a desire to 
help the needy, to encourage the depressed or to uplift the fallen, have 
benefited by his sagacious counsel and sympathetic participation. 



FRANK X. WIESENHOFER 

The intimacy resulting from a lifelong identification with the 
city of Sacramento enabled Mr. Wiesenhofer to appreciate the pos- 
sibilities and understand the advantages offered by this part of Cali- 
fornia. Himself an energetic and capable young business man, he 
devoted his abilities to the perfecting of titles and the bringing down 
of abstracts. The office in which he learned the business and with 
which he was so long connected has the distinction of being the oldest 
title and abstract company in California- and is the successor of other 
firms that were for years active in these specialties. Many interesting 
maps may be seen in the office, the oldest of these being a publication 
of 1854, which has the distinction of being the first official map of the 
county. 

The family name indicates the Teutonic origin of the present 
American representatives, and Frank X., who was born in Sacra- 
mento April 19, 1878, was a member of the second generation resident 
in the new world. His father, Frank X. Wiesenhofer, Sr., was born 
and reared in Germany, and married Miss Anna Stumpf, likewise a 
native of that country. After he had crossed the ocean he settled in 
the east and secured employment at his trade of cabinet-nmker. At 
one time he owned a manufacturing plant in Columbus, Ohio, but a 
lack of success led him to look for a more attractive environment, and 
during 1870 he came to California, settling in Sacramento. Here his 
son and namesake received a fair education in public and private 
schools and at an early age began to earn his own livelihood as a 
newsboy, from the age of eight years working in the abstract office 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 793 

delivering tlie daily transfer reports. After he had completed his 
sehoohng he entered the office of Buckley & Gerber, and ever since, 
until death, had been identified with the abstract and title business as 
a specialist. The attorneys in the city gave him credit for having the 
most thorough knowledge of titles of local property and the abstracts 
m the county, and those he prepared proved most satisfactorv in even 
the smallest details. 

The marriage of Frank X. Wiesenhofer was solemnized in Sacra- 
mento July 31, 1909, and united him with Miss Minnie James, a native 
of Nevada county, Cal., daughter of William and Anna (Brock) James. 
William James was born near North Wales and was a mining man 
in Nevada county. He was a Mason of the Knight Templar degree 
at Nevada City. Mrs. James was born in Nevada City, Cal, daughter 
of Thomas Brock, a native of England and a pioneer of Calif o'lmia, 
coming via Panama. In the James family were two children ; besides 
Mrs. Wiesenhofer is a son, William D. James, of Sacramento. The 
mother makes her home at the old family residence, No. 2530 M street. 
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wiesenhofer, Frank X., Jr., 
and Mildred Louise. From the time he attained his majority Mr. Wiesen- 
hofer was a stanch supporter of Republican principles and voted the 
party ticket at both local and general elections. While not caring for 
office himself, he believed it to be the duty of citizens to keep posted 
concerning the problems of the nation and the commonwealth, and 
accordingly was found to be well-posted in all measures of general 
importance. The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks had the benefit 
of his active co-operation in matters relative to the welfare of the 
local lodge and the maintenance of its charities. Mr. Wiesenhofer 
passed away in Sacramento November 6, 1912, and was interred in 
East Lawn cemetery with honors of the local lodge of Elks. Mrs. 
Wiesenhofer is a member of Naomi Chapter No. 36, O. E. S. Mr.' 
Wiesenhofer was very charitable and always ready to give aid to the 
needy and less fortunate ; each year he sent gifts to the orphanage, 
and his giving was ever quiet and unostentatious. 



DANIEL H. CARROLL 

Lifelong identification with his native citv of Sacramento has 
developed in Mr. C^nrroll a depth of loyalty to its welfare not easilv 
coniprehended by one less familiar with the true patriotism invariablv 
exhibited by native Californians. With .iustice he also might maintain 
considerable pride in his lineage, for he belongs to an ancient and 
honored race that lived and labored in the lowland of Scotland for 



794 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

several successive generations, the family having been residents of 
the city of Glasgow at the time of the birth of his father, J. J. Carroll, 
in 1845. At an early age the latter crossed the ocean from Scotland 
to America and proceeded west to California, with his mother, arriv- 
ing at Sacramento, January 23, 1850, when he joined his father, who 
arrived in California in November, 1848. He attended the schools of 
Sacramento, and upon starting out to earn his own livelihood secured 
a position as a clerk in the police court and from that he was pro- 
moted to be an officer on the police force. When eventually he re- 
signed from the force he became connected with the paint department 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Sacramento. While 
still filling a position as painter he died in December of 1892. He had 
not accumulated much wealth nor had he attained to any great degree 
of prominence, yet in his own modest, unassuming way he had been 
successful and his prestige as citizen, neighbor and officer was a 
valuable factor in his popularity. 

Daniel H. Carroll was born January 21, 1874, and attended the 
Sacramento public and high schools, graduating from the latter in 
1890. For six years he served an apprenticeship to the trade of fresco 
painting and meanwhile acquired unusual skill in the work. At the 
expiration of the six j^ears he engaged as foreman of the paint shop 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In that responsible position he 
continued successfully until March of 1911, when the board of super- 
visors appointed him county claim clerk and he then resigned the 
foremanship in order to devote his entire attention to official duties. 
In the midst of many duties he has retained his warm interest in the 
public welfare of the city, whose local charities and enterprises have 
the benefit of his generous contributions. Fraternally he holds mem- 
bership with the Elks and in politics he is independent. 



ELWOOD J. WOODBURN 

Among the most prosperous commercial men of Sacramento is 
Mr. Woodburn who, for years conducted a wholesale liquor house at 
No. 417 K street and who, as a progressive citizen, conscientious in 
his efforts to contribute his quota toward the development of the 
community, has won the commendation of his associates. 

James Woodburn, father of Elwood J., was a native of New 
Hampshire, and enjoyed cousinship with Horace Greeley, famous in 
the world of literature and philosophy. In 1852 he immigrated to 
Amador county, Cal., with his family and later removed to Humboldt 
count}', where he engaged in the hotel business and mining with 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 795 

success. On disposing of his interests lie located in Sacramento, 
having secured a position as salesman with Powers & Henderson. 
Afterwards, he became associated with E. L. Billings, liquor dealer 
at No. 417 K street, taking over the business upon the death of the 
latter and successfully conducting his duties until 1901, when he 
passed away at his home. His wife, formerly Ann Wolfolk, a native 
of Missouri, survived him but five years, her death occurring in 1906. 
Of their six children, three are living: Elwood J., born in Sacra- 
mento, January 9, 1881; Charles G., of Alameda; and Mrs. Dora B. 
(Woodburn) Duden, who now resides in Los Angeles, Cal. 

Upon completion of his public school course, Elwood J. Wood- 
burn entered the University of California, graduating high in the 
class of 1902, and having decided to learn the business in which his 
father had been so long engaged, immediately became identified with 
it, devoting himself faithfully to every phase of the work presented 
to him. Upon the death of his father, he took full charge of affairs, 
his wise judgment and careful attention to details enabling him to 
meet with continued success. 

Mr. Woodburn was united in marriage in Berkeley, with Miss 
Eugenia Mouser, of Sacramento, the bond between them becoming 
still more precious upon the birth of their son James Tryon. 

By virtue of his college career, Mr. Woodburn enjoys member- 
ship in the Sacramento University Club in which he takes an active 
interest, and is widely known as a young man of excellent business 
ability and congenial personality. 



FREDERICK F. THOMSON 

Frederick F. Thomson came to Sacramento from Richmond, 
Chittenden county, Vt., ten miles from Burlington. His father, Corey 
Thomson, who was an owner of land holdings, died in 1908, aged 
ninety years, and his wife, who was over ninety-five years at the time 
of her death, passed away in 1910. She was a descendant of John 
Fay, a heroic soldier at the Battle of Bennington, whose story has 
been told in Revolutionary annals. Her father, John Fa\\ was a 
captain in the war of 1812 and his grand-uncle, Samuel Thomson, 
was the founder of the Thomsonian system of medicine and was an 
extensive writer on materia medica. 

There were five children in the family of the parents, of whom 
only Frederick F. and Herbert R. are living. The latter is identified 
as a stockholder in the Thomson, Diggs Company. He came to Sac- 
ramento several years later than did his brother. Frederick F. was 

44 



796 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

born October 21, 1847, in Jericho, Vt. Like many young men of his 
day and place, he tanght during the winters and worked on the 
farm in the summer. It is too cold in a Vermont winter for outdoor 
work, consequently the young men have some time for schooling. 
The farms are so poor that all the farmers must work all summer 
to get a harvest. California is a paradise compared with the eastern 
states. When Mr, Thomson arrived in Sacramento, in 1872, he went 
to the Whitcomb ranch and worked for his uncle, John Whitcomb, 
for about a year, then taught school in Sacramento until 1877. He 
was employed in San Francisco by the Frank Brothers, an agricul- 
tural implement firm, and was sent by that company to open a branch 
store in Sacramento with R. L. Holman, at the corner of Second and 
J streets. He remained here two years when the firm became Hol- 
man, Stanton and Company, and after fours years under this manage- 
ment, Frederick and Herbert Thomson bought out Mr. Holman. In 
1900 the Thomson Brothers bought out Mr. Stanton and incorporated, 
taking in the Diggs Implement and Vehicle Company. The title is 
now The Thomson, Diggs Company, and in 1911 the}^ built a large 
warehouse on Third and R streets, 160x160 feet in dimensions and 
four stories high, and here they have their offices. Located on both 
the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroads, they have a large 
warehouse on Third street opposite their new building. Mr. Thom- 
son is the president and is very active in the management. 

Frederick F. Thomson was married to Miss Sarah Anderson of 
Franklin, Sacramento county, and their children are Evehni E., who 
is now the wife of George F. Fetherston, the latter the bookkeeper 
in the Boston Machine Shop at Oroville; Edith, wife of C. L. Mason, 
the hardware buyer of Thomson, Diggs Company; Fred F., Jr., an 
assistant in the office of the company; and Roxana, who died at the 
age of three years. Mr. Thomson is one of the pioneers in Odd 
Fellowship, having been an active member of that order for thirty- 
five years. He is an earnest believer in the doctrines of Christian 
Science and has been reader in the church of that faith for several 
vears. 



JAMES L. EMIGH 

Californians native born are in all parts of the state demonstrat- 
ing their patriotism by leading in the race for business supremacy — 
that natural and worthy competition of man with man which fructi- 
fies in the general weal. James L. Emigh of Sacramento is of this 
class, and as successful as any if we consider all things which make 
for 'and modify worldly success. He was born in Rio Vista, Solano 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 797 

county Cal., November 25, 1876, and attended the public school there 
till he was fourteen 3^ears of age. Afterward he was a student at 
the Oakland high school, and then entered Heald's Business College 
from which he graduated in 1893. Prepared then to enter upon a 
business career he became bookkeeper for E. I. Upham Company, 
continuing in that position with the successors of the company, Bird & 
Dinkelspeil, general merchants in Collinsville, and was thus employed 

until 1900. 

In the year 1900 Mr. Emigh went to Suisun City, Cal., and bought 
the James Kerns hardware store, which he eventually consolidated 
with the Suisun Implement Company, of which he was vice-presi- 
dent and assistant manager till 1910, when he sold his interests and 
removed to Sacramento, where in that year he went into business 
with his brother under the firm name of Emigh Hardware Company. 
They handled a general line of hardware and builders' supplies, a 
venture in which he prospered as well as he did in his former ones. 
In July, 1912, they consolidated with the Capital Hardware Company 
and incorporated Emigh, Winchell, Cline Company, of which Mr. 
Emigh is vice-president and manager. They are now located at No. 
308-10-12 J street, the former location of the Thomson, Diggs Com- 
pany. The business has been enlarged and they handle a full line 
of agricultural implements, as well as heavy and shelf hardware. 
Fours floors are occupied by the firm in a building 60x160 feet in size. 

Mr. Emigh was made a Mason in Rio Vista Lodge No. 208, F. & 
A. M., is a member of Solano Chapter No. 43, R. A. M., Vacaville 
Commandery No. 38, K. T., and Islam Temple, N. M. S., San Fran- 
cisco. He married at Rio Vista December 1, 1897, Miss Harriette 
M. Church, a native daughter of Rio Vista, and three children have 
come to them: James L. and Albert T., twins, and Colby S. Wherever 
he has lived Mr. Emigh has taken a really helpful interest in all that 
has pertained to the general welfare of the people with whom his 
lot has been cast. In a way public spirit is indirect self-interest, but 
there are so many men who do not recognize this fact that the burden 
on tliose who do' is heavier than it ought to be. Mr. Emigh is one 
who has never sought to escape that burden, and usually he has not 
stopped to consider whether he was to be the gainer even indirectly. 



CLAY AY. EMIGH 

A resident of Sacramento and a member of Simset Parlor, N. S. 
G. W., by virtue of his birth in Rio Vista, Solano county, December 21, 
1881, Clay W. Emigh is realizing the popular idea of the enterprising 



798 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

citizen laboring not alone for his personal and family advancement, 
but for the best interests of his fellowmen and for the general good. 
His parents were Thomas P. and Rachel Emigh, and they believed in 
education as a basis for success in America. Consequently they sent 
their younger son to the public and high schools at Oakland, after 
completing which he entered Heald's Business College, from which 
efficient institution he was graduated in 1900. 

At Suisun City, as a clerk in his brother James L. Emigh 's store, 
Mr. Emigh began his business career. He remained there, obtaining 
a wide knowledge of the hardware trade, till 1904, then came to Sac- 
ramento and accepted a position as salesman with the wholesale hard- 
ware house of Miller & Enright, which he served faithfully and suc- 
cessfully till 1908. Next we find him in San Francisco, a salesman 
in the employ of George H. Tay Company. There he advanced well 
in his chosen field and in 1910 he came to Sacramento to become the 
partner of his brother, James L. Emigh, doing business under the 
name of the Emigh Hardware Company, carrying builders' supplies 
in addition to hardware. In his present business he has been success- 
ful beyond his expectations, and his brother attributes the prosperity 
of their house not a little to Clay W. Emigh 's trained ability as a 
salesman and his indomitable devotion to their common interests. In 
1912 the brothers joined forces with the Capital Hardware Company 
under the new incorporation of Emigh, Winchell, Cline Company, of 
which Mr. Emigh is a director and in charge of the builders' hard- 
ware department. They now have the most extensive hardware 
establishment in Sacramento county, if not in the whole of Northern 
California. 

The Republican party includes Mr. Emigh among its most de- 
voted members. He was made a Mason in Tehama Lodge No. 3, 
F. & A. M. In December, 1904, he married at Suisun Miss Grace 
Oliver, who was a native daughter of that place. He finds time from 
his business to consider public questions and public measures, has 
a clear understanding of the needs of the people at large, economic- 
ally and politically, and gives himself patriotically to such service as 
comes to his hand with the promise that by accepting and discharg- 
ing it he may do something toward the promotion of the public 
welfare. 



BURTON F. HULINGS 

The possibilities available to a man of energy and determination, 
notwithstanding a handicap of poverty and orphanhood, are revealed 
in the substantial degree of success and civic prominence of Burton 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 799 

F. Hillings, a leading representative of tlie realty interests of the 
Sacramento valley and one of the young business men whose pro- 
gressive spirit and intelligent energy are promoting the local welfare. 
His early years were entirely deprived of advantages with the 
exception of such as he made for himself by his own force of will 
and painstaking industry. Born at Hamilton, Ohio, January 31, 
1871, he lost his father and mother by death when he was only six 
year's of age. On that account the struggle to secure a livelihood 
was particularly trying. His first work was the carrying of news- 
papers and in this he did so well that he was able to earn his way 
through school. With little to encourage him, he nevertheless did 
not permit himself to become depressed or disheartened. The bound- 
less optimism of youth helped him through many a difficult struggle 
and enabled him to eventually make a place for himself in the world 

of affairs. 

An eastern experience as a railroad employe enabled Mr. Hulings 
to secure similar employment when he came west to San Francisco 
in 1900, at which time he entered the passenger department of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad. Later he was sent to the capital city to 
represent the Sacramento Valley Development Association and after- 
ward went to Oregon to represent the railroad company at the Port- 
land Exposition. Upon his return to San Francisco he continued 
in the railroad office in that city until after the great fire, when he 
came to Sacramento and here he since has engaged in the real-estate 
business. His special sphere of activity has been in the development 
of tracts at Orangevale and Fair Oaks, while since October of 1911 
he has had a general supervision of the entire improvement of the 
Hagen grant, taking charge of the planting of fruit orchards and 
orange groves for non-residents. 

At the St. Nicholas hotel in San Francisco, September 4, 1901, 
occurred the marriage of Burton F. Hulings and Miss Dora Calder. 
There are two daughters of the union, Doris, born in Alameda, and 
Minota, born in San Francisco. Mrs. Hulings is a daughter of Wil- 
liam and Mary Calder, now of Orangevale, and at one time prominent 
members of the theatrical profession. Mrs. Calder, who descends 
from an old English family, has been a popular actress on both sides 
of the Atlantic ocean, while Mr. Calder not only rose to fame as a 
theatrical star, but also succeeded as a manager and had charge 
of the first European tour of Buffalo Bill (Colonel Cody). The 
Calder family has lived at different times in New York City, London 
and other leading cities of the world, their choice of a location 
being necessarily "governed by the demands upon them in their pro- 
fessional work. " Eventually, after having risen to prominence liy his 
masterlv delineation of Rip Van Winkle and other legendary char- 
acters, Mr. Calder retired from all professional work and bought 
a home at Orangevale, where he is now engaged in the raising of 



800 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

fruit. No citizen of the colony has been more helpful in its develop- 
ment than Mr. Calder and his standing in the community is the 
highest. In his tireless efforts to secure a betterment of conditions 
at Orangevale he has had the enthusiastic assistance of Mr. Hulings, 
who himself is not only loyal and patriotic, but also sagacious in 
plans and capable in counsel. Although not a partisan he gave con- 
stant service during the campaign of Governor Johnson and is him- 
self a staunch Democrat of the progressive type. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Golden Gate Lodge, F. & A. M., of San Francisco. 
Through his arduous and untiring efforts a right of way was secured 
for the trolley service which it is planned to extend from Sacramento 
to Lake Tahoe and which will be operated under the name of the 
Sacramento and Sierra Railroad. In religion he is an Episcopalian 
and a believer in the creed of the denomination, a supporter of its 
charities and a contributor to its missionarv movements. 



ALBERT MEISTER 

John Meister, the father of the subject of this sketch and the 
pioneer dairyman of the Capital City, was born in Switzerland, April 
17, 1820. He attended the excellent public schools of that education- 
loving republic, and was brought up on a farm, thus laying the 
foundation for the life-success that came to him in this country. He 
immigrated to the United States, eventually coming across the plains, 
arriving in Sacramento in September, 1852. After a short period 
in the mines he returned to the city and went to work in a dairy. 
In two years he was a partner, and soon after became owner of the 
business. His brother Jacob arriving from the old country bought 
a share in the establishment and this pair of industrious men 
carried on the business for twenty years. It was originally located 
near the site of the old Sutter's Fort. In 1876 the brothers dis- 
solved partnership, Jacob retiring. 

Mrs. John Meister was Miss Pauline Herr, a native of Baden, 
Germany. She died in 1872, leaving four children, viz: Albert; An- 
nie, now the wife of G. H. Luchsinger, of San Francisco ; Pauline, of 
Sacramento, and Louisa, wife of Dr. W. J. Taylor of this city. John 
Meister 's second wife was Miss Arelia Wirth, whom he married in 
1876. He retired from business in 1900, and died at his home in Sacra- 
mento April 13, 1911. 

Albert Meister, who succeeded his father in the fine dairy busi- 
ness, also succeeds the elder in the business ability that made the 
Capital Dairy from its beginning one of the finest establishments of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 801 

the kind in the state. It is stocked largely with Holstein cattle, the 
milk supplied by three hundred and twenty-five cows the year around. 
The depot and distributing point is located at No. 315 Sixteenth 
street, while the herd is kept on the farm near Elvas which com- 
prises three hundred and fifty acres. Here the fields of alfalfa are 
irrigated by means of a pumping plant, and Mr. Meister also en- 
gages in horticulture on this tract. He superintends the business 
of the dairy personally, and it is a source of gratification to him to be 
able to lead in the industry he has chosen for his life work. He has 
lived all his life in Sacramento, is a typical Californian and deeply 
interested in the welfare of the Golden State. Fraternally he is an 
Elk and a Scottish Rite Mason, Knight Templar and a Shriner. 



FREDERICK BARTLETT FANCHER 

The migration of Frederick B. Fancher of Sacramento from the 
east towards the west is an interesting one. One peculiarity of this 
big trek is that at every point on the trail there was something 
eventful. He made his start in Orleans county, N. Y., his birthplace, 
in 1852, and his next place of appearance is the state of Michigan, 
with the date along in 1865. There he was educated, passing through 
the State Normal School at Ypsilanti. He was in Chicago in 1871, 
just before the big fire, and was engaged in fire underwriting. He 
was kept exceedingly busy for several years, as one in this occupa- 
tion in that locality would likely be. In 1881 he was in North 
Dakota, where he followed farming. He not only handled his own 
farm but undertook the management of several thousand acres of 
land for eastern parties. He organized and was made the president 
of a strong local insurance company, and continued in that office for 
six years. During the same period he was president of the board 
of trustees of the North Dakota Hospital for the Insane. In 1889 
Mr. Fancher was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 
was chosen president of that body when it met and much credit is 
due its presiding officer for the excellent constitution it gave North 
Dakota.. In 1894 he was nominated by the Republican State Con- 
vention for the office of Commissioner of Insurance, and was elected 
and on the expiration of his term he was re-elected. But the crown- 
ing honor of Mr. Fancher 's Dakota political life came when the 
State Republican Convention of that state in 1898 unanimously nomi- 
nated him for governor. He threw himself into the campaign with 
his customary fervor and was elected to that high office with a large 
majority. His administration was clean and the public interests were 



802 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

conserved during his official term. He was renominated for the 
office, and under such favorable auspices that he would have been 
re-elected, if his health liad not broken down. Chief Executive of one 
of the Dakotas is not an easy job and Governor Fancher was not 
physically equal to it. He declined to accept the renomination, se- 
lected his successor, and retired from public life, after twenty years 
of hard work in the upbuilding of the territory and state. 

Mr. Fancher 's next and last appearance was in Sacramento, 
where he is secretary and treasurer of the American Cash Store. 
This was several years ago and since that time he has persisted 
in his determination to remain out of politics. The Lincoln-Roose- 
velt organization desired him to make the run for mayor of Sacra- 
mento, but Mr. Fancher declined, and his private business fully 
occupies his time and mind. The ex-governor of North Dakota has 
other qualities besides those mentioned. He is considered the premier 
toastmaster of the Capital, a fluent after-dinner speaker, and is 
hailed where good-fellowship reigns. His response to the toast "The 
Ladies," at the Commandery some years ago, is still remembered. 

Mr. Fancher married, January 1, 1909, Miss Clemma Buck of 
Minneapolis, Minn. His Masonic affiliations are advanced and ex- 
ceedingly fraternal. He has taken the thirty-second degree, is Past 
Eminent Commander of Wihaha Commandery, K. T., of James- 
town, N. D., and is a member of Blue Lodge, Royal Arch and Con- 
sistorv of Scottish Rite. 



GEORGE P. SELLINGER 

Possessed of the qualities of perseverance and industry inlierent 
in the Teutonic race, Mr. Sellinger has made an unqualified success 
of his well-directed life, good management and unswerving honor 
having distinguished his smallest effort. A native of California, his 
birth having occurred July 6, 1863, in Sacramento, where he makes 
his home today, Mr. Sellinger is the only living child of Charles 
and Mary (Simmons) Sellinger, who were united in marriage in 
Decemlier, 1859, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Charles Sellinger, 
was born in Baden Baden, Germany, December 20, 1831, and, ac- 
cording to the custom in the homeland, left public school at the 
age of fourteen, liecoming an apprentice to a baker. Two years later, 
imbued with a desire to start life in America, glowing reports of 
which filled his young mind, he set sail. Arriving in New York City, 
with the dogged determination which characterized his after life, he 
searched for a situation and found it in a meat market, his services 
proving so valuable that he was induced to remain with his em- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 803 

plovers during the succeeding five years. In 1853 he went to Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, where he became a hotel cook, but a year later he 
engaged in the liquor business, meeting with fair success. In 1856 
he disposed of his interests and emigrated to San Francisco, where 
for three years he served as a hotel cook, resigning this position to 
establish a butcher shop in Sacramento. In 1864 he opened a hotel 
and successfully conducted it until 1879; upon the sale of this hotel 
he engaged in the manufacture of ice. Later, as the agent of the 
Union Ice Company, he engaged in the wholesale and retail trade 
of ice until 1904, when he sold this business to his son and retired 
from active labor. 

Until the age of fifteen years George Sellinger attended public 
school, and upon relinquishing his studies he became a clerk in a 
meat market, faithfully performing his duties for four years. In 
1882 he entered upon the life of a Texas ranger, but after two years 
on the plains returned to his native city and became associated with 
his father in the ice, coal and feed business, on Third between J and 
K streets; but in 1891 they changed their location to the present 
place at No. 521 I street, and he is now the owner and manager. 

Mr. Sellinger was married August 4, 1883, to Miss Annie Fay, 
of Sacramento, and to their union four children were born: Ethel, 
who in 1910 graduated from Miss Head's School, Berkeley, Cal.; 
Charles, who is attending Boone's College, Berkeley; Madeline, and 
George, Jr., who are attending Sacramento high school. 

Mr. Sellinger is one of the best known citizens of Sacramento 
and is a man of keen business ability and generous principles. Fra- 
ternally, he is identified with Sacramento Parlor No. 3, N. S. G. W., 
Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. 0. E., and Sacramento Court No. 12, 
F. of A. He is a staunch Republican, intelligently interested in all 
])olitical movements. 



DR. MARION F. AND MRS. SARAH E. CLAYTON 

The city of Sacramento and indeed the entire surrounding coun- 
try owes so much to the ability and influence of Dr. Marion F. 
Clayton and his estimable wife, Mrs. Sarah E., that it would be 
difficult to enumerate their wonderful accomplishments here for the 
benefit of the residents and especially the children of this part of 
the country. Their benevolence, their charitable, imselfish labors^ to 
secure better conditions in the homes and hospitals, their untiring 
effort toward furthering the interests of all hygienic movements, 
were the means of bringing about a wonderful improvement, and 
their memories shall be ever held in high regard by all who were 



804 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

recipients of these benefactions. A suitable monument has been 
erected by their loving children to their memory, but it was not 
necessary that this material thing should be done to hold them 
dearly, for their work and its excellent results is one of the most 
fitting monuments they could have. 

The life of Dr. Clayton is filled with interesting events, for his 
experiences were many, and his coming to a new country opened 
up a newer and larger field of work than one of his profession is 
accustomed to handle. Born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1826, he 
spent his early days in Crawford county, that state, receiving his 
elementary education there. He matriculated at the Eclectic Medical 
College, in Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1855, and 
began active practice in northeastern Indiana, where he remained 
for about four years. Reports were constantly being brought from 
the west, and eager to see a new country, equipped with his profes- 
sional knowledge to aid him in securing a position in the working- 
world there, he came overland with ox and horse teams in 1859. 
It was a hard, long trip, and during his travels he had many oppor- 
tunities to practice his profession, as there was much sickness and 
necessity for his services. He suffered many trials, not the least of 
which was the death of his horse when he was two hundred miles from 
human habitation, thus being forced to tramp the remainder of the 
journey, and on September 15, 1859, he arrived at Placerville, bare- 
foot, almost naked and nearly starved. 

Dr. Clayton immediately found a great deal of work to do. His 
first patient was a man suffering from a gunsliot wound, whom he 
found in a very precarious condition, but through his skill as a sur- 
geon he saved his life, and this was the foundation of his wide and 
most successful career in this section of the country. After eight 
laborious years at Placerville, Dr. Clayton removed to Sacramento 
and opened an office on J street between Fifth and Sixth streets, 
which place he occupied for two years, rendering valuable service 
to the citizens there. In January, 1870, Mrs. Clayton and their four 
children came from the east, and the doctor about this time pur- 
chased the Pacific Water Cure and Health Institute, which was sit- 
uated at the corner of Seventh and L streets and was at that time a 
beautiful home, surrounded by shade trees, and fitted in every way 
for the care of the sick. This establishment was most excellently 
equip])ed with every modern appliance for the purpose, being ar- 
ranged for the giving of Turkish, Russian, electric and medicated 
water and vapor baths. This institute the doctor operated for many 
years, until his death, and he met with gratifying success, as he had 
the benefit of his many years' professional experience, and the ex- 
ceptional natural power to administer to the sick. 

When the State Eclectic Medical Society was organized Dr. Clay- 
ton was one of the promoters, and served as its president and vice- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 805 

president several terms. Fov three years lie was a member of the 
State Eclectic Board of Medical Examiners, being its chairman for 
two years. He was a strong prohibitionist, and dnring the campaign 
of 1888 was a member of the state executive committee of the Prohibition 
party. He owned considerable land in Eldorado county, which proved a 
good investment. 

Mrs. Sarah E. Clayton, wife of Dr. M. F., was a most suitable 
wife and helpmeet for such a worthy man. Her career has been quite 
as full of experiences which tended toward the welfare of the sick 
and unfortunate as was his, and there are many of her achievements 
which are today the material evidences of her unfailing eifort to give 
of the best that was in her, and her unselfishness and thoughtfulness 
will never be forgotten by many who received from her generous 
heart and hand. Born December 7, 1826, in Delaware, she was of 
Welsh and English extraction, her parents being Rev. John T. and 
Harriette Davis. Rev. John T. Davis was born in Wales, and was 
a Methodist minister in Ohio, his service in the ministry covering 
a period of fifty years. Mrs. Clayton's family removed from Dela- 
ware to Ohio in 1830, finally settling in Bncyrus, Crawford county. 
From 1846 to 1851 she taught school, at which time she was married 
to Dr. Marion F. Clayton, and they were the parents of four chil- 
dren: Hattie C, wife of A. J. Gardiner, of Sacramento; Mrs. Clara 
M. Crawford; Frank W., of Seattle; and Willis M., deceased. The 
last named, Willis M., was accidentally killed while in London, Eng- 
land, in 1881. 

During the Civil war Dr. ^Y. H. Davis, brother of Mrs. Clayton, 
went to the front as surgeon in an Iowa regiment, and his death 
occurred at Pittsburgh Landing in 1862. Mrs. Clayton was the 
secretary of the Sanitary Commission at Fostoria, Ohio, for five 
years, and she considers that period the most important and pos- 
sibly the most useful of her life, as the duty then of a sanitary 
commissioner was as constant and as arduous as that of the soldier 
on the battlefield. Soon after her arrival in Sacramento, in 1870, 
she found the old county hospital at the corner of Tenth and L 
streets to be a very unsanitary place, poorly supplied with con- 
veniences of any sort for the inmates, and badly in need of attention 
in many ways. She persuaded the supervisors with the influence of 
the press to build a new hospital three miles east of the city, and 
upon its completion Dr. G. A. White was made its superintendent. 
She then appealed to the citizens of the city for reading matter, and 
so generous was the response that in a short time the institution 
had a large and valuable library for their new hospital. Among 
the books donated was a Greek Bible two centuries old, and this rare 
volume was probably the most valuable book given. It is a most 
unfortunate fact to relate that the new building was burned soon 
after completion, and the entire contents destroyed. 



806 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

This was, however, only one of tlie many invaluable accom- 
plislnnents of Mrs. Clayton. As one of the managers of the Protest- 
ant Orphan AsyJum of Sacramento, in 1873, it was her duty to look 
after the children who had been taken out of the home on trial, 
pending adoption. She served as director of the board of this 
asylum for fifteen years, and in her capacity as manager had many 
difficulties to encounter, but she was thoroughly capable of handling 
the matter at hand, and going before the legislature, procured several 
laws governing this work. By her earnest endeavor she soon had 
an almost perfect system established, by which the homeless wards 
were found comfortable and permanent homes with worthy people, 
and the law of the land assisted in the work. With others she after- 
ward founded the Sacramento Foundlings flome, now the Sacramento 
Children's Home, of which she was a director at the time of her 
death,, on October 28, 1911. Too much cannot be said in praise of 
such a woman whose entire life had been given to help others, and 
whose every thought had lieen to comfort the sick and help the 
needy. No problem too hard for her to solve, no task too hard to 
undertake, if it was to benefit deserving ones she was ready to make 
the attempt. It may well be said of her: Well done, thou faithful 
servant ! 

Mrs. Clayton was an ardent worker in the First M. E. Church, 
on Sixth street, and it was from this religious home that she was 
conveyed to her last resting place. Her husband had preceded her 
to the grave, having passed away April 28, 1892, mourned by many 
friends. In 1910 their daughter, Mrs. Hattie C. Gardiner and her 
husband. A; J. Gardiner, erected in Sacramento on the site of their 
old home, the Hotel Clayton, in honor of her father and mother. It 
is a five-story reinforced concrete and brick structure, with steel 
frame, and built on concrete pile foundation, and is elaborately fin- 
ished in every detail. It is considered l)y builders the best building 
in the citv and one of the most artistically constructed. 



CHARLES C. PERKINS 

Lifelong identification with Sacramento county binds Mr. Per- 
kins intimately with this ])ortion of the state. The earliest memories 
of life are with him associated with a small village named in honor 
of his father, for years its leading business man and one of the 
largest property owners. The family name still is linked with this 
suburban town, for since the death Of the honored i^ioneer his son, 
Charles C, has succeeded him in the management of the business 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 807 

enterprises and in the development of properties at this point. Close 
as have been the ties to bind him to the village, yet he has found 
leisure for other activities and has entered into commercial associa- 
tions with the city of Sacramento, where he is known as the president 
of a large and growing general store on J street. Inheriting from 
his father the qualities of energy, business acumen and foresight, he 
is prepared to meet the manifold emergencies that arise in com- 
mercial circles and to surmount the obstacles that throw their gloomy 
shadows over the path to success. 

Years ago, when the world became excited over the discovery 
of gold in California, there was a young man named Thomas C. 
Perkins, a native of Massachusetts, who joined the hosts of Argo- 
nauts seeking fortune beside the sunset sea. Early in the year 1850 
he left Galena, 111., with an expedition bound for the coast and at 
the end of a tedious although uneventful journey he found himself 
at the famous mines of the west. For a time he devoted his attention 
to mining, but he soon came to realize that there was greater promise 
in the land than in the mines; accordingly he entered a large tract 
of land from the government. For years he engaged in placing 
the tract under cultivation and making it productive. As people came 
into the neighborhood he saw the necessity of a general store and 
therefore became interested in such a business. The settlement, 
which is five miles from Sacramento, is named Perkins in his honor 
and here he died in January of 1901, four years before the demise 
of his wife; the latter was a native of New York state, but came to 
California in childhood and here formed the acquaintance of Mr. 
Perkins. Their union resulted in the birth of seven children, but 
Charles C. is the sole survivor of the entire family. Since the death 
of his father he has been owner and manager of the Perkins store, 
started in 1882. In addition he is president of a large mercantile 
company known as Perkins & Co., incorporated in March of 1907 with 
himself as manager and president, and J. A. Haitz as secretary and 
treasurer. 

Although a leading and ])rosperous business man and the son 
of a citizen actively associated with public affairs, Mr. Perkins has 
never interested himself in politics and prefers to hold himself aloof 
from all partisan matters. However, his interest in educational mat- 
ters is so great that he consented to serve as a director of the 
Sacramento schools and during his four years of service in the office 
he was characterized by devotion to the work, knowledge of its needs 
and a desire to increase the usefulness of the city schools. Frater- 
nally he has been a leading local worker in the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and also has been very prominent in Masonry, being 
a member of the blue lodge and Knights Templar commandery in 
Sacramento, the Scottish Rite and Consistory, also Islam Temple at 
San Francisco, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 



808 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



IRA C. BOSS 

The distinction of having been the founder of one of the most 
important and prosperous business enterprises of San Francisco and 
Sacramento belongs to Mr. Boss, who as president and manager of the 
Ransome Concrete Company has been instrumental in the promotion of 
an industry invaluable in the material development of his own home 
city of Sacramento. It may not be amiss to mention, as indicative 
of the character of the company's work, some of their contracts 
in this city, viz: the hotels Sacramento, Land, Sequoia, Bismarck, 
Argus, all well-known and substantial hostelries catering to the comfort 
of many guests; the News Publishing Building, and the California 
National Bank building, both of which structures are unusually sub- 
stantial in design as well as attractive in architecture; the Western 
Pacific depot and shops; twenty residences at Colonial Heights; the 
residence and business block of Frederick Cox; and the United Farm 
Lands building, also the Farmers & Mechanics Bank building. This 
list, which by no means represents the entire extent of their con- 
tracts in the capital city, is sufficient to indicate their variety and 
importance. At San Francisco the company erected the Columbia 
theatre, the Chamberlain building, the wing on the Southern Pacific 
hospital, the Portola theatre and the Polk Street Market building. 
At other points there have been building operations of great magni- 
tude, including the cotton mills at Oakland, the court house at 
Placerville and the First National Bank of Contra Costa. 

The gentleman to whose intelligent supervision may be attrib- 
uted the distinct success attendant upon the progress of the company 
claims California as his native commonwealth. Born in Oakland 
in December of 1877 and a son of M. P. and Laura (G-allagher) Boss, 
he was given the best advantages afforded by the means of the 
family and the schools of the state. During 1890 he completed his 
course of study in the public schools and entered Belmont Academy, 
from wdiich he was graduated in 1895. The winter term of 1895-96 
found him a student in the department of mechanical engineering at 
the University of California, where he laid the foundation of the 
engineering knowledge so indispensable to his later business activi- 
ties. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he volunteered 
in the service and became a member of Company I of the Fourteenth 
United States Infantry, in which he continued until 1899. Upon 
retiring from the army he went to Mexico and became a superin- 
tendent in construction work, going from there to New York City at 
the expiration of two years and engaging in business as a consult- 
ing engineer for eight months. Nevada furnished him with his next 
field of business activity and until 1905 he remained in charge of 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 809 

construction work on two mills at Goldfield and Tonopah. Next he 
had charge of the construction of mills at Gladstone and Howards- 
ville, San Juan county, Colo. Returning to New York City in 1906, 
he formed an association with the Ransome-Smith Co., as superin- 
tendent of their construction work, and in their interests he came to 
California during May of 1907, soon afterward organizing at San 
Francisco the Ransome Concrete Company, of which he has been 
president and manager. When the office of the company was moved, 
to Sacramento he established a residence in this city, where he now 
ranks among the leading members of the Chamber of Commerce and 
one of the most enthusiastic promoters of enterprises for civic de- 
velopment. His marriage in New York City July 16, 1904, united 
him with Miss Kate Ransome, by whom he has a daughter, Katha- 
rine. Various organizations number him among their members, 
among them being the Sutter and University Clubs of Sacramento, 
the Claremont Country Club of Oakland and the Construction Club 
of San Francisco. While he has not identified himself with political 
affairs and takes no part in them aside from voting the Republican 
ticket at national elections, his knowledge of governmental problems 
is thorough and his opinions represent the result of thoughtful read- 
ing, keen faculties of observation and a cultured mind. 



WILLIAM M. AHERN 

It would be scarcely possible to overestimate the importance and 
the magnitude of the duties devolving upon the chief of police in a 
city whose commercial and legislative activities, handled by men of 
wealth and conspicuous success, attract to the civic environment 
thousands whose sojourn is of brief duration, but whose welfare 
must be wisely guarded by the sleepless vigilance of those upholding 
the majesty of the law. The fact that Mr. Ahern has made good as 
chief of police indicates the possession of certain fundamental attri- 
butes, unbounded energy, sagacious discrimination, an industry that 
never fails and a courage that never falters. Combined with his 
energy he possesses the tact and good humor characteristic of the 
Celtic race and these qualities bring him a host of friends outside 
of the immediate circle of his business associates. 

Into the home of John and Mary Ahern in Passage East, County 
Waterford, Ireland, William M. Ahern was born November 10, 1861, 
and from that same home he started out when the time came for him 
to earn his own way in the world. John Ahern was head constable 
of the constabulary at Waterford, holding the position until he was 



810 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

pensioned. When a young lad William M. attended the Christian 
Brothers school, but after he was thirteen years of age he earned 
his own livelihood and had little leisure for study. Taking up the 
trade of a lithographer, he spent five years as an apprentice to that 
business and afterward worked as a journeyman lithographer, being 
employed for two years at Dublin, Ireland, and for a similar period 
in London, England, where he became proficient in the trade. He 
came to California in May, 1884, his brother Thomas Ahern having 
arrived here a few years previous and written letters back home 
which interested his brother in the Golden West and encouraged him 
to make the trip. Thomas Ahern is now superintendent of the coast 
division of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. When he landed 
in this country he came at once to Sacramento, Cal., and spent three 
months as a lithographer with Crocker & Co., of San Francisco, and 
then engaged with the Southern Pacific Railroad and soon became 
foreman of a construction crew at Sacramento. But in 1892 he 
resigned this work to become an officer under John B. Rogers, chief 
of the police of Sacramento. 

A service of two years as an officer proved the adaptability of 
Mr. Ahern to such work. However, he did not continue after 1894, 
but then resigned in order to enter the employ of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad as a special agent. In that position he proved diligent, 
resourceful and trustworthy and he filled the same post continuously 
until he resigned to enter the service of the city of Sacramento, 
having been appointed chief of police January 29, 1910, by Mayor 
Beard. While an officer with the railroad mention should be made 
of Mr. Ahern 's work in concluding the final prosecution of Brady, 
the companion of Browning, who was killed by Sheriff Bogard of 
Tehama county. Brady and Browning were desperate train robbers 
who held up the Southern Pacific and robbed the Wells Fargo strong- 
box, obtaining in all $73,000. The robbery occurred at a sheep camp 
crossing, between Davisville and Sacramento. Chief Ahern comes 
by his ability as a successful officer of the peace naturally, as his 
father served thirty-six years as a police officer and head of the 
department in his home county. Shortly after he accepted the chief's 
office he showed a familiarity with every detail, which proved his 
quickness of comprehension and accuracy of judgment, and from the 
outset of his official duties he has been diligent in the work, resolute 
in action and firm in decision. While strong in his devotion to the 
Republican party his selection for the position was not a political 
measure, but came in recognition of his inherent worth and his 
fitness for the position. Ever since he came to this country he has 
made Sacramento his home and in this city in February of 1908 he 
was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Morrison, by whom he has 
a son, Frederick Morrison Ahern. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 811 



MONTFORT K. GROWELL 

The conservative financial policy exercised by the banking insti- 
tutions of Sacramento laid the foundation for all past prosperity 
as it will prove the stepping stone for all future growth. Perhaps 
no concern has been more cautious in avoidance of speculative in- 
vestments or more sagacious in loans and certainly none has been 
more successful in the management of a growing business than has 
the Farmers & Mechanics Savings Bank, an institution that for 
almost a quarter of a century has contributed to the business in- 
terests of the community, encouraged the development of new indus- 
tries, promoted tlie growth of old enterprises and fostered among its 
depositors a spirit of saving a portion of their incomes in order that 
the proverbial "rainy day" may not come upon them unawares. 
The cashier of this influential institution is a native Calif orni an, 
devoted to the great west, loyal to the welfare of the commonwealth 
and particularly interested in the fair valley that lies tributary to 
the capital city. He matriculated in the University of California, 
class of 1906, and in June, 1910, became cashier of the Farmers & 
Mechanics Savings Bank. 

The bank, whose growth is largely due to the ' executive ability 
of its officers, has had the good fortune to retain in the presidency 
George W. Peltier, who also acts as vice-president of the California 
National Bank of Sacramento. With characteristic energy and 
sagacious foresight the directors of the institution have decided 
to erect, at a cost of $250,000, a bank and office building on the 
corner of Oak avenue and Eighth street between J and K streets, 
a location admirably adapted for their purpose as well as for the 
general office uses to which it will be devoted. The structure will be 
equipped with every modern convenience and will contain every 
improvement which the architecture of the twentieth century can 
suggest. 



CHARLES J. YOUNG 

The possession of versatile ability is indicated by the different 
enterprises that have engaged the attention of Charles J. Young 
since he entered the field of practical commercial activities. It is 
the proud claim of California that no commonwealth can surpass our 
own state in the enterprise, energy and intelligence manifested by 
native-born sons, and such a list if complete could not fail to include 

45 



812 HISTOKY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

tlie name of Charles J. Young, now of Sacramento, bnt formerly a 
citizen of San Francisco. The title of colonel is frequently bestowed 
upon him b}^ acquaintances and comes from the fact that he held the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel on the staff of the commander-in-chief, 
having been promoted to that commission from a captaincy in the 
National Guard. 

A lifelong identification witli California, dating back to his birth 
at San Francisco May 23, 1866, into the home of David and Josephine 
Young, gives to Charles J. Young a profound knowledge of the state, 
a thorough acquaintance with its resources, a loyal devotion to its 
prosperity and an earnest desire to advance its interests. After he 
had attended the grammar and high schools between the ages of six 
and seventeen years, he began to make his own way in the business 
world. At first he found employment with Hill & Kilgore, stock 
brokers of San Francisco, and he acted as their cashier and book- 
keeper until 1884, when he embarked in the commission business for 
himseJf. Notwithstanding his youth he was quite successful in the 
venture. From 1889 until 1892 he held a responsible position as 
recei\'ing teller with the Tallant Banking Company and in that im- 
portant post he proved his possession of fine mental endowments. 

An attractive offer came to Mr. Young in 1892, which took liim 
away from San Francisco and caused him to make his headquarters 
at Grass Valley, this state, where he acted as assistant secretary of 
the Union Hill group of mines until 1900, and in 1902 he accepted 
a position as cashier in the bank of Weisbein Bros. After filling this 
responsible post for two years he resigned during 1904 in order to 
become manager of the Consumers' Ice & Cold Storage Company 
at Saera.mento. The position he now holds, far from being a mere 
sinecure, entails greater duties than many would suppose, yet every 
detail has been guarded by his careful oversight, every step of pro- 
gress has been made with sagacity and every plan has been devel- 
oped with cautious judgment, thus securing for the company the 
greatest possible results, while at the same time giving to the 
resident manager a high reputation for business judgment and far- 
seeing discrimination. So closely has his attention been given to 
business affairs that he has had no leisure for participation in public 
affairs and gives no time to politics aside from voting a Republican 
ticket at all elections. The attractive home which he has established 
in Sacramento is presided over by Mrs. Young, a lady of culture and 
gracious hospitality, and a native Calif ornian, born in Grass Valley, 
who prior to her marriage in January of 1900 made her home there. 
Both hold a high position in the social circles of the capital city and 
their residence here is regarded as a distinct advantage to the influ- 
ences contributorv to the general welfare. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 813 



O. HAEOLD COPE 

The magnitude of the realty transactions in Sacramento nec- 
essarily indicates great activity on the part of the real-estate firms of 
the city and among these the Cope Eeal Estate Company, of which 
Mr. Cope acts as president and manager, handles its considerable 
quota of business, bringing together buyers and sellers in deals large 
or small, negotiating for properties, and otherwise carrying forward 
the varied enterprises associated with the realty business. In addi- 
tion to the organization and management of this concern Mr. Cope 
during June of 1909 organized the Sacramento Mutual Investment 
Company, of which since he has officiated as a director. Another 
position which engages a portion of his time and attention is the 
Del Paso Heights, Incorporated, of which he acts as president and 
which has a capital stock of $25,000. From this it will be seen that 
his activities are far-reaching and as varied as his mental endow- 
ments. 

One of the organizations to which Mr. Cope belongs is the 
Native Sons of the Golden West, this association resulting from his 
nativity in California. Marysville is the place of his birth and 
December 18, 1888, the date thereof, his parents having been Charles 
H. and Agnes (Bowen) Cope. Descended from an old eastern famih^, 
Charles H. Cope was born at Colerain, Ohio, January 3, 1851, and 
received his education at that place, where he learned the trade of a 
miller in young manhood. Coming to California in 1877, he settled 
at Marysville and secured work in the Buckeye flour mill, remaining 
there as miller until 1900, when he came to Sacramento. For the 
next eight years he held the position of miller with the Pioneer Mill- 
ing Company, but in 1908 he resigned the position in order to remove 
to Oakdale, Stanislaus county, where now he manages the manufacture 
of flour for the Oakdale Milling Company. 

After having attended the public and high schools of Marys- 
ville until the completion of their ]')rescribed studies, Mr. Cojie took a 
commercial course in the Sacramento high school, from which in 1907 
he was graduated. His first employment was that of bookkeeper 
for the Earl Fruit Company in Sacramento, but after six months he 
left that concern and entered the real-estate office of Charles T. Hill 
as a bookkeeper and collector. During 1909 he engaged with the 
real-estate and insurance firm of Kleinsorge & Heilbron as manager 
and salesman. June 7, 1910, he organized the Cope Eeal Estate 
Company, which has since successfully conducted a growing business 
in the capital city. While devoting his attention quite closely to his 
varied business interests, he does not neglect his duties of citizen- 
ship, but keeps posted concerning national issues as well as concern- 



814 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ing all enterprises for the material benefit of Ms home city. He is 
president of the Riverside Improvement Clnb, the object of which is 
the advancement of Riverside district in Sacramento. The Pro- 
gressive party receives his ballot in all general elections. His interest 
in politics is not that of a partisan and he has never been a candidate 
for any office, although well qualified for such work, should his in- 
clinations direct him to any participation in public atfairs. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church and a contributor to many of 
the movements for the upbuilding of the church and the broadening 
influences of Christianity. In fraternal relations he holds member- 
ship with the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1912 he organized 
the Riverside Country Club, of which he was selected president. This 
is a social club of about one hundred and seventy-five members, which 
erected their own club house on the banks of the Sacramento river. 
In Sacramento, December 22, 1909, Mr. Cope was united in marriage 
with Miss Ethel Gladys Hampton, of this city, and they are the 
parents of a daughter, Mildred Ethel. 



WILLIAM D. LAWTON 

An intimate association of thirty years with the business devel- 
opment of Sacramento has given to Mr. Lawton a comprehensive 
knowledge of property valuations in and near the capital city, also 
of commercial enterprises contributing to the local development and 
civic measures devoted to the general welfare. It would be difficult 
to find a citizen more loyal than he to the city of his adoption; its 
interests he has made his own, its welfare is ever dear to his heart 
and its progress is a theme of never-ceasing importance to him. To 
such loyal citizens the city owes its steady development in all that 
gives lasting value to its influence. That his citizenship has been 
appreciated appears in the statement that he was chosen president 
of the first board of trustees under the new charter of 1893 and 
at one time also was honored with being elected a director of the 
Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, in these positions giving evidence 
of earnest loyalty to civic growth and intelligent understanding of 
municipal problems. He was instrumental as early as 1892 in the 
building of the first macadamized street in Sacramento, which was 
the inception for macadam and asphalt streets there, and in 1894-95, 
when he was president of the board of trustees, the cement sidewalks 
were built, thus starting permanent work in that line. He was 
zealous in working for the interest of the city at all times, and it 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 815 

was entirely tliroiigli his efforts that the city water works were saved 
to the city instead of passing into the hands of a private corporation. 
Descended from an old eastern family and himself a native of 
Lyons, N. Y., William D. Lawton has been a citizen of California 
ever since the year 1873 and therefore has given the intelligent ser- 
vice of manhood to the commonwealth of his adoption. Four years 
after his arrival in the west he was united in marriage with Miss 
Emma Grimshaw, of Sacramento, the daughter of a prominent pio- 
neer family originally from Illinois; after coming to California her 
father, "William R. Grimshaw, was for years identified with Captain 
Sutter and Sam Brannan and his participation in early history had 
a direct hearing upon subsequent progress. For little less than ten 
years after coming to the west Mr. Lawton engaged in the manu- 
facturing business in San Francisco, but during 1882 he established his 
home in Sacramento, and here he has resided ever since. Practically 
ever since he came to the state he has been interested in 
mining to some extent. On several occasions he was engaged as 
an engineer in mines in this state and Nevada and while thus 
employed he bought personal interests in' a number of promis- 
ing claims. In addition to holding shares of stock in mines he has 
controlling water interests at a point in Southern Nevada and by 
means of his own private water system he supplies an abundance 
of water for irrigating and domestic purposes, as well as for the 
treatment of ores. He is devoting much time to real-estate and 
investments in the Sacramento vallev. 



FREDERICK W. KIESEL 

As a factor in the financial aifairs and commercial development 
of Sacramento the California National Bank occupies no secondary 
place. During the long period of its existence it has won and re- 
tained the confidence of a large army of depositors and has consid- 
ered the interests of customers with a loyalty unquestioned and a 
sagacity unexcelled. No small measure of the steady growth of the 
institution is due to the intelligent supervision and splendid judg- 
ment of the cashier, Frederick W. Kiesel, who combines keen dis- 
crimination with conservative caution and progressiveness with 
painstaking forethought. The elements entering into his character 
form the ideal type for banker and financier and to their exercise is 
due his present standing in the banking circles of the city. 

About midway between Head river bay and Cache lake lies the 
railroad town of Corinne, a village of some prominence in northern 



816 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Utah, and there it was that Frederick W. Kiesel was born February 
11, 1874, into the home of F. J. and Julia Kiesel, pioneer residents 
of that section of the country. An excellent primary education was 
obtained in private schools, which further enlarged his training 
through the high-school studies. During the autumn of 1892 he en- 
tered Harvard College, where he continued in the regular course until 
1894, meanwhile enjoying the manifold advantages conferred by at- 
tendance in that ancient and honored institution. Shortly after he 
had left Harvard he returned to the west and settled at Sacramento, 
where he gave his attention to promoting the organization of the 
California winery. Being the principal stockholder in the business 
he became likewise its president until he sold his interest in the 
business. 

The association of Mr. Kiesel with the California National Bank 
began April 1, 1898, when he entered the institution as a bookkeeper 
and later, in recognition of his superior qualifications, he was pro- 
moted to be cashier. This office he since has filled with recognized 
ability and foresight. For some years after his arrival in Sacra- 
mento he remained a bachelor, but on the 18th of December, 1901, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Jane Birdsall, one of the promi- 
nent and popular young ladies in Sacramento society. They are the 
parents of two daughters and one son, Corinne, born in 1907 ; Phyllis, 
whose birth occurred in 1910, and Robert Allan, born in 1911. It 
has not been the desire of Mr. Kiesel to enter upon political activi- 
ties or to seek public offices. Indeed, he has steadfastly refused 
to take any part in politics whatever aside from the voting of a 
Re]niblican ticket in national and local elections. Nevertheless, he 
is interested in every movement for the general advancement and 
particularly in those measures having for their object the permanent 
welfare of Sacramento. In fraternal affairs besides his connection 
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks he has been active 
in Masonry and holds membership in the Washington Lodge No. 20, 
F. & A. M., Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., also Sacramento 
Council and Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T., and is also a 
Scottish Rite Mason of the thirt^^-second degree, and member of 
Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. He is a director in the 
Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, and is secretarv of the Sutter 
Club. 



WILLIAM KINKADE LINDSAY, M. D. 

Since 1909 Dr. W. K. Lindsay has been city physician, health 
officer and secretary of the board of health of Sacramento. He was 
born at Sheldon, Sacramento county, September 4, 1877, and when 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 817 

he was thirteen rears old the family moved into the city and for 
six years he attended the public schools. He then took a fonr-year 
course in the Universitv of California and was graduated from the 
medical department in 1901 with the degree of M. D. He began his 
medical practice in Courtland, but five years afterwards moved to 
Sacramento, where he has since practiced his profession, ^^hen the 
new charter for Sacramento was adopted in July, 1912, the board 
of health was abolished, but he was continued in office as health othcer 
and citv physician. He has been very active ever since his gradua- 
tion in advocating measures for the prevention of contagious diseases 
and the complete stamping out of the same. In 1907 he was ap- 
73ointed as special inspector by the board of health of Sacramento, 
and in this wav he became well and favorably known. On the resig- 
nation of Dr. H. L. Nichols, who desired to retire. Dr. Lindsay was 
appointed health officer in January, 1909, since when he has filled 
that important office. The summer of 1912 was strenuous because 
of the concerted movement to eradicate rabies which was prevalent 
among all canines, several persons having suffered injury from bites, 
and the board of health found it necessary to give them the Pasteur 
treatment. Then came the infantile paralysis scare, but by rigifl 
quarantine the disease was abated and finally wiped out. 

The father and grandfather of the doctor, both named William 
K Lindsav, crossed the plains in 1851 with ox-teams and Settled on 
the Cosumne river. They were dairymen and farmers on a large 
scale The grandfather owned two thousand acres ot tme, tertiie 
soil; 'he was a supervisor of the county of Sacramento for a number 
of vears and resigned the office in 1859. Dr. Lindsay's father mar^ 
ried in 1876 Miss Maria A. Tuttle, who was born m New York, bne 
had come to California from the state of New York in 1870 and had 
taught school until her marriage. They were the parents of five chil- 
dren, namelv: AYilliam K. is the subject of this vexiew. James 
Albert is now a practicing dentist in Sacramento. Helen Salome 
is the wife of James H. Hayes, traffic manager of the Pacific Fruit 
Exchange. Landon Sanders was a farmer on the Homestead Tract 
and wa^ accidentallv drowned in 1907; the family still own eight 
hundred and eighty acres of farm and dairy land m this tract. 
Elmira Ann, the voungest in the family, died m infancy. 

Dr William K. Lindsav married Etha Mae Walker, daughter 
of Henrv C. Walker, formerly a prominent business man m Detroit, 
Mich., but who had come to this state for his health. The du dren 
of this marriao-e are: Almira Maude, born June 2, 1902; William 
Kinkade, born December 2, 1904; and Walker Henderson, born Jan- 
uarv 28, 1906. Naturally Dr. Lindsay is broadly interested m all 
public questions both in and out of his profession. He is a memDer 
of the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, a member or 
the State Medical Society and also of the American Medical Asso- 



818 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

elation and the Northern Distriot Medical Sooiety. In fraternity he 
is a Scottish Rite Mason, a past district deputy .s:rand president of 
the Native Sons of the Golden West, and a past president of Conrt- 
land Parlor No. 106 of that order. With Mrs. Lindsay he is an 
active member of the Eastern Star and of the Cono-res'ational Chnrch. 



EDWARD HAYNES 

An official position whose duties were assumed as the result of 
a vacancy caused by death has given Mr. Haynes an opportunity 
to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the most modern methods 
connected with municipal bookkeeping, as he had previously become 
familiar with every detail connected with commercial bookkeeping 
while assisting his father in an eastern mercantile establishment. 
That he has justified the wisdom of his selection and vindicated the 
choice of the mayor is amply proved by the excellence of his official 
record and the care with which he has discharged every duty devolv- 
ing upon the city auditor and assessor since he was appointed deputy 
January *8, 1906. Among those familiar with- such work his books 
are said to be models of accuracy and system and the results of 
his labors will com])are favorably with those of his most ca]iable 
predecessors. 

Michigan is the native commonwealth of Edward Haynes, who 
was born in Onondaga, Ingham county. May 21, 1862, and is a son 
of Ephraim P. and Alsey A. (Earll) Haynes, both natives of New 
York state. At about six years of age he entered the primary depart- 
ment of the pul)lic schools and each year found him one grade higher 
until 1877, when having completed the regular course of study he 
turned his attention to commercial pursuits. As a bookkeeper in a 
general mercantile store conducted by his father he gained a thor- 
ough knowledge of every detail connected with accounts and was well 
qualified for further responsibilities of the same nature. During 
October of 1882 he came to California and settled first in Dunnigan, 
Yolo county, where he worked in various capacities, taking any em- 
ployment that offered an honorable livelihood. At the expiration 
of four years he came to Sacramento and secured a i^osition as 
brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad. On account of his effi- 
ciency he was promoted in 1891 to the position of conductor on the 
road with headquarters at Sacramento and he continued with the 
railway until January, 1906, when the city auditor, Fred W. Carey, 
appointed him his deputy. On the death of Mr. Carey he was ap- 
pointed his successor by Ma>T)r Beard on September 1, 1910, and in 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 819 

November, 1911, be was elected to tbe otJQce, being tbe nominee of 
both parties. Since bis original appointment be bas given bis time 
and tbougbt wbolly to tbe duties connected witb tbe office. 

Tbe marriage of Mr. Haynes and Miss Olive Masters was sol- 
emnized in San Francisco October 2, 1901, and tbey at once estab- 
lisbed a bome in Sacramento, wbere tbey bave continued to reside, 
meanwbile winning tbe friendsbip of all witb wbom tbey bave bad 
social or business relations. For many years Mr. Haynes was con- 
nected actively witb Sierra Division No. 195, Order of Eailway Con- 
ductors, and after be bad ceased to bave any relation witb tbe road 
be still retained an bonorary membersbip witb tbe division. Wbile 
be bas not been a partisan nor a politician, be maintains stanncb 
convictions in regard to governmental issues and gives bis support 
to tbe Eepublican party. Besides bolding membersbip witb tbe Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in tbeir Eldorado Lodge No. 8, be 
bas been very prominent in Masonry as a member of Tebama Lodge 
No. 3, F. & A. M., Sacramento Cbapter No. 3, E. A. M., Sacramento 
Council, No. 1, Sacramento Commanderv, No. 2, K. T., and Islam 
Temple, N. M. S. 



CHAELES W. ANDEESON 

Tbe capable supervision of the present cbief is bringing the 
gratification of satisfactory returns to tbe fire department of Sacra- 
mento. Ambitious to develop a plant worthy of the municipality, 
he bas devoted every energy with intense eagerness to the securing 
of needed improvements. The capable labors of his predecessors in 
office bave been supplemented bv his own arduous and unremitting 
application to tbe management of the department. Tbe results of his 
efforts are apparent in the increased efficiency of the plant. There 
are manv people in the city who assert that the position has never 
had an incumbent more energetic, more sagacious and more trust- 
worthy than is Mr. Anderson, who with justice may feel proud of tbe 
ap]ireciation given to his work in the city's behalf. 

Tbe county of Sacramento has been the lifelong bome of Mr. 
Anderson, and his father, Hartford Anderson, held a prominent place 
among the pioneer residents in the vicinity of Folsom. His brother. 
Judge W. A. Anderson, of Sacramento, also crossed the plains witb 
the father in 1849. Charles W. Anderson's birth occurred Julv 5, 
1867. As a bov be bad the advantage of instruction under Professor 
Blanchard in the public schools. Leaving school in 1882 he secured 
work as a laborer on a ranch near Folsom, where he remained for 
one year. Next he undertook to learn the blacksmith's trade, but at 
the expiration of six months his health became impaired and he was 
forced to relinquish all activities. An enforced idleness of vsix months. 



820 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

during which time he remained with his father, enabled him to re- 
gain his former strength. As soon as able to work he learned the 
trade of a tinsmith and afterward followed it as a journeyman until 
1887, when he became an apprentice in the state printing office at 
Sacramento. Seven years were spent in that office, the period sub- 
sequent to his apprenticeship being spent in regular work for wages. 

Upon his return to Folsom in 1894 Mr. Anderson engaged as a 
tinsmith for Brown & Yaeger, but that place he resigned in 1895, 
when lie returned to Sacramento and entered the employ of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company as a tinsmith. When he resigned 
that post in August of 1910 it was in order that he might accept 
the responsible duties as chief of the fire department, to which he 
had been appointed by Mayor Beard. In entering his new tasks he 
showed the energy, tact, and determination characteristic of him in 
previous business associations, and his service up to the present time 
has been marked by the steady growth of the department and its 
continued immediate response to all alarms. Not only has the chief 
proved a resourceful fire-fighter, but in addition he makes many sug- 
gestions as to prevention of fires and watches closely all of the extra 
hazardous fire risks, believing that no service is of greater value to 
any municipality than the prevention of such serious catastrophes. 

The marriage of Mr. Anderson and Miss Louisa Meyer took place 
at Folsom,' Sacramento county, August 16, 1893, and has been blessed 
with two children, Carl W. and Ruth Louisa, both of whom have 
received superior educational advantages in the high schools of Sac- 
ramento. The Republican party has received the consistent and 
steadfast support of Mr. Anderson ever since he attained his ma- 
jority and cast his first ballot. Fraternally he not only has main- 
tained an active connection with the Loyal Order of Moose, but also 
has been a prominent local worker in the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and is past noble grand of Eldorado Lodge No. 8. Both of 
these fraternities receive his generous assistance in their charitable 
undertakings and he has further given helpful aid to general mea- 
sures for the common good. He is also a member of the Pacific 
Coast Association of Fire Chiefs. His interest in the welfare and 
progress of his native county is particularly keen. In his opinion 
no movement is too arduous, no enterprise too great for local support 
provided the prosperity of the community thereby is enhanced. 



CLARENCE C. CUFF 

From the earliest ages the science of architecture has fascinated 
men of broad mental vision. The monuments and cathedrals that 
have stood in massive grandeur for centuries untold bear witness to 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 821 

the desire of mau to express his aspirations and visions in stone 
or marble. At no time, however, has the profession risen to such 
prominence as in the history of the twentieth century, whose re- 
markable commercial development demands artistic yet substantial 
architecture as the expression of its character. Noteworthy among 
the architects who are formulating and developing the cities of the 
present day, mention belongs to Clarence C. Cuff, member of the 
firm of Cuff & Diggs, architects who for some years successfully have, 
engaged in their chosen profession in Sacramento, meanwhile design- 
ing and planning a number of the finest structures in this part of 
the state. 

Of Canadian birth and ancestry, Clarence C, son of H. W. and 
Mary Cuff, was born in the city of Toronto January 15, 1871. The 
excellent schools of Toronto furnished him with the best grammar- 
school advantages and he continued his studies until he was fifteen 
years of age, when he discontinued school work for the occupation in 
which he was destined to make a subsequent success. The prelimi- 
nary study of architecture was carried on with an architect of To- 
ronto, whose instruction guided him wisely and thoroughly through 
the formulative period of his researches. Later he had the advan- 
tage of three years of study in the Toronto School of Architecture, 
from which he was graduated with a high standing. Immediately 
after completing his course of study he went to Buffalo, N. Y., and 
entered the office of an architect, with whom he remained five years. 
Later he was employed by architects in different parts of the United 
States and thus gained a thorough conception of favorite styles of 
architecture in the various localities. While following his profession 
in New York City he there married in September of 1904 Miss Louise 
Schuster, a cultured woman of eastern birth and thorough education. 

After his arrival in the west during 1905 Mr. Cuff engaged with 
an architect in San Francisco for one year, after which he came to 
Sacramento and for two years held a position in the office of the 
state architect. Later he formed his present partnership with M. I. 
Diggs and under their capable alliance the substantial grammar- 
school at Marysville has been erected, the Diepenbrock theatre pre- 
sents an added attraction for lovers of dramatic art in Sacramento, 
the Travelers Hotel of Sacramento and the Eldorado county court- 
house at Placerville have been built, the California Hospital at Sac- 
ramento is accepted as a model of the kind, the warehouse of Thom- 
son, Diggs Company forms an addition to the business part of the 
city, and the residences of D. W. Carmichael, C. B. Dewees^ and 
Senator M. Diggs stand as monuments to the originality and skill of 
the architects. Since he crossed from Canada into our own country 
Mr. Cuff has made a study of national problems and has given his 
allegiance to the Republican party. He is a member of the Knights 



822 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of Columbus and professionally is an active member of the Archi- 
tectural League of Sacramento and an associate member of the Am- 
erican institute of Architects. 



THOMAS W. O'NEIL 

The associations of a lifetime bound Mr. O'Neil closely to Sac- 
ramento coimty. While the interests of business took him tem- 
porarily to other parts of California he always considered himself 
a citizen of his native county and never lost his intense loyalty and 
affectionate devotion to this section of the state. In return he re- 
ceived the admiring respect of an unusually large circle of acquaint- 
ances. It is given to few to possess the friendship of all, yet it 
may be said of Mr. O'Neil, notwithstanding his activity in politics 
and his frankness in expressing his opinion concerning public ques- 
tions, that even his political opposers bore him no ill will, but on the 
contrary reposed the highest confidence in his honor, integrity and 
patriotic loyalty. 

Born at Folsom, Sacramento county, August 4, 1855, Mr. O'Neil 
began to learn the trade of frescoing at an early age and for seven 
years he followed the occupation in San Francisco and San Jose, 
always, however, retaining his home in Sacramento county. During 
1876 he began to work at his trade in Sacramento, where he made a 
specialty of frescoing, decorating interiors and treating wall finish. 
By the exercise of good business judgment and artistic skill he estab- 
lished a reputation in his chosen line and was reckoned one of the 
most successful frescoers in this part of the state. During 1887 he 
married the daughter of the late John Rooney of Brighton (now 
called Perkins), Sacramento county, and at the time of his demise 
he left to mourn him his devoted wife, also two daughters and five 
sons, the eldest of whom was not yet seventeen. 

From boyhood Mr. O'Neil took an active part in politics. For 
many years he was a local Democratic leader and a member of the 
county and state central committees. As sheriff in 1893-94 he estab- 
lished a reputation for fearlessness. During his term every industry 
in the city and county was paralyzed by the A. R. IT. strike and the 
city was under martial law. Another important affair connected 
with his official service was the suppression of gambling in the 
county. When the chief of police and local officers stated they could 
not suppress gambling in the city, he stepped in. declared that gam- 
bling must stop and saw to it that not another deal was made while 
he acted as sheriff. Although a staimch Democrat he was chosen 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 823 

by President McKinley to act as census marshal for Northern Cali- 
fornia. When the Union Building and Loan Association went into 
the hands of a receiver he was chosen by Judge Hughes for that 
position. Under his oversight chaos was reduced to order, justice 
was secured for all concerned and the litigation was about com- 
pleted in every detail at the time of his death. After he retired 
from the sheriff's office he engaged in the hop business, but a de- 
cline occurred in the price about that time and hops were scarcely 
worth the gathering, so that his accumulations in a lifetime of en- 
ergy and labor were swept away in a legitimate enterprise. 

As organizer Mr. O'Neil was connected with Sacramento Par- 
lor No. 3, N. S. G. W., and he was also prominent in the United 
Commercial Travelers' Association. As a member of the firm of 
M. Cronan & Co., of Sacramento, he traveled throughout Northern 
California and during one of his trips he was seized with a heart 
attack at Colfax, Placer county, March 12, 1905. In a few hours 
he passed away. The remains were brought back to the bereaved 
family and interment was made in the Sacramento cemetery. Uni- 
versal regret was expressed that a man of such sterling qualities 
should be taken while yet in the prime of manhood. Many trib- 
utes were paid to his memory by those who had known and hon- 
ored him for years. From one of these testimonials we quote as 
follows : 

"Only those whose privilege it was to enjoy a personal ac- 
quaintance with the late T. W. O'Neil appreciate the noble quali- 
ities of the man. It is doubtful whether the unexpected death of 
any other man in the city of Sacramento would have elicited more 
sincere expression of sorrow. Tom O'Neil was a true man in ev- 
ery one of life's manifold relationships. He loved his family and 
was devoted to his friends, while toward those who differed with 
him in the affairs that called his attention, political or personal, 
his generous heart could cherish no antagonism. All his life was 
free and open. He never knowingly oppressed a human being. 
In his great heart there was no place for resentment, yet he was 
indomitable in defense of his opinions and like a man faced vicis- 
situdes with courageous resolution. It happened to him that the 
course of his career led him sometimes into politics, but Tom 
O'Neil never lost his self-esteem, his natural love of truth, his 
friendly devotion in all the manipulation of that strange game 
where men rarely scruple if failure is the alternative. Tom O 'Neil's 
sincerity never forsook him. Under every circumstance his com- 
pass was set by the stars and he pursued the ri^id reckoning, lead 
where it might. The death of such a man and so true a friend 
comes as a personal loss to the humble writer of these lines, as it 
does to every man who knew him well enough to appreciate him at 
his worth. He was too noble to be base, too conscientious to de- 



824 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ceive, too loyal to dissimulate. Upon his brow God set the seal of 
truth, in his heart no taint of dishonor could abide. And the world 
will revolve and the days go on and on, and you will be forgot- 
ten, Tom, but not by those who languish now in tears for love of 
you, nor yet by this penman, nor by the large number of others 
who, from knowing you, called you friend." 

Mrs. O'Neil, who survives her husband, now fills the office of 
county superintendent of schools, having been elected to the of- 
fice in 1906 and re-elected in 1910. She is the daughter of the late 
John Rooney and a sister of James and Peter Rooney. Her father 
was born in County Louth, Ireland, and came to the United States 
in 1847, when twenty-one years of age, landing in New Y^ork, 
whence he proceeded to Boston. Next he went south to Kings 
county, Ala. November 20, 1849, he started for California via 
Panama and landed in San Francisco on the 27th of January, then 
coming to Sacramento February 2 following. For nine months he 
worked in the mines of Georgetown, Eldorado county. His min- 
ing ventures were so remarkably successful that by 1852 he had 
netted $25,000, but years later financial reverses came to him and 
swept much of his splendid property into ruin. In 1852 he be- 
gan farming, and purchasing six hundred and ten acres of raw 
land near what is now Perkins, Sacramento county, he followed 
agriculture and stock raising on that place. About 1881 he began 
hop raising and developed what was said to be the largest hop-field 
in the entire world. In 1853 he married Mary Clark, a native of 
the same county in Ireland. For years they presided over a home 
where hospitality was unbounded. No weary traveler ever sought 
food or slielter there in vain. No guest ever visited the spacious 
country home but was refreshed in spirit and made the ])etter for 
the sunshine of Mrs. Rooney 's presence. 

When financial troubles came Mr. Rooney saw his wide pos- 
sessions leave him to satisfy the demands of the mortgage-holders. 
But John Rooney and his wife were made of sterner stuff than 
those who surrender to the caprices of fortune. lie was ever the 
same rugged, stalwart character, strong in his friendships, un- 
shaken in his ])rinciples, while Mrs. Rooney remained his ever-de- 
voted helpmate. Early in life John Rooney was a Douglas Demo- 
crat. In 1864 he supported Abraham Lincoln. After 1868 he was 
identified with the Democratic party. In local conventions he was 
a leader. -''But the years crept on John Rooney and mellowed his 
life into a peacefulness that sought no more clashing with the 
world. The ambition which fired him on in the days of his splen- 
did youth and manhood was gone, and John Rooney gave u]i life 
as bravely as he had lived it." When within a few months of 
seventj^-seven years of age he died at the home of his son, James, 



HISTOBY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 825 

where he had been temporarily sojourning. To the memory of de- 
scendants he left the priceless heritage of an honorable hfe, de- 
voted to the welfare of loved ones and to the service of the com- 
monwealth which he proudly called his home. 



ALDEN W. CAMPBELL 

A typical American of the best class is a fitting description of 
Aklen W. Campbell of Sacramento, who has reached a high place 
in public esteem as an architect and an artist along professional 
lines. Mr. Campbell was born in Boulder, Colo., in 1875, a son 
of William R. and Lvdia R. (Wilson) Campbell, natives respect- 
ively of Canada and of Michigan. In 1877 William R. Campbell 
brought his family to California and locating in Sacramento went 
into "the planing-mill business and built up a large factory which 
supplied an extensive demand for builder's materials. 

When his parents brought him to Sacramento, Alden W. Camp- 
bell was about two years old. He was educated in public schools 
and in night schools and took special courses with the Interna- 
tional Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pa., receiving his ^ di- 
ploma in complete architecture. While he was studying in the night 
school, to hasten his preparation to enter his chosen fielcl of labor, 
he participated in several architectural-drawing competitions and 
won several medals offered by the State Architectural Society. 
The first was awarded him in 1894 and he was the recipient of oth- 
ers in 1895, 1896, 1899, 1900 and 1902. When he was sixteen years old 
he entered upon a three years' term of employment with that vet- 
eran California builder, Silas Carle, whose operations extended 
throughout the state. Later in the employ of the Sacramento Plan- 
ing Mills he gained in two years an intimate practical knowledge 
of woodworking and interior finish. In 1897-1902 he was in the 
civil service department in the post-office building, and in his spare 
time he devoted himself to professional study and prepared plans 
for fine residences in Sacramento, among them being residences for 
Dr. Hart, Henry Nicolaus, Jr., A. L. Crane, Walter L. Rennie and 
Peter Roemer, also for T. G. Schraeiser of Davis and F. E. Gil- 
more of Red Bluff. He is now established in his own office at Thir- 
ty-fourth and J streets, and has drawn plans for numerous fine 
houses and apartment buildings; he has on file important contracts 
for execution in the near future. He is a member of San Fran- 
cisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and is a mem- 
ber of the Sacramento Architectural League. 



826 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Mr. Campbell was married in Sacramento November 27th, 1906, 
to Miss Ellen Klotz, who was born in this city and was a gradu- 
ate of the Sacramento high school. She was a teacher in the public 
schools for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are the parents 
of three children, Eleanor, William and Dudley. Mr. Campbell was 
made a Mason in Washington Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M., and is also a 
thirtieth degree Scottish Rite member. He is a past patron of Columbus 
Chapter, No. 117, 0. E. S., of which Mrs. Campbell is a member, and he 
is also a member of Capital Lodge No. 87, I. 0. 0. F. Both he and 
his wife are numbered in the membership of Capitol City Re- 
bekali Lodge No. 160, and he is a member of Court Capital, F. of 
A. Mrs. Campbell is member of the Native Daughters of the Golden 
West. Active in the East Sacramento Improvement Club, where 
he has large property interests and where his beauiful residence 
is located, Mr. Campbell has served the club as president and has 
been very instrumental in fostering movements for the building 
up and beautifying of that section of the state capital. He was 
a member of a committee of thirty that carried to victory the an- 
nexing of the suburbs, thus changing the population from forty- 
five hundred to seven thousand. He is an active member of Sacra- 
mento Chamber of Commerce. He is Republican in his politics and 
his geniality and public spirit make him popular with his fellow 
citizens of all classes. 



COL. HENRY I. SEYMOUR 

Among native C^alifornians who have forged to the front in the 
business field of Sacramento there is none more deserving of men- 
tion in a work of this character than Henry I. Seymour of the Buf- 
falo brewery and of other enterprises of importance and of prom- 
ise. Mr. Seymour was born in Sacramento July 25, 1861, son of 
Henry 0. and Elizabeth (Osborn) Seymour, both of whom were na- 
tives of New York state. The father came around the Cape in a 
sailing vessel in 1854 and followed farming. At the time of his 
death he was a member of the Board of Supervisors and had been 
chairman of that body. His death occurred in 1876. Mrs. Sey- 
mour had made the trip to the west in 1852, and she passed away 
in 1910. 

Educated in the public schools Henry I. Se^^nour was gradu- 
ated from high school in 1878. His first experience in business was 
as an employe in the freight department of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road Company. He early demonstrated that he had in him the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 827 

energy from which successful men of affairs are developed, and his 
advancement was rapid. For ten years he was in the service of that 
corporation, then in 1890 he entered the employ of the Buffalo 
Brewing Company as a bookkeeper, and in that capacity he labored 
faithfully and most efficiently five years. So devoted had he been 
to the interests of the concern, so well had he informed himself in 
the intricacies of its affairs, that he was called to the higher respon- 
sibility of its management, and since then he has been influential 
in shaping its course and directing the carrying out of its policies. 
The company began business in 1890, with a capacity of twenty- 
five thousand barrels. It had been incorporated in 1888, and its 
original board of directors was constituted as follows: Ex-Gov- 
ernor Newton Booth, J. R. Watson of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road Company, H. H. Grau, Adolph Heilbron, W. E. Gerber, Frank 
Ruhstaller, Sr., Louis Nicolaus, Frederick Cox and Samuel Lavens- 
ton. Of this board only three survive. Mr. Grau, the original 
manager, retired in 1895. The present capacity of the plant is so 
very much greater than that of the early days of the company that 
the output exceeds one hundred thousand barrels and ranks on a 
par in production and quality with any brewery in California. 

For four years Mr. Seymour was active as a director and vice- 
president of the Chamber of Commerce, and from time to time he 
has been identified, directly or indirectly, with various interests of 
the city. About 1885 he became a member of Company E, Firsi 
Artillery, National Guards. From a private he rose to the office of 
captain in the next three years. In 1895 he was placed on the re- 
tired list, remaining there until 1900, when he was elected colonel 
of the Second Infantry Regiment, N. G. C, serving in that capacity 
until 1910, when he was again placed on the retired list. As colonel 
of the Second Infantry he served in San Francisco during the fire 
of 1906. He is a member of Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. "p. 0. E., 
and of Sunset Parlor No. 26, N. S. G. W. The Sutter Club num- 
bers him among its members, and he has served on its board of 
trustees. 

Mr. SejTnour was married in Napa county in 1887 to Miss 
Grace Brownlee, who was a native daughter of Napa county and a 
graduate of Perry's Seminary of Sacramento. They are the par- 
ents of two children, Donald and Doris. In many ways Mr. Sey- 
mour has demonstrated his public spirit, and there are few move- 
ments inaugurated which give promise of benefiting any consid- 
erable number of his fellow citizens that do not receive his cordial 
and generous support. 

46 



828 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 



GEORGE C. SELLON 

Rare indeed is it to find two generations of native Californians 
actively identified with business affairs and contributing useful 
service to the world of progress. Such is the record of the Sellon 
family, three successive generations of whom have contributed to the 
development of the state since the discovery of gold and one (repre- 
senting the third generation) now holds a prominent position among 
the men of affairs in Sacramento. This influential citizen was born 
in the city of San Francisco February 9, 1881, received a grammar 
school education in Sacramento and attended the Chicago high school, 
from which he was graduated in 1900. His father, L. J. Sellon, was 
born in Marysville, Cal., in September of 1850, and is a son of Judge 
Sellon, a Forty-niner and a pioneer of honored memory. Upon start- 
ing out to make his own way in the world, L. J. Sellon became a rail- 
way mail clerk and later rose to the superintendency of the mail 
route between Sacramento and Ogden, Utah, meanwhile making his 
home in the former city. During 1891 he resigned from the road in 
order to enter the employ of the Postal Telegraph Company at Sac- 
ramento, where he acted as operator. The company in 1894 trans- 
ferred him to Chicago as chief of the night wire. Notwithstanding 
his life of strenuous exertion and constant labor, he is still active, 
forceful and successful, and has not been obliged to relinquish the 
responsibilities so capably discharged for many years. 

It was the privilege of George C. Sellon to enjoy excellent educa- 
tional advantages and at the same time to observe carefully the archi- 
tecture popular in the three cities familiar to his youth. From boy- 
hood he displayed an interest in the building business and thought- 
fully studied all designs novel in style as well as substantial in effect. 
As he observed and noted these with care, he began to draw designs 
of his own and after he entered an achitect's office in Chicago he 
gave his attention wholly to developing his natural tastes for such 
work. From 1904 to 1906 he engaged in business for himself in Chi- 
cago and his experience in that city has proved of the greatest service 
to his subsequent efforts. 

A brief period of work at San Francisco was followed by the re- 
turn of Mr. Sellon to Sacramento in May of 1907, at which time he 
accepted an appointment as state architect from Governor Gillett. 
During the three years of his service in the employ of the common- 
wealth he designed many important structures, including the State 
Normal at San Jose, the State Hospital at Agnew, the state peniten- 
tiary at San Quentin, the California building at the Alaska-Yukon 
exposition and the Administration building at the Sonoma State 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 829 

Home. Since his retirement from the state employ he has engaged 
in business for himself and has designed many buildings of note, 
among them being the Sacramento hotel, the American cash store, the 
Sacramento News Publishing building, the Hagelstein building, the 
structures to be seen on the state fair grounds and the Inverness 
building. To one so deeply interested in his chosen calling politics 
makes little appeal, and we find that Mr. Sellon refuses to take any 
part in public affairs aside from voting the Republican ticket. Elec- 
tive offices do not fascinate him and the career of a statesman pos- 
sesses for him no charm, although later years, with their professional 
successes and business prosperity, may lead him into avenues of 
public service for which now he has no desire. The Sutter club and 
blue lodge, as well as the Scottish Rite Masons number him among 
their members, and professionally he is a member of the San Fran- 
cisco Chapter, American Institute of Architects. While living in Chi- 
cago he formed the acquaintance of Miss Margaret Hughes and they 
were united in marriage June 29, 1904, afterward residing in that 
city until their removal to the west. They are the parents of a sou 
and daughter, Walter C. and Virginia. 



GEORGE W. BOSTWICK 

In and around Sacramento there is no better known authority on 
brick than is the gentleman whose name is above, and his expert 
advice is frequently called for by manufacturers in different parts of 
the United States. George W. Bostwick is a native of Michigan, 
born in Saginaw, He attended public and high school, then engaged 
with a local furniture company. In 1891 he entered the music busi- 
ness, first in the retail line, then later as a manufacturer. For nine 
years he held the position of general manager for the Waldo Manu- 
facturing Company of Saginaw, which position he filled with ability 
until January, 1905, when he assumed the management of the U. 
S. Brick corporation's plant at Michigan City, Ind. This position 
he occupied until June, 1910, when he moved to California and be- 
came superintendent for the Monterey Brick and Stone Companv, at 
Monterey, and in September of the same year moved the plant to 
Sacramento, where the name was changed to the Sacramento Sand- 
stone Brick Company. 

Mr. Bostwick now occupies the position of secretary and man- 
ager of this companv. The concern is making facing brick and art 
stone, and the products are second to none in existence, having 
passed the specifications of the United States government and been 



830 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tested out by the University of California, also by the state engin- 
eering department. The brick is now in evidence in some of Sacra- 
mento's finest buildings, also in San Francisco and other points 
throughout the state. 

The present enviable position occupied by this company is en- 
tirely owing to Mr. Bostwick's expert knowledge of the art of making- 
sandstone brick, as he was one of the first men in this country to 
engage in its manufacture, though the industry is an old one in 
Germany and some other of the older countries. 

Mr. Bostwiek was married in 1895 to Miss A. Glover of Bay 
City, Mich., and four interesting children are making life worth while 
around his home. 



J. BERNHARD KLUNE 

A native of Hanover, Germany, born May 31, 1849, son of J. D. 
and Mary Klune, this well known and popular jeweler of Sacramento 
came to the United States in 1868 and has proven himself such an 
adopted son as his chosen country may well be proud of. He had 
attended public and then private schools in his native land until he 
was fourteen years of age, and the following four years he had in- 
dustriously and determinedly devoted to an acquisition of a knowledge 
of the jeweler's trade. That knowledge he gained by actual work 
under skilled and well-informed masters who saw to it that he was not 
neglected in any feature of their ancient and beautiful handicraft. 
Consequently, at nineteen, he was well fitted for the career he had 
chosen, and his experience has demonstrated that he made no mistake 
in choosing Sacramento as a field for his endeavors toward success. 

Soon after his arrival in America he settled at Sacramento, where 
he was employed as a watchmaker by his uncle until 1879. He then 
embarked in the jewelry business for himself, and his success is well 
known to all observing citizens of Sacramento. His business pros- 
pered almost from the outset and was enlarged from time to time 
until in 1907 it was found necessary to incorporate it, which measure 
brought it prominently before the public under the style of Klune & 
Floberg. Mr. Klune was elected president of the company, and he 
has been its general manager, planning its business and directing the 
steady advancement which has brought it into the front rank of con- 
cerns of its kind in California. He is a member of Washington 
Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., Sac- 
ramento Commandery No, 2, K. T., and is also a Scottish Rite thirty- 
second degree Mason and member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 831 

Francisco. In addition, he affiliates with the Elks, the Foresters and 
the Maccabees. In reli.^ion he is a Lutheran, in politics a Repub- 
lican He married in Sacramento, May 2, 1879, Miss Emma Rave, 
and they had one child, Bernhard R., who passed away aged thirty- 
two vears. 



A. S. HOPKINS 

Genealogical records indicate that the Hopkins family came 
originally from Wales, but has 1)een identified with American history 
ever since the historic landing of the Mayflower. The early repre- 
sentatives in the new world endured all the hardships incident to the 
upbuilding of a colony on the stern and rockbound shore of New 
England. From the first they were loyal to the land of their adop- 
tion. Intense patriotism characterized each generation, and when the 
struggle with the mother country was about to break forth Stephen 
Hopkins signed the Declaration of Independence, becoming thereby 
one of the "patriots whose lives were in constant jeopardy until the 
final attainment of peace. • 

During the first half of the nineteenth century S. F. Hopkms 
was an influential business man of Vermont, where he married Har- 
riet Austin and where he owned for years a mercantile estabhshment 
at Cambridge, Lamoille county. Among his children was a son, A. S., 
who was born at Cambridge March 21, 1837, and received a fair edu- 
cation at Georgia, Franklin county, same state. When sixteen years 
of age he began to teach school at Cambridge and later followed the 
same occupation at Grand Isle, Grand Isle county. The tide of mi- 
gration was drifting toward the west and attracting the sons of New 
England from its unfertile soil to the rich lands on the frontier. 
During 1854 Mr. Hopkins joined others moving to Illinois and set- 
tled at Crete, a suburb of Chicago, where he taught school for four 
years. With a desire to see more of the vast and unsettled west he 
traveled by wagon to Kansas and participated in many of the skir- 
mishes that marked the exciting period prior to the Civil war. 

When the Rebellion finally began Mr. Hopkins had returned to 
Vermont and was working in a bookstore at Burlington. There he 
enlisted at the first call of 1861 for volunteers for three months^ 
His regiment, the First Vermont Infantry, was ordered to Newport 
News/Va., and took part in the sanguinary battle of Big Bethel. At 
the expiration of his time he was honorably discharged and returned 
to Vermont. The next important event in his life was his removal to 
California in 1862, when he traveled on the ship Ariel to the Isthmus 



832 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

of Panama and thence proceeded up the Pacific ocean to San Fran- 
cisco, where he hmded on the 30th of June. Proceeding to Marin 
county, he bought a tract of land and engaged in the dairy business, 
but in 1863 disposed of the property. Next we find him in the Forest 
City district, where he had varied interests in mines, a saw-mill and 
a dairy, but finally he gave up all of these activities and turned his 
attention to teaching school in Solano, county. The same occupation 
took him to Bloomfield, Sonoma county. During 1865 he became a 
member of the Maine Prairie Eifles in Solano and was chosen first 
lieutenant of the organization. During 1866 and 1867 he served as 
justice of the peace. 

Coming to Sacramento February 4, 1868, Mr. Hopkins married, 
April 17 of the same year, JMiss Harriet Hewes, daughter of Jonathan 
Hewes of Vermont, and a descendant of Cyrus Hewes, a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins became the 
parents of three children, Stephen I., Grace E. and William. After 
he came to the capital city Mr. Hopkins carried on a news-stand and 
bookstore for ten years, selling out in 1878 to W. A. and C. S. Hough- 
ton. Afterward he embarked in the wood and willow-ware business 
with U. C. Billingsby, who in 1886 was succeeded by E. C. Hopkins, 
a brother of the senior partner. The firm established a growing trade 
and maintained the confidence of a large number of customers, who 
recognized and appreciated their honorable business dealings and 
sterling integrity of character. 

On the organization of the board of trade Mr. Hopkins was 
chosen a director. In 1886, upon the organization of the Sacramento 
Improvement Association, he became a director, as he had been a 
promoter of the new concern, and his connection continued as a 
permanent contribution to the work. The first Immigration Society, 
organized in 1878, chose him as its president. When it was sep- 
arated into the Central and Northern Society he was retained as 
president from 1880 until 1882. In politics he voted with the Eepub- 
lican party from the time he attained his majority until his death, 
which occurred April 28, 1891. When the county supervisor, J. A. 
Mason, died in 1876 Mr. Hopkins was chosen to finish the unexpired 
term. In addition he served as a school trustee until 1888. For five 
years he was a director of the free library. Fraternally he held 
membership with Eureka Lodge No. 4, I. 0. 0. F., and was past 
president of the Veterans' Society of Odd Fellows. In addition he 
was a member of Sacramento Lodge No. 80, A. 0. U. AV., and Unity 
Lodge No. 2088, K. of H., besides which he held in memory his 
service as a Union soldier through congenial meetings with his fel- 
low-members of Sumner Post No. 3, G. A. E. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 833 

EDMUND CLEMENT ATKINSON 

Foremost in the city of his adoption, and prominent in the state's 
educational history, stands the name of Edmund Clement Atkinson, 
who for half a century devoted his lifetime efforts to the instruction 
and character building of youth. 

In a farmhouse in the far-off state of Maine, in the year 1837, 
the subject of this sketch was born, the youngest of a family of eight 
children. In his early youth he labored in the logging camps of the 
Pine Tree state and acquired the means wherewith to secure an edu- 
cation at Waterville college, now Colby university, from which he 
later received the degree of A. M. He entered Comer's Commercial 
college in Boston in the early '60s, and after graduation was offered 
a position as instructor in that institution. In 1866, in company with 
a fellow teacher, A. L. Reed, now of Suisun, he immigrated to Wis- 
consin and established a chain of commercial colleges in Janesville 
and Oshkosh in that state, and in Rockford, 111. 

Coming to California and settling in Sacramento early in 1873, 
he established Atkinson's Sacramento Business college, the first com- 
mercial school in the Sacramento valley, which was successfully con- 
ducted by him up to the time of his death, March 21, 1911, and is 
still in successful operation. During his nearly forty years of edu- 
cational work in Sacramento he stamped the indelible impress of his 
powerful and upright character upon the minds of thousands of 
pupils, man}^ of whom are prominent in the business world of today. 
He attained to great and state-wide eminence in the Masonic fratern- 
ity, where his rare qualities of mind were admired and beloved by 
the members of that order, by whom he' was selected to be the grand 
master of the grand lodge of the state of California, and elevated to 
the thirtv-third degree of the Scottish Rite. 



DAVID LUBIN 

A history of Sacramento county would not be complete without 
mention of David Lubin, who stands today among the benefactors 
of the world and more directly of the farmer. Coming from his 
native country in Europe, he began his career in this country as an 
apprentice as a jewelry polisher in North Attleboro, Mass. In 1867 
he drifted to California and thence to Arizona, where he worked in a 
lumber yard and as a cowboy. Returning to San Francisco, he 
worked in Gray & Co.'s jewelry factory and afterwards, returning 
east, became a commercial traveler for a lamp manufacturing firm. 



834 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

In 1874 he came back to Sacramento and started in lousiness as a 
member of the firm of Weinstock, Lnbin & Co., in which he remained 
an active partner for many years. 

A number of years ag'o Mr. Lnbin withdrew from active work in 
the firm and devoted himself to an idea which he had conceived, of 
benefiting liis fellow men. The idea is embodied in what he terms 
"the single nnmerical statement." Observing that the farmer was at 
the mercy of the middleman and speculators, who fixed the price 
which he received for his wheat, regardless of the world's supply for 
the year, he formulated and perfected a plan for ascertaining the 
exact supply of wheat produced in the various wheat-producing coun- 
tries of the world. He became an enthusiast in the propagation of 
his idea and has devoted years to carrying it out, visiting foreign 
countries and importuning the governments to establish departments 
for collecting and exchanging crop data, through a central organiza- 
tion. Asa prophet is not without honor save in his own country, Mr. 
Lubin was forced to meet with discouragement after discouragement 
at Washington, but finally succeeded in overcoming the opposition 
and being appointed to represent this country at the International 
Institute of Agriculture at Rome. For it was in King Victor Eman- 
uel of Italy that Mr. Lubin first found a willing ear and a mind 
quick to grasp his idea and appreciate its importance to the world. 
He built a palace for the use of the institute, and endowed it with 
£12,000 a year, or $60,000. It stands on an eminence in a lovely s])ot 
of the beautiful Villa Borghese, and there Mr. Lubin resides and car- 
ries on his life work. There in 1905 the delegations from the various 
powers gathered and signed a convention to create the institute, but 
not till 1910 did Mr. Lubin see the culmination of his hopes, wlien 
the first single numerical statement of six nations was published, and 
in August, the following month, data from eleven nations followed. 
In 1912 fifty nations provided the necessary data, Russia being the 
last one to join, after long and repeated solicitation by Mr. Lubin. 
The principal wheat-growing countries are now all represented, and 
the farmer today can now know the total crop prospects or output of 
ninety-five per cent of the land in the world and ninety-eight per 
cent of the world's population — a practical world's summary. He has 
all the information formerly possessed by the middleman and the 
speculator, who can no more exploit his ignorance, to his own ad- 
vantage and the detriment of the producer. The nations are con- 
tributing liberally to the su]i])ort of the institute. Returns are now 
being gathered for other crops and products as well as the cereals, 
and the work of the institute is expanding in many other directions 
also. It is a work of building up and making life easier, and the 
results of Mr. Lubin 's ^persistence and enthusiasm will live long after 
him. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 835 



GEOEGE McDOUGAL 

George McDougal was a prominent character in the days of the 
founding of Sacramento city. He was a brother of "I, John," the 
second governor of California, and came here from Indiana in 1848, 
and, joining Fremont's battalion, was with it in the campaign in 
Southern California. After his return to San Francisco, he became 
prominent there, and after gold was discovered joined the rush of 
prospectors and had some exciting experiences in the mines. As 
narrated elsewhere, shortly after the survej^ of Sacramento was com- 
pleted, he secured a lease from Sutter of a portion of the river front 
for a ferry, at a point below the entrance to Sutter slough. With 
his partner. Judge Blackburn of Santa Cruz, he opened the first store 
in the place, bringing up a store ship and anchoring it near the foot 
of I street. When Captain Sutter's son arrived, however, and the 
father transferred to him an interest in the city, a debate soon arose 
between him and McDougal as to the latter 's rights under the lease, 
McDougal claiming that he was entitled to several hundred feet of 
the front. The court decided in favor of Sutter, McDougal became 
dissatisfied with the place and determined to "extinguish the pros- 
pects" of the new city and to move to Sutterville. He removed all 
his goods to that place, and departed to the east, leaving his brother 
John in charge of the store. John then issued immense placards, an- 
nouncing that the firm had determined to lead in the competition, and 
would therefore sell goods "at cost and freight," adding a verbal 
assurance that, if necessary to obtain patronage under that combina- 
tion, they would sell the .goods at first cost. The merchants at the 
fort combined, however, and by a well-laid scheme forced McDougal 
& Co. to close up business. 

George wandered from the east into Utah, New Mexico and the 
adjacent territories, and reports of his death finally reached the 
coast. A brother in the east administered on his estate, and all trace 
of George was lost for years. Finally Captain Brown, of the ram 
Stonewall, was going through the Straits of Magellan, on his way to 
Japan, when some Patagonian chiefs came on board. Among them 
was a "hirsute, squalid, weather-tanned and very tattooed man," who 
proved to be none other than "Colonel George McDougal," who had 
journeyed through Central America and various countries of South 
America, and was now prospecting at a solitary station in the Straits, 
called Sandy Point, having become the chief of an Indian tribe. 

McDougal was a. giant in size and had always been so stately and 
handsome that he had been called "Lord George McDougal." Cap- 
tain Brown said that after he had been shaved, cleaned up and 
dressed in good clothes, McDougal was the handsomest and most dis- 



836 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tinguished man lie had ever seen. McDougal sobbed and cried when 
told of his family, but refused to remain on board or go with the ship, 
as he had a valuable mine which he was developing with the aid of the 
Indians. He promised, however, that he would proceed further north 
as soon as possible and would go home, and when Captain Brown 
afterwards met him in Valparaiso, he succeeded in sending him home. 



HIRAM W. JOHNSON 

Hiram W. Johnson, present governor of California, was born in 
Sacramento September 2, 1866, the son of Grove L. Johnson and his 
wife, nee Miss Anne de Monfridy. He was educated in the public 
schools of this city, and graduated from the high school at the age 
of seventeen. He studied law in the office of his father during the 
following year, and at the age of eighteen entered the University of 
California in the class of '88. He soon became recognized as a leader 
from his aggressive disposition and it is stated that the students used 
to say that ''a freshman is boss of the whole university." He was 
pitcher of the college nine in his day and his son, Hiram, Jr., became 
its catcher. Reared in a political atmosphere, it is not surprising that 
he mixed in the interclass politics of the university and attained a 
commanding position. He was elected editor of the "Blue and Gold" 
in his junior year, but did not enter upon the duties of the office. 
Cupid had marked him for his own, and in his twentieth year he left 
the university to marry Miss McNeal, daughter of Archibald McNeal, 
a Sacramento pioneer. By her he has two sons, Hiram W. Johnson, 
Jr., and Archibald McNeal Johnson. 

After his marriage Mr. Johnson entered his father's law office, 
and with his elder In'other, Albert M. Johnson, entered into partner- 
ship with his father. The partnership did hot endure long, however, 
on account of political differences, and the brothers set up a separate 
office. He plunged into politics as a practical reformer, and became 
a frequent delegate to city, county and state conventions of the Re- 
publican party, twice splitting the Sacramento delegation on the issue 
of railroad domination. He and his brother made and won a sen- 
sational campaign against heavy odds and won the election of George 
H. Clark for mayor of the city. He moved to San Francisco in 1902, 
with his brother, and they opened a law office. Albert died about a 
year later, and Hiram continued to practice alone. He was engaged 
in the ''graft prosecutions" for a time, but withdrew from the prose- 
cution to make Langdon's campaign for district attorney. "When 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 837 

Heney was shot, however, he took up Heney's work, and was suc- 
cessful in convicting Abe Ruef. 

In 1910 Mr. Johnson was nominated as the progressive Repub- 
lican for governor, and won by a handsome plurality. In 1912 he was 
nominated at the convention of the Progressive party to run on the 
ticket for vice-president with Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated, 
winning, however, eleven of the thirteen electors for California. His 
aggressive nature is still prominent and through his influence a num- 
ber of radical reforms in state affairs have been inaugurated. 



MARTIN HALLORAN 

' The honor of forty-tw^o years of continuous identification with the 
Southern Pacific yards at Sacramento belongs to Mr. Halloran, who 
entered the employ of the company July 9, 1869, and continued with 
intervening promotions until February 1, 1911, when he was placed 
upon the pension list of the organization he had served so long and 
so well. From a very humble, unimportant job at a switch he was 
promoted through various positions to be general yardmaster, and 
as such he served for thirty-three years, meanwhile making an ab- 
solutely clean record for efficiency, trustworthiness and successful 
yard supervision. Among railroad men he has enjoyed a wide ac- 
quaintance, particularly among the officials at the California terminals 
of the road. An expression of tlie esteem in which they held him 
appeared in a letter sent him by H. W. Sheridan, superintendent of 
the Sacrarnento division. Under date of February 3, 1911, the note 
assured him of the general recognition of his faithful service and the 
continued good-will of the company which had so long received the 
benefit of his industrious application. 

The life record of Mr. Halloran indicates what it is within the 
power of unaided efforts to accomplish, for he had no means and lit- 
tle education to assist him in securing a start in the world. The 
family was ham])ered by poverty and the early life of the young Irish 
lad was filled with hardships, not the least of these being a long sep- 
aration from his parents. In county Kerry, Ireland, against whose 
broken coast line dash the mighty waves of the^ Atlantic ocean, Mar- 
tin Halloran was born November 12, 1844, and there he passed the 
years of childhood. Early in 1851 his father and mother came to the 
United States, accompanied by three sons, these being the eldest of 
their six children. The three youngest sons were left with their grand- 
parents in Ireland, while the parents settled in Toledo, Ohio, and en- 
deavored to secure a livelihood for themselves and the children with 
them. At first thev encountered manv difficulties and suffered many 



838 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

privations, but from poorly-paid day labor tlie father rose by suc- 
cessive steps until he was chosen city assessor of Toledo. 

At last it became possible to send for the youngest children and 
thus re-unite the family. Friends emigrating from Ireland brought 
the lads with them. Martin, the eldest of the three, was almost fifteen 
at the time. The father went from Toledo to New York City to 
meet the ship, but found the passengers had debarked and it was 
necessary to go to Fourth avenue and Forty-second street. Being a 
stranger, he had some difficulty in finding the place. While searching 
for the house he met a German who was in business in the neighbor- 
hood. An inquiry brought out the fact that the German had seen 
the boys, and when told by the father that they had been separated 
for almost nine years he followed, anxious to witness the meeting. 
After the lads had been found and the first joy of the reunion was 
over, the father started with them for Toledo, where all the neighbors 
gathered to join with the family in a celebration honoring* the event. 

Immediately after his arrival in Toledo a search for employment 
was made by Martin Halloran, and he secured work in a nursery. After 
a year he began in a railroad freight house at the age of sixteen. 
Later he was promoted to be a brakeman on the Wabash between 
Fort Wayne, Ind., and Toledo. From Ohio he went to Chicago and 
secured work as a brakeman on the Chicago & Alton railroad, being 
first on the run from Bloomington to Chicago, and later from Bloom- 
ington to Alton, 111. From the freight service he was promoted to a 
passenger route. At the time of the second inauguration of Presi- 
dent Lincoln he carried many delegates on his train and thus became 
familiar with the faces of many of the leading statesmen of that 
period. Returning to Toledo at the close of the war, he resumed 
work as a switchman on the old Cleveland & Toledo railroad. At the 
expiration of four and one-half years he resigned his position, went 
to New York City, took passage for the Isthmus June 1, 1869, crossed 
at Aspinwall, then sailed up the Pacific, and on the 25th of June 
landed at San Francisco. For a few days he worked in a harvest 
field. On the 2d of July he came to Sacramento and made applica- 
tion for a switchman's job. Through the influence of Mr. McCray 
he was given a position July 9, and had the distinction of being the 
third man to move cars in the Sacramento yards. There were then 
only three men employed, but at the time of his retirement one hun- 
dred and twenty flagmen and switchmen were given steady work. 

Investing some of his earnings in property, Mr. Halloran still 
owns six lots and houses in Sacramento, and he recently sold a ranch 
of two hundred and forty-three acres eight miles from this city. The 
land was sold at a considerable increase over the purchase price, and 
represented an excellent investment for him. With his wife and 
daughter. Miss Lizzie L., he resides at No. 1218 D street, where he 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 839 

owns a comfortable home. Prior to lier marriage in 1872 Mrs. Hal- 
loran was Miss Mary O'Connor and lived in San Francisco. She had 
come to California via Panama, landing in San Francisco May 12, 
1868. The family are devoted members of the Roman Catholic church 
and Mr. Halloran has been actively connected with the Knights of 
Columbus. In addition he is a charter member of the Foresters in 
Sacramento. Upon attaining his majority he adopted the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party. While still adhering to that organ- 
ization in national elections, he does not follow party lines in local 
affairs, but votes for the men whom he considers best qualified to 
promote the welfare of the people and the upbuilding of the city. 



THOMAS BERTRAM HALL 

Those who are familiar with Captain Hall's association with the 
commercial advancement of Sacramento, those who had watched with 
keen interest his rapid rise from an humble position in an important 
wholesale house to the executive management of its entire field of 
enterprise, and those who recognized his keen, silent, unobtrusive but 
powerful contribution to civic prosperity, all united in bearing testi- 
mony to his ability, intelligence and patriotism. From the year 1869, 
the date of his permanent settlement in Sacramento, until his demise, 
which occurred in July, 1910, he was a contributor to movements for 
civic development, and by his high ideals of citizenship, acute powers 
of discrimination, recognized leadership and unceasing activity in the 
promulgation of progressive projects he won and retained the con- 
fidence of the people, particularly of that honored class of early set- 
tlers who were contemporaries of him and his colleagues in the sub- 
stantial and permanent upbuilding of the city. 

Born in Illinois January 4, 1853, Captain Hall entertained no 
recollections of the place of his birth, for he was only a few months 
old when his father, Richard Hall, brought the family to California 
and settled in Sacramento. Richard Hall was for some time em- 
ployed as a workman in the building of the Folsom & Placerville 
railroad, the first in the entire state. Receiving no pay for his long 
and difficult work, he became indignant and determined to return to 
Illinois. Accompanied by his family he went to San Francisco and 
boarded the steamer Yankee Blade, on which he sailed down the 
Pacific ocean. When off the coast from Santa Barbara the ship was 
wrecked and the entire family had a narrow escape from death. For- 
tunately, however, they were rescued and brought to shore, and they 



840 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

then returned to Sacramento. Shortly afterward he bought a farm 
in Sacramento county, but in 1856 he removed to Solano county and 
took up a tract of raw farm land, giving his attention for years to 
the transformation of the property into a productive ranch. 

After having completed the studies in the schools at Silveyville, 
Solano county, and later having taken a course of study in Heald's 
Business college of San Francisco, Thomas Bertram Hall returned 
to Sacramento in 1869 to establish himself in business. He was then 
sixteen years of age and his first work was as porter in the wholesale 
grocery of Milliken Brothers. His rise was almost spectacular. 
Within seven years the original members of the firm had retired and 
he himself had become the principal man in the business. The firm 
of Hall, Luhrs & Co., which began its existence with Mr. Hall as 
president, and continued without change in name or ownership up to 
the time of his death, has held a rank for years as one of the most 
successful wholesale grocery establishments in the entire state. In 
1885 Mr. Hall joined Company E of the California National Guard, 
and soon he was elected captain of Company G, serving as such for 
ten years, when he resigned in order that others might enjoy the 
honor which he had himself highly appreciated. It is indicative of 
his character that he declined the commission with such generous 
forethought. 

While he made it his practice to decline official positions. Captain 
Hall had served the state in an official capacity. Twice he was urged 
to become a candidate for mayor, one such occasion being in 1907, 
when Clinton L. White finally became the Republican nominee and 
won the race. At that time Captain Hall was a member of the city 
Republican central committee. He was credited with being the chief 
supporter of Benjamin F. Catlett for city trustee from the Sixth 
ward, after an exciting campaign against R. E. Callahan, then presi- 
dent of the city board. On various occasions Mr. Hall served as dele- 
gate to state and other conventions of the Republican party. Under 
Governor J. H. Budd he served as a member of the board of auditors 
to the state commissioner of public works, remaining on that board 
until Governor H. T. Gage superseded it with a new organization. 
Later Mr. Hall refused a similar position tenderd him by Governor 
Gillett, but later on accepted the position under Governor Pardee, on 
his earnest solicitation. For years he was a member of the Sacra- 
mento Chamber of Commerce. As a member of its citizens' com- 
mittee he assisted in securing the Western Pacific railroad shops for 
Sacramento. He acted as one of the freeholders and assisted in the 
framing of the city charter. Scores of movements for the general 
welfare, particularly the campaign to secure pure water for the city, 
received his capable assistance. From the inception of the Orange- 
vale Company he officiated as its president, drew the plans and .was 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 841 

a prime mover in launching the gigantic work of subdivision, which 
is now transforming the Sacramento valley from a vast grain-field 
into many small farms. The opening of the Orangevale tract was a 
pioneer step in the important enterprise tending toward diversified 
farming, which rapidly is populating the heart of California. He 
was very active in the State Agricultural Society and was requested 
to accept a place as director, but he declined the honor, giving them, 
however, every assistance in his power. He owned a large farm at 
Marysville, devoted to dairying, and was a breeder of Holstein cattle. 
In Sacramento, March 25, 1876, occurred the marriage of Thomas 
Bertram Hall and Selina Agnes Govan, the latter born in Phila- 
delphia, Pa. They became the parents of three children. The oldest 
daughter, Edna Bernice, died at the age of five years. The son. 
Ward E. Hall, is cashier of Hall, Luhrs & Co. The youngest daugh- 
ter, Ethel Blanche, Mrs. Warren S. Reed, resides with her mother. 
Mr. Hall also is survived by two sisters, namely: Mrs. Edward Le- 
moine, of Melrose, and Mrs. Daniel Goe, of Hyampom, Trinity county. 
The family residence is an attractive place at No. 1031 street, ac- 
quired by Captain Hall during the early years of his successful busi- 
nees career and occupied by him and his wife thereafter. On July 2, 
1910, he died suddenly from heart failure, when apparently he had 
been enjoying a very satisfactory^ convalescence after an oi)eration 
and a long illness. Interment was made in the city cemetery under 
the auspices of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., and Sacramento 
Commandery No. 2, K. T., in which he had officiated as eminent 
commander. He was also a member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of 
San Francisco. While his life had contained little of the spectacular, 
it was nevertheless noteworthy, and his death was a distinct loss to the 
citizenship of Sacramento. As a member of that patriotic, loyal band 
of men who in the early days began the building of the city with a 
view to solidarity, he is entitled to an honored place in local annals 
and to the grateful remembrance of the generations that shall enjoy 
the fruits of his labors. 



VINCENT CALLIGORI 

The brief histor}^ of this enterprising citizen of Sacramento is 
one that, could it be given in full, would well illustrate the value of 
close application to business if one would, without capital, achieve 
a noteworthy business success. Mr. Calligori was born at Jackson, 
Amador county, Cal., July 25, 1878, a son of Peter and Annie Calli- 
gori, and was sent to the public schools near home until he was 



842 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

eigliteen years old. Laying aside tlie school books which had for 
years been his beloved dail}" companions, the youth now came to Sac- 
ramento to seek success and fortune among strangers. He found 
employment with the ('a])ital Paste Company and was soon advanced 
till he was acce})tably lilling the position of paste-maker. Thus em- 
ployed until 1901, he then became half owner of the business, and 
has been since then the general manager. This rise in the business 
world was achieved only with hard and persistent labor and a careful 
and tireless study of the enterprise and all the conditions under which 
it was being pushed further and still further to the front with each 
passing year. At this time it takes rank with the leading factories of 
its kind on the coast, manufacturing for the trade more than twenty 
kinds of macaroni and paste products, which are in increasing de- 
mand among discriminating consumers. Mr. Calligori is also a 
partner in and manager of the Capital Feed Company, dealers in 
hay, grain, flour and mill feed, doing a wholesale and retail business. 
A Republican, faithful to the traditions and aims of his party, 
Mr. Calligori is deeply interested in Sacramento and its general 
prosperity and progress, and as opportunity offers he invariably 
aids to the extent of his ability such measures as promise to result 
in good to his fellow citizens. He is a member of Excelsior Parlor 
No. 31, N. S. Gr. W., proud of the California nativity that made him 
eligible to membership and helpful to all of the interests of the order. 



THOMAS JOHN COY^LE 

The records of Coyle genealogy indicate the identification of the 
family with Ireland back to a period where authentic history becomes 
merged into tradition. When the new world began to attract many 
of their race to its unknown possibilities they followed the tide of 
emigration across the ocean and one branch became established near 
the rock-bound shores of New Brunswick. In that province, near the 
city of St. John's, Thomas John Coyle was born in 1856, and from 
there he came to California at the age of nine years, accompamang 
his parents, an industrious and honorable Irish couple, who long since 
have passed away. Owing to the scarcity of schools in that period 
and the poverty of the family it was not possible for him to enjoy the 
abundant educational advantages given to the young people of the 
present century, but in spite of his deprivations in that respect he 
became the possessor of broad information acquired through reading 
and observation. In the great school of experience he proved an apt 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 843 

pupil, and as a result he gained a breadth of knowledge not always 
acquired through collegiate instruction. His early years gave him 
much of adventure and privation. The laborious tasks incident to a 
freighting business earned him a livelihood for some years and he 
also drove a stage through mining districts not then reached by any 
railroad. As the years passed he witnessed the slow but steady de- 
velopment of the state; he saw the first railroads built through some 
of the mining regions, and he witnessed the upbuilding of large cities 
and the transformation of broad prairies into profitable ranches. 
Upon eventually retiring from business cares he came to Sacra- 
mento, purchased property, established his home and here, in 1905, 
five years later, occurred his death. In his passing from earth he 
left many hearts to mourn him and to reflect with pleasure upon his 
upright character. His benevolent disposition and kind heart are 
remembered by those to whom by example he indicated an existence 
of loyal citizenship. 

In 1886 Mr. Coyle married Elizabeth Krenkel, a native of Sonora, 
Cal. Her father, Bernard F. Krenkel, was born in Germany, and 
died in California, where her mother now lives, the latter being- 
rugged notwithstanding her eighty-nine busy and active years. The 
family of Mr. and Mrs. Coyle comprised eleven children, and eight of 
these are still living, namely: Thomas J., Jr., Nellie E., Francis J., 
Morris E., Joseph C, Charles G., Albert B. and Dorothea R., all of 
whom have the honor of claiming California as their native com- 
monwealth. Since the death of Mr. Coyle the family have continued 
to reside in Sacramento. Having spent her entire life in the state, 
Mrs. Coyle is familiar with its history and peculiarly solicitous con- 
cerning its advancement, for she possesses the true and loyal spirit 
noticeable in every native daughter, and she has reared her family 
to share her enthusiastic faith in the commonwealth. 



ALFRED DALTON, Jr. 

The varying experiences that enter into every well-rounded 
career have fallen to the lot of Mr. Dalton since the time when, an 
energetic lad of thirteen, he departed from the shelter of the home- 
roof and took up for himself the struggle necessary to the earning 
of a livelihood. The loss of educational advantages and the lack of 
parental encouragement were partially recompensed by the increased 
self-reliance resultant from the personal encounter with the world of 



844 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

affairs. His privilege it has been to travel extensively through the 
west, to see mnch of this portion of the world and thus to gain the 
information that makes of him a broad-minded citizen ever striving 
to promote the welfare of his native commonwealth. 

The village of Benicia in Solano county is Mr. Dalton's native 
place, and October 21, 1858, the date of his birth. His father, Alfred 
Dalton, Sr., is a pioneer of 1850 in California and a very early settler 
of Benicia, where for over forty years he has officiated as a member 
of the school board and was largely instrumental in the building of 
the high school. When only thirteen years of age Alfred, Jr., began 
to learn the printer's trade in the composing room of the Benicia 
Tribune under the then proprietors, Messrs. Linthicum and Hopkins. 
When the paper was moved to Dixon, Solano county, he went there 
also, but a year later left and removed to San Francisco, where he 
found work in the job office of B. F. Sterritt & Co., the oldest job 
office in the city. Later he finished the printer's trade in the employ 
of the Chronicle at San Francisco. 

During the excitement at the Caribou mines in British Columbia 
about 1878 Mr. Dalton went to that country and spent some time pros- 
pecting and mining, but did not meet with any good fortune. Upon 
his return to Benicia he secured employment with the New Era. Two 
years later he bought out the paper and for twelve years he con- 
tinued to publish a weekly sheet at that place. Afterward he re- 
moved to Martinez, Contra Costa county, where he purchased and for 
five 3'ears published the News. About that time the country began 
to be excited by reports from the Klondike gold fields and he became- 
anxious to try his luck in Alaska, so he sold out his interests and left 
California. While on the steamer en route to the north some of the 
passengers fell ill with the smallpox and all on the ship were quar- 
antined for two weeks. Eventually they were put ashore at Egg- 
island, a barren rise of land off the coast of Alaska. After hard- 
ships innumerable Mr. Dalton reached Nome, but owing to the law- 
less conditions which prevailed he made little headway financially 
during the year of his sojourn at Nome. On his return to California 
he remained for a short time at Benicia, after which he entered the 
state printing office at Sacramento. The study of law, which he had 
taken up while still in the newspaper business, took his attention for 
some years, and August 28, 1905, he was admitted to practice at the 
bar of the state. Since his admission to practice he has been un- 
usually successful. As a speaker he is fluent, logical and forceful. 

The marriage of Mr. Dalton united him with Miss Hannah New- 
mark, of Benicia, who is an earnest member of the Episcopal church 
and past matron of Silver Gate Chapter, 0. E. S. She is a daughter 
of Dr. Valentine Newmark, deceased. Mr. Dalton is a member of 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 845 

Benicia Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., also Benicia Chapter, E. A. M. 
He is one of the older members of the Native Sons, being past presi- 
dent of Benicia and Martinez parlors, and at present a member of 
Sutter Fort parlor. He is also past chancellor of Benicia Lodge No. 
99, K. P. No. 1 Veterans' Knights of Pythias, of Sacramento, the 
only lodge of its kind in the entire world, nmnbers him among its 
members. Through his efforts as promoter and first president a 
company was organized, known as the Sacramento Labor Temple 
Association, which bought property on the corner of Eighth and I 
streets and erected a substantial structure of five stories for the ex- 
clusive use of all labor unions and kindred organizations. As at- 
torney for the company he managed every legal phase of the work, 
and in addition he attended to the financing of the enterprise, which 
in itself was no small undertaking. For some years he has served as 
secretary of the organization, and this, together with his work as 
attorney, makes him still a leading factor in the management of the 
company's holdings. 

Mr. Dalton is the father of three children: Valentine, a struc- 
tural steel architect in the employ of the J. G. White Construction 
Company; Hazel Florence, stenographer for C. K. McClatchy, and 
Alfred Percival, an automobile machinist. 



JAMES STEACHAN 

A descendant of sturdy, thrifty and canny Scotch parents, James 
Strachan was born in Glasgow, and was brought by his parents to 
the United States in 1884, when about twelve years of age. His 
education was begun in his native land and was continued in the pub- 
he schools of Chicago, 111., in which city the family located. Young 
Strachan learned his trade of upholsterer in the Pullman shops at 
Pullman, 111., and then traveled in various states until 1895, when his 
parents and their children came to California and made a new home 
in Sacramento. There he found work at his trade in the Southern 
Pacific shops and labored profitably ten years, saving money with a 
view to going into business for himself whenever a good opportunity 
should offer. Plis ambition was realized in 1906, when he opened up 
a business of his own at Eleventh and J streets, and there he i)ros- 
pered for two years, when his place was burned out, and he re- 
opened at No. 1301 J street. Here he has ever since carried on a suc- 
cessful business in furniture and upholstery. 



846 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

On November 16, 1898, Mr. Strachan's fortunes for life were 
united with those of Miss Celia Ryan, sister of the late Frank D. 
Ryan, a well-known Californian, once a candidate for election to 
represent his district in our national congress and long in the public 
service as clerk of the California senate and legislature, and daughter 
of John C. Ryan, long prominent as a contractor and for many years 
city trustee. The elder Ryan, of Irish extraction, came to California 
in 1849 among the pioneers, and almost at once gained recognition as 
a leader in business and in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Strachan have 
three children, John R., born in Augiist, 1899, and Hugh and "Winni- 
fred, twins, born in March, 1907. Mr. Strachan is a Republican in his 
political views. Socially he affiliates with the Woodmen of the World 
and the Caledonians. 



C. ALLISON TELFER 

The era during which accurate genealogical records were lost in 
the midst of traditional lore found the Telfer family tilling the soil 
of Scotland, where their broad tracts in the highlands and their large 
flocks of sheep gave indication of their prominence. When religious 
persecutions arose their devotion to their creed as well as their high 
standing in the country endangered their lives. For that reason they 
crossed over to Ireland, took up land and started anew amid the less 
encouraging conditions presented by the Emerald Isle. Hoping to 
better their condition in the new world, representatives of a later 
generation crossed the ocean to America and settled on the bleak hills 
of Nova Scotia, where a scanty livelihood was secured by the tilling 
of the soil. 

Of Nova Scotian birth, C. Allison Telfer became familiar with 
agricultural conditions in that country through the difficult experi- 
ences of boyhood labor. The rugged coast, the stern climate and the 
barren hills, although not without a wild beauty of their own, ren- 
dered the task of earning a livelihood so devoid of pleasure that he 
determined to seek another location. With that object in view he 
moved to Massachusetts and settled in the vicinity of Boston, where, 
finding agricultural efforts little less toilsome than in his native 
peninsula, he turned his attention to the lumber business. In the 
search for more satisfactory climatic conditions he came to Califor- 
nia in 1889 and during October of that year arrived at Fresno, where 
he secured a position with the Fresno National bank. Two years 
later, in recognition of his ability, he was promoted to the office of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 847 

cashier, and for eleven years he continued in the same position, filling 
it with such tact, sagacity and intelligence that universal regret was 
expressed among depositors when ill-health forced him to resign in 
1902. The physical need for outdoor exercise led him into the ir- 
rigation business and for some time he took charge of the systems 
near Fresno, after which for four years he engaged in the raisin 
business in that valley. 

The resi3onsibilities connected with the management and secre- 
taryship of the California State Agricultural Society, to which posi- 
tion he had been elected, led Mr. Telfer to remove to Sacramento in 
April of 1911, and since then he has managed the society headquarters 
in the capital city, from which point he works through the entire 
state in the interests of agricultural progress. He is a firm believer 
in California as an agricultural center, finding the soil and climate 
much better adapted to such work than the soil and climate with 
which he became familiar in early life. While living in the east he 
was united in marriage in 1884 with Miss Evoline Bennett, a native 
of Beverly, Mass., and a descendant of one of the prominent old 
families of Revolutionary fame. They are the parents of two chil- 
dren, namely: Abbie, who was born July 2, 1888, and Gerard, whose 
birth occurred at Fresno October 5, 1894. The family have a high 
social standing in Sacramento and likewise number many friends 
among the people of Fresno, their former place of residence. The 
Republican party has received the support of Mr. Telfer ever since 
he became a voting citizen and his support has been given to move- 
ments for the progress of the party. In fraternal relations he is 
connected with the Woodmen of America and the Benevolent Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. 



JOHN LAWTON 

Very few of the old settlers still living in Sacramento county can 
claim an identification therewith covering a longer period than marks 
the useful citizenship of John Lawton, one of the honored pioneers 
of Folsom and still a resident of the locality which he saw in 1851 
for the first time. Many have been the changes witnessed during his 
long association with the west. He has seen the then young state 
develop into one of the greatest commonwealths of which the Union 
may boast. He has seen towns spring up with incredible rapidity 
and ranches bring of their increase for the support of the people 



848 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and the prosperity of the country. The wilderness he has seen to 
bloom as a rose and the desert made fertile by the modern develop- 
ments of irrigation. Nor has he only seen this, but, more important 
still, he has borne his quota in all the task of advancement and with 
other public-spirited pioneers he may say "All of which I saw and 
part of which I was." 

The early memories of John Lawton cluster around scenes far 
different from those of his later years. Born in Dover, Me., Decem- 
ber 9, 1827, he was familiar from infancy with the woods and lakes 
of Piscataquis county and often wandered along the stream of that 
name, finding in forest and river many a lesson of great import never 
learned in the public schools. He was thus a learner both in school 
from printed text-books and out-of-doors from that great teacher. 
Nature, whose lessons may be early learned and always appreciated. 
As a teacher for one term he found an early use for his wide fund 
of information, while as a farmer he became familiar with the agri- 
cultural conditions of Maine, the right care of the soil, the most 
profitable crops and the general mode of correct cultivation of lands. 
However, he was not satisfied to remain in that state, and during 
young manhood joined the throng of emigrants to the west, coming 
via New York City and Panama and then on the steamer Gold Hunter, 
landing in San Francisco in June, 1851. Thence he came to the vicinity 
of Folsom, where he engaged in mining for six years with fair suc- 
cess. 

The village of Ashland on the north side of the American river, 
opposite the present town of Folsom, was the scene of an important 
business enterprise on the part of Mr. Lawton, who in 1859 opened 
a grocery at that point. For a long period he carried on general 
merchandising, and it was not until 1900 that he eventually retired 
from such activities. The old store building is still standing intact. 
Since he gave up his business he has devoted his time to the care 
of his properties, he and his wife now owning more than seven hun- 
dred acres in Sacramento and Placer counties, some of which is well 
improved, while a part is yet in the raw state of nature. When he 
married in San Francisco, May 16, 1868, it is worthy of note that 
he and his bride, who was Mary A. Kittredge, began housekeeping at 
the same location where they now reside. Mrs. Lawton was a native 
of Waterville, Me., and had engaged in teaching for a time prior to 
her marriage, while since coming to Sacramento county she has been 
an active force for good, a contributor to local movements and 
especially warm in her allegiance to educational progress. 

In politics Mr. Lawton always has been a loyal Republican, prog- 
ressive in his tendencies, optimistic in his faith in the future of our 
country and well informed regarding public affairs, yet never willing 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 849 

to hold office or to accept political responsibilities. For years lie has 
been prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging 
to Folsoni Lodge No. 62, in which he has served throngh the chairs 
and is past grand, besides having represented the lodge in the office 
of district deputy and in the encampment, where he is past chief 
patriarch. His long and nseful life has been given to the upbuilding 
of his town and county and he and his wife have a wide circle of 
friends, not only among the old settlers, but among those of the 
younger generation who appreciate the extent of our indebtedness to 
the pioneers for the present general well-being and the growing 
prosperity. 



EDWARD S. JONES 

Western men who have spent years in the acquisition of expert 
knowledge concerning heating and lighting plants have stated, with 
a unanimity of opinion that bears valuable testimony as to its ac- 
curacy, that few men possess a more thorough knowledge of the 
building and operation of gas plants than does Edward S. Jones, 
now the superintendent of the gas works at Sacramento. Although 
still a young man, scarcely yet in the prime of manhood's usefulness, 
he has already risen to prominence in his chosen occupation, and 
he has enjoyed a long experience that enhances the value of his 
services to any company. In point of years of identification with 
Sacramento he is practically a newcomer, but in point of work ac- 
complished for the benefit of the city, few of the older residents of 
the place can equal his record. His has been a service of practical 
helpfulness in one of the most important departments of public 
utilities. 

Mr. Jones belongs to an old eastern family and was born in Bos- 
ton, Mass., in April, 1886, but at the age of four years he was brought 
to California by his parents, E. C. and Mary (Stratton) Jones, who 
settled in San Francisco. As a boy he was characterized by re- 
tentiveness of memory and mental acumen. His studies were learned 
with ease, and he advanced so rapidly in school that during the 
spring of 1900 he was graduated with a high standing. Immediately 
afterward he entered the California School of Mechanical Arts at 
San Francisco, where he studied with enthusiasm and unceasing 
devotion until, at the completion of the regular course, in 1905, he 
received a diploma from the institution. Immediately afterward he 
became a surveyor in the construction department of the Pacific Gas 
and Electric Company, and besides filling that position he also acted 



850 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

as timekeeper. During 1906 the company transferred liim to their 
branch at Martin's Station, San Francisco, where he served with re- 
markable efficiency as assistant superintendent. From 1907 until 
1910 he served as foreman of the street mains of San Francisco, but 
during July of the latter year he was promoted and transferred to 
his present place at Sacramento. In September following his trans- 
fer to Sacramento he was married in Los Angeles to Miss Allene 
Brooks of that city. While not displaying any partisanship in politi- 
cal matters, he has decided preferences along these lines, and is in 
hearty sympathy with Rei)ul)lican i^rinciples. Fraternally he holds 
membership with the Improved Order of Red Men. 



JULIUS S. JACOBS 

So much of his life has been passed within sight of some of the 
western mountains and within sound of the busy hum of western in- 
dustry that Mr. Jacobs feels himself to be a ty]iical Californian in 
everything except the accident of birth. The vast resources of our 
commonwealth have awakened his admiration. The business possi- 
bilities he believes to be unsurpassed by those of any section of the 
United States. The climate offers further inducements to residential 
permanency. All in all, the country possesses exceptional charm, and 
he has not been dilatory in recognizing its attractions. Since he 
was brought to the coast during his early childhood he has resided 
in Y^olo and Sacramento counties, has received their educational ad- 
vantages, enjoyed the friendship of many of their most worthy citi- 
zens and has become an im]H)rtant factor in commercial affairs in 
the village of Folsom, where he has his home. 

A number of successive generations of the Jacobs family lived 
in New Y^ork City. Samuel Jacobs, who was born in the eastern 
metropolis, received his education there and entered into its business 
circles. Through diligent application and energetic mastery of busi- 
ness details he rose in the commercial world until he was widely 
known and res]ieeted as the head of an extensive wholesale house. 
The failure of his health caused him to retire from the many activ- 
ities that had engaged his attention. Accompanied by his wife and 
son, Julius S., he came to California in 1884, in the ho])e of being 
physically benefited by the change. However, the hope was not des- 
tined to be fulfilled, and in that year, 1884, his death left the family 
alone on the western coast. Friends had given them of help and 
sym])athy in their bereavement, and they had become attached to 
their surroundings. No return was made to the east, and Mrs. Jacobs 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 851 

still resides in Sacramento. She was a native of New York, and 
bore the maiden name of Anna Gratz. 

From New York City, where he was born April 2, 1882,. Julius 
S. Jacobs was brought to California at the age of two years. His 
early recollections are of Yolo county, where he attended the Wood- 
land grammar and high school. At the age of seventeen years he 
completed the course of high school study and took up the task of 
earning a livelihood. Various occupations have since then engaged 
his attention. For seven years he held an important position as clerk 
to one of the justices of the supreme court. Of recent years he has 
acted as manager of the grocery business owned by Senator Philip 
C. Cohn, of Folsom. In this responsible post he has proved efficient 
and trustworthy, resourceful and energetic. Among the business 
men of Folsom his standing is high, and his credit is excellent in the 
banking institutions of the country. Wherever he is known, there he 
is also honored and esteemed. By his marriage, December 27, 1906, 
to Miss Dora Fannie Cohn (who is the daughter of Senator P. C. 
Cohn, she being a native of Sacramento county), he has two daugh- 
ters, Alice and Dorothy. Politically he votes with the Republican 
partv. In fraternal connections he holds membership with Sacra- 
mento Lodge No. 6, B. P. 0. E., Washington Lodge No. 20, F. & 
A. M., in Sacramento, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows at Folsom and the Eagles at Sacramento. 
Among the members of all of these organizations, as among the peo- 
ple in business circles, he has an established reputation for trust- 
worthiness and honesty as well as for the kindred business qualifica- 
tions that ensure commercial progress. 



FRANK J. RUHSTALLER 

The present manager of the Sacramento Brewing Company rep- 
resents an old and honored family of Switzerland. The ancestral 
home was in the beautiful valley lying lietween the lake of Luzerne 
and Zurich lake, and the thriving city of Einseideln remained the 
headquarters of several successive generations of the family. In 
that town lived and labored Frank and Josepha (Ochsner) Ruhstaller, 
the former a hat-maker during early manhood, but later an indus- 
trious follower of the occupation of dairying, which was a leading 
industry in the locality. Among their children was a son who bore 
his father's name and whose birth occurred at Einseideln November 
8, 1847. After he had completed the studies of the conunon schools 



852 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

he served an apprenticeship to the brewer's trade in Canton Berne. 
During July of 1862 he boarded a steamer at Havre, and at the close 
of an uneventful voyage landed in New York, whence he proceeded 
to Louisville, Ky., where he worked in the Falls City brewery. In 
a short time he crossed the Ohio river to New Albany, Ind., where 
he was made foreman in the Reising brewery before he was eighteen 
years of age. 

Resignation from that position in Indiana was followed by a 
short period of employment at Louisville, from which city, in 1865, 
Mr. Ruhstaller came to California via New York and Panama. About 
the 24th of August he landed at San Francisco, came thence to Sac- 
ramento and began to work in the City brewery; six weeks later 
he was made foreman. After a year as foreman he entered the 
employ of the Pacific brewery. Later he bought an interest in the 
Sutterville brewery, where he carried on a partnership with Joseph 
Bechler for seven months until the high water forced all work to 
cease. Returning to the Pacific brewery, he resumed his connection 
with George Ochs until the latter sold to Louis Knauer, and he 
then worked for the new owner two years. For one-half year he 
operated the St. Louis brewery with Fritz Futterer and Henry Alt- 
peter. Next he drove a wagon for the Pacific brewery for two years, 
after which he was made foreman. 

Learning in 1873 of the illness of his father, Mr. Ruhstaller 
went back to the old Swiss home, but found that his aged parents 
had passed away during his own homeward journey. August of 1873 
found him starting back to California. Soon after his arrival in 
Sacramento he opened a place of business opposite the Metropolitan 
theater, and there he continued until he bought the City brewery in 
November, 1881. This brewery had been established about 1859 by 
Mr. Hilbert and AVilliam Borchers. When Ililbert died, in March of 
1865, his interest was bought by Charles Schwartz, and he in turn 
retired from the firm in about 1887. When Mr. Ruhstaller secured 
control the plant was operated by horse-power and had a capacity 
of fifteen barrels a day, but he increased the daily capacity to sixty- 
five barrels and at the same time maintained the reputation previously 
acquired for fine quality of the product. 

In 1867 Mr. Ruhstaller became a member of the Sacramento 
Hussars and from 1878 to 1882 he held a connnission as ca])tain. 
At the April shoot of 1889 in the Foresters' Gun Club he won the 
gold medal. Elected an honorary member of the Sacramento Rifle 
Club, he gave to the club the cannon presented by General Sutter 
to the Swiss Rifle Club. While a salute was being fired with the 
cannon a serious accident occurred, A. Klebe's arm being blown off. 
The cannon was thereupon buried and $1800 collected for the victim 
of the unfortunate accident. A prized souvenir in the possession of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 853 

Captain Ruhstaller was the flag presented, with an address by 
Governor Bigler, in 1854, to the Swiss Rifle Club by the members 
of the Schntzen Club of Canton Zurich, Switzerland. 

The marriage of this pioneer of Sacramento occurred in this 
city on Christmas Day of 1870 and united him with Miss Charlotte 
Oeste, who was born in Germany, but crossed the ocean at an early 
age and grew to womanhood in Milwaukee. Of their children Otto, 
Wilhelmina and Charlotte died in childhood and six attained ma- 
turity, Anna, Frank J., Minnie, David, August, and Charlotte. Dur- 
ing 1868 Captain Ruhstaller became a member of Schiller Lodge, No. 
105, I. 0. 0. F.; later he identified himself with Tehama Lodge, F. & 
A. M., the Sacramento Turn-Verein, Sons of Herman and the Verein- 
Eintracht. His eldest son, Frank J., was born in Sacramento, No- 
vember 5, 1872, and attended the city schools from the age of six 
until fifteen, after which he served an apprenticeship to the brewing 
business with his father. For seven months in the year 1891 he 
engaged as brewer with the Fredericksburg brewery of San Jose, 
after which he resumed work in Sacramento, During 1893 he at- 
tended the Chicago Brewing Institute and at the expiration of six 
months was graduated, whereupon he returned to Sacramento and 
became brewer in his father's plant. Since 1906 he has been 
manager of the Sacramento Brewing Company. By men competent 
to judge he is considered one of the most experienced and capable 
representatives of his trade in the city. When at leisure from the 
many duties connected with his responsible position he finds enjoy- 
ment in the society of his friends and in the companionship of his 
wife, who prior to their marriage, on November 22, 1899, was Miss 
Alice M. Root; he finds further pleasure as well as means of help- 
fulness through his identification with various leading fraternities 
and social organizations of the city, among them the Masons, Elks, 
Turn-Verein and the Sutter Club. 



HON. JOSEPH STEFFENS 

To some extent a review of the life of Mr. Steffens presents 
a commercial history of Sacramento during the past forty or more 
years. In that long era of steadfast development no movement of 
civic importance lacked the appreciative support of his keen mind. 
No progressive project, trembling in the balance of civic doubt and 
indecision, failed to secure the co-operation of his resolute and 
dauntless spirit. Even his own weighty business enterprises with 
their long train of attendant responsibilities were not allowed to 



854 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

narrow his influence with their cumulative cares or to lessen the 
loyalty of his citizenshi}). Even when he withdrew from connner- 
cial enterprises, he did not relinquish his participation in local pro- 
gress. Always in an unostentatious and unobtrusive but positive 
manner he was a contributor to the advancement of city, county and 
commonwealth. Native sons of Sacramento wdio have reached middle 
age as citizens of this connnunity cannot recall a time when his name 
was not familiar to them or when it did not stand for uprightness 
of character and sincerity of citizenship. 

Although a resident of the United States from the period of 
his earliest recollections, Mr. Steffens was of Canadian birth and 
parentage and was born in York, province of Ontario, January 15, 
1837, being a son of Joseph and Mary A. (Graham) Steffens. As 
early as 1840 the family removed from Canada to Illinois and 
settled among the frontier farmers in Carroll county, where they 
labored diligently to transfo^rm a tract of government land into a 
productive and profitable farm. Into this difficult task every member 
of the family was called, hence the young lad became familiar with 
hard work in early life. However, not being naturally robust in 
health or rugged in constitution, it became evident that he would 
not be able to engage actively in agriculture. This seemed a mis- 
fortune, for in that jjeriod of our country's history farming was 
the principal occupation and was also considered the most profitable. 
As in many careers what seems a handicap proves a blessing in 
disgiiise, so it was with him ; the inability to stand the physical 
strain incident to farming caused him to turn his attention to busi- 
ness and thus his life work allied him with enterprises suited to his 
tastes, talent and temperament. 

After having com]ileted the regular course of study in the Rock 
River Seminary and the Inisiness course of Bell's Commercial College 
in Chicago, for several terms Mr. Stetfens taught school. From 
1859 until 1862 he clerked with G. M. Clayton & Brother, of Freeport, 
111., and in that ]>osition he gained a thorough knowledge of paints 
and oils. Meanwhile having heard much concerning the climate 
and opportunities of California, he resigned his position and during 
the spring of 1862 started across the plains with Levi Carter, of 
Stockton. On the 9tli of September he arrived in San Francisco. 
There he became bookkeeper with Fuller & Heather, dealers in paints 
and oils. Soon demonstrating the value of his services, his original 
salary of $50 per month was increased from time to time. Upon 
the consolidation of the firm with Cameron, Whittier & Co., under 
the title of Whittier, Fuller & Co., he remained with the new con- 
cern, which eventually became the leading firm in its line in the west. 
The stores owned by Fuller & Heather in San Francisco and Sacra- 
mento were acquired by tlieir successors and the headquarters of 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 855 

the new firm were established at the corner of Fourth and Pine 
streets, San Francisco, where the young clerk remained for one year. 

Eecognition of his remarkable business ability and thorough 
knowledge of paints and oils caused the officials of the company to 
appoint Mr. Stelfens manager of the Sacramento house in 1869 and 
to admit him in 1874 as a member of the firm, after which he was 
placed in control of the financial affairs of the concern in this part 
of the state. It was largely through his intelligent and intense devo- 
tion to the business that the house gained a position second to none 
in its specialty, and he continued his intimate identification with 
the developing enterprises until long after the necessity for strenuous 
labor had ceased. Meantime he had attained prominence in the 
citizenship of Sacramento. In December of 1882, he was elected 
president of the Sacramento Board of Trade and in that office he 
had charge of the publication of the annual reviews. These he com- 
piled and edited, thus giving permanent form to statistics of great 
value. When the board was merged into the Chamber of Commerce 
he continued to serve as president and his resignation in 1904 ended 
a long and honorable service as the head of a most important 
organization. As a member of the Sacramento Improvement Associa- 
tion and as a director of the California Museum Association he 
was closely connected with two important enterprises of great value 
to the community. For a number of years he acted as a member 
of the board of directors of the state hospital at Stockton and his 
resignation deprived the directorate of one of its most helpful mem- 
bers. After he had resigned all other positions, he still consented, 
however, to serve as a director of the California State Bank of 
Sacramento and made that institution his business headquarters. 

With the exception of casting a Eepublican ballot at all elec- 
tions Mr. Steffens was strenuously opposed to any participation in 
politics. The uncertainties and vexations of partisan affairs re- 
pelled him, presenting as they did an unattractive contrast to com- 
mercial enterprises. Although he kept posted concerning national 
problems, he declined any offers of nominations for himself with 
steadfast persistence and the only time when his fellow-citizens ]jre- 
vailed upon him to become a candidate was in 1884, when he per- 
mitted the party leaders to nominate him for mayor on the Eepubli- 
can ticket. Although not a politician he possessed gifts as a public 
speaker and writer, but preferred to devote these addresses and writings 
to other matters than politics. When the last spike was driven at Ash- 
land, Ore., he delivered the address of the occasion, as he did also at 
Placerville on the completion of the Southern Pacific Eailway. At the 
Margaret E. Crocker flower festival he was also the principal orator. 
His series of letters to the Record-Union during his journey of twelve 
thousand miles through the United States attracted wide attention and 



856 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

many of the predictions as to the future of the country which he then 
made have become a reality, indicating the accuracy of his forecasts. 

The marriage of Mr. Steffens and Miss E. Louisa Symes, of Hobo- 
ken, N. J., was solemnized in San Francisco January 15, 1865. Their 
only son, Lincoln Steffens, is one of the most prominent writers in the 
entire country and through his articles on municipal corruption and 
state governments, his name has become a household word. The three 
daughters are : Louise, the wife of A. H. Suggett, of San Francisco ; 
Lottie, the wife of J. J. Hollister, of Santa Barbara county ; and Laura, 
who is an assistant in the State Library. Mr. Steffens' demise occurred 
January 31, 1912, his wife having passed away August 15, 1910. Thus 
Sacramento was bereft of another of her useful citizens and upbuilders. 



FRANKLIN H. SARGENT 

The possibilities connected with the development of a tract of fruit 
land brought Mr. Sargent to Fair Oaks during the year 1901. It was 
not, however, until some years later that he was able to establish a 
permanent home on the land he had then purchased. Meanwhile the 
trees on the tract were being cared for carefully and scientifically, the 
land was kept under cultivation and every facility afforded for the 
satisfactory growth of the fruit until the bud had developed into the 
ripened product ready for the market or the table. On the tract that 
he purchased in 1901 a house had been partly constructed and some 
trees had been planted. With personal energy he finished the work of 
tree-planting and house-building and started the improvements that 
now make the place one of the most valuable in the district. 

Franklin H. Sargent was born April 10, 1851, at Searsport, Me., 
where he was educated in the public schools, and he then worked his 
way through the Castine (Me.) Normal school and Scofield's Com- 
mercial College in Providence, R. I., where he was graduated. Having 
followed the trades of brick and stone mason and plasterer in his east- 
ern home, Mr. Sargent resumed employment at these occupations upon 
coming West, as, until his tract came into bearing, he could not secure 
a livelihood from its cultivation. San Francisco offered a fine field for 
his trades and accordingly he went to that city, secured work first as a 
mason and plasterer, but later as a contractor and builder. For seven 
years he continued in San Francisco and Berkeley, and meanwhile he 
established an enviable reputation for skilled workmanship. During the 
entire period of his residence in the western metropolis he had kept in 
touch with his Fair Oaks tract and had seen that the trees received 



HISTORY OF SACKAMENTO COUNTY 857 

due attention as needed. Finally, in 1909 returning to Sacramento 
county, he took up work at Ms trade here and at the same time per- 
sonally cultivated the little farm. Of the ten acres, five are in peach 
trees of the Philips cling variety, which bore a valuable and large crop 
for the season of 1911; the balance is in oranges, olives and almonds. 
Gratifying as has been the work of the past, the promise for the future 
is greater, and the owner has every rer.son to feel proud of his attrac- 
tive home place. 

The residence which Mr. Sargent has improved and enlarged forms 
a valuable accession to the fine country homes of the county. Provided 
with an abundant supply of hot and cold water, equipped with excellent 
lavatory accommodations, and lighted by electricity, its improvements 
are thoroughly up-to-date and its conveniences are conducive to the 
comfort of the occupants. Mrs. Sargent, who became the wife of this 
progressive horticulturist at Fair Oaks in 1902, is a woman of culture 
and refinement, a native of Jamestown, N. Y., where she was the re- 
cipient of collegiate advantages. By his former marriage, Mr. Sargent 
has a son, H. P., who resides at Fair Oaks and is serving as deputy 
county clerk of Sacramento county ; by his marriage to Adella B. Buck- 
ley, a native of Fair Oaks, he has one son, Franklin Buckley Sargent, 
who is a prime favorite with the paternal grandfather. 

In politics Mr. Sargent has voted the Eepublican ticket ever since 
he became a voter and, while always refusing official honors, he has 
not failed to support friends who are candidates, giving freely of 
his time and influence to promote their cause. While still a resident 
of Maine he was initiated into the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and served through the chairs of the local lodge, in which he rose to 
be past grand. In addition he was connected with the Encampment 
and served in its offices including that of chief patriarch. The Knights 
of Pythias also had the benefit of his intelligent identification for 
many years and the local lodge chose him to serve in various important 
capacities, including that of Chancellor Commander. 



JOSEPH F. AZEVEDO 

It is an established fact that the man of courage and tenacity of 
purpose, who governs his actions by conservative judgment, uner- 
ringly i^rogresses toward success, no matter what his start in life. 
In Mr. Azevedo, who is now identified with the Sacramento Valley 
Bank and Trust Company, is found a type of citizen who early realizes 
the value of a definite aim, as well as true and honorable principles, 
and who forges ahead regardless of discouragements or divers opin- 
ions as to his wisdom in carrying out his plans. 



858 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Althongli a native of Terceira, one of the Azore Islands, his birth 
having occurred therein March 6, 1886, Mr. Azevedo has spent his 
life in the United States from the time he was about two years old. 
His parents, Manuel J. and Maria (Pexioto) Azevedo, were also na- 
tives of the Azores. Manuel J. Azevedo came to California in 1854 
and engaged in mining, later following vegetable farming and freight- 
ing his produce to Virginia City. He returned to his old home to 
retire from active life, but the charms of California liad won him 
and he came back to Sacramento county in 1887. Ranching at Free- 
port for a time he then became interested in the Eagle Winery at 
1517 Eighteenth street, Sacramento, successfully conducting a large 
business until his death in 1909. 

Joseph F. Azevedo supplemented his public school education by 
a course in St. Mary's College, Oakland, and upon his graduation in 
1905 secured a situation as messenger in the service of the Fort Sutter 
bank. By virtue of his innate truthfulness and courtesy, he soon 
established himself in the eyes of his employers as a lad worthy of 
the highest confidence, and accordingly received promotion from time 
to time, having reached the position of cashier ere he relinquished 
his duties May 15, 1911, to assume his present position of assistant 
cashier of the Sacramento Valley Bank and Trust Co., which he has 
conducted with characteristic skill and devotion to detail. 

On August 28, 1909, Mr. Azevedo married Miss Ida Nuttall, 
whose father, Levi Nuttall, for many years was associated with the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, serving in the repair depart- 
ment of the shops at Sacramento. 

Mr. Azevedo is an active member of Sacramento Lodge No. 6, 
B. P. 0. E., as well as the local Council, Knights of Columbus, and 
as a young man of energetic, congenial personality and broad, in- 
tensive measures is regarded as one of Sacramento's most progres- 
sive citizens. 



THOMAS VEAL BICKLE 

The early memories of Thomas V. Bickle cluster around scenes 
in Cornwall, England, his native country and the home of ances- 
tors for generations uncounted. The qualities that have given 
force and virility to the Anglo-Saxon race appear in his own char- 
acter and have brought him a gratifying degree of material success 
as well as a reputation for remarkable skill as a pharmacist. It 
was his good fortune to enjoy excellent advantages in his home land 
and in addition to having a thorough classical training he also had 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 859 

exceptional opi)ortiinities as a student in tlie Westminster College 
of Pharmacy, in London, from which he was graduated with the 
class of 1895, with the degree of M. P. S. Although the family 
did not occupy a position of wealth they possessed high social stand- 
ing and consideral)lo means, so that he had opportunities for travel 
and culture not open to all. His father, Thomas Bickle, Sr., was 
an Englishman of high standing in Masonry and a leading member 
of the order in the country. For some time he occupied the posi- 
tion of instructor to the present King of England, then stationed 
as midshipman on the boat, Britannia, at Dartmouth. 

After having been engaged as a pharmacist in England for a 
number of years in 1905 Thomas Bickle came to the United States 
and later traveled considerably throughout the continent on a tour 
of inspection. During this period of travel he remained in Colorado 
for three months. The year 1906 found him a newcomer in Sacra- 
mento, where his excellent credentials secured for him a business 
position on the very day of his arrival. The firm that was his first 
employer retained his services for two years, after which in 1908 
he associated himself with P. F. McMorry. The death of the 
latter in October of the same year caused the establishment to be 
put on sale by the estate and he immediately purchased the same, 
since which time he has conducted the pharmacy on the same prin- 
ciples of integrity, skill and accuracy that gave to the store its 
early enviable reputation. The store is located at No. 529 K street 
and numbers among its regular patrons a large proportion of the 
leading residents of the city. 

About a year before leaving England the marriage of Mr. 
Bickle was solemnized in Devonshire and united him with Miss 
Minnie Rowe, a native of England and the daughter of a leading- 
farmer of Devon. Since becoming a resident of the west Mr. Bickle 
has entered into the activities of the Foresters of America, while 
prior to his departure from England he long had been influential in 
the Masonic Order. It was his happy fortune to be identified with 
the United Grand Lodge -of England during the period when the 
late King Edward of England, then Prince of Wales, held office as 
grand master. Besides this fortunate early experience in Masonry 
Mr. Bickle has maintained a later interest in the order and gives his 
influence toward the philanthropies that characterize its history. In 
addition he has been interested in and identified with the Sons of 
St. George. 



48 



860 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



ROBERT N. BRAMHALL, M. D. 

The district of Fair Oaks lias in Dr. Braniliali an honored mem- 
ber of the medical profession and a successful practitioner of the 
science, who since coming to this locality as a permanent resident 
in 11)0:2 has identilied himself closely with all the activities of the 
community, has contributed to the development of the fruit industry 
and has promoted enterprises for the material, educational and 
professional advancement of Sacramento county. His residence, 
with its beautiful setting of lawn and trees and its attractive loca- 
tion on a slight eminence, is regarded as one of the most substantial 
and convenient in the entire district. Thoroughly modern in all 
of its appointments, it is utilized not only for a home but also for 
an office. Surrounding the neat two-story residence are two and 
one-half acres almost wholly studded with native oaks. 

Dr. Bramhall was born in Abingdon, Va., March 18, 1878, and 
removed with his parents to Chicago when he was six years of age. 
His fine mental endowments came to him as an inheritance from his 
father, Col. Frank J. Bramhall, a man of unusual ability, born, 
reared and educated in New York City, a graduate of one of the 
law schools of the metropolis and for years an attorney of that 
great city. An appointment as collector of internal revenue for a 
district in Virginia caused him to remove to that state and there 
he remained for some time discharging the duties connected with 
the office. Later he filled a like position in Tennessee. When he 
resigned therefrom he removed to Chicago, where he was engaged in 
business. Ultimately he removed to California and was among the 
first to select a tract at Fair Oaks, where he cleared the land and 
i)lanted fruit trees. The last years of his eventful life were quietly 
])assed at his home in Oakland, this state. 

During the residence of the family in Chicago Robert N. Bram- 
hall received a classical education and also completed a course in 
ele.ctrical engineering, following that occupation for only a short 
time. Always he had been attracted by the science of materia 
medica, and he abandoned engineering to take up the study of thera- 
])eutics, which he prosecuted in the medical department of North- 
western University. On the completion of the regular course in 
1902 the degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by the faculty. 
Inmiediately afterward he came to California and joined his father 
at Fair Oaks, where he has since devoted his' attention to the prac- 
tice of his profession and has built up an extensive patronage ex- 
tending over the entire settlement and for miles around. 

Tlie family of Dr. Bramhall comprises his wife and daughter. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 861 

Elinor Eugenia. His marriage was solemnized in Chicago July 15. 
1902, and united Mm with Miss Emma E. Smith, who was born in 
Iowa, but grew to womanhood in Chicago and received a classical 
education in the city of Boston. Descended from an old family 
of New England, she comes of distinguished lineage, her grand- 
father, Eev. Samuel Francis Smith, D. D., having been the author 
of the national h^Tun, America. From childhood she has been an 
adherent of the Baptist denomination and a contributor to its benev- 
olent and missionary movements. The family have a high social 
standing at Fair Oaks and enjoy to the highest degree the confidence 
of acquaintances. The Doctor's life is indeed a busy existence. As 
a relaxation from his professional duties he finds pleasure in looking 
after his orange and olive grove, which covers fifteen acres in Fair 
Oaks Colony. These manifold duties do not prevent him from dis- 
charging with fidelity every duty as a citizen and every responsi- 
bility as a neighbor, and he is always found to be a firm supporter 
of every principle of justice in civic and social atfairs. 



EDWAED SHEEBUENE BEOWN 

For twenty years a successful commercial man of Sacramento, 
Mr. Brown has exemplified throughout his career the qualities of 
manly ambition and wise judgment and in his practical interest in 
civic affairs has justly won a place among the most influential and 
highly respected citizens of his community. 

Born October 24, 1869, in Sacramento, Mr. Brown is fully ac- 
quainted with the vast improvements which have taken place since 
that period, both in his home city and through the state in- general, 
and although he has visited niany attractive and beautiful sections 
of the United States, enjoys the conviction that California exceeds 
tli^m all, not alone in climate, but in resources as well. His father, 
John E. Brown, whose birth occurred in Brownville, N. Y., in 1833, 
attended West Point as a youth, and in the role of civil engineer 
came to California in 1860 to assist in the original survey of the 
Central Pacific Eailroad between Sacramento and Eeno. Afterward 
he was advance agent during the construction of the road until 
December, 1868, when he resi.gned to engage in the life insurance 
business in Sacramento. He became special agent for the North- 
western Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wis., and for a 
number of years filled that office, when he again entered the employ 
of the Central Pacific Eailroad as agent and continued with the 



862 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

company until his death, which occurred in Sacramento February 
7, 1884. Mr. Brown was prominent among the Masons, Redmen and 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and at his death was buried 
with Masonic honors. His wife, to whom he was united in marriage 
in tlie old Congregational Church on Sixth street in Sacramento, was 
formerly Miss Elizabeth MacMillan, born in Buffalo, N. Y., daughter 
of Hugh and Ann (Miller) MacMillan, natives of New York. Hugh 
MacMillan was a successful shipbuilder by trade. Mrs. Brown, who 
was widely beloved for her womanly sweetness and sympathy, passed 
away in January, 1902, after a life of great devotion to her husband 
and three children. 

John Jacob Brown, the paternal grandfather of Edward S., 
occupied a prominent position throughout the war of 1812, having 
organized a company of which he became captain, later serving as 
general, and then, owing to his ability and devotion to duty, was 
appointed to the office of commander in chief of the United States 
army, faithfully performing his duties until his death in 1827. 

At the age of fourteen, shortly after his father's death, Edward 
Sherburne Brown was forced to leave his studies, in which, however, 
owing to his concentrative ability, he had made rapid progress. He 
secured a position in the wholesale establishment of Lyon & Curtis. 
Five years later he transferred his services to Curtis Brothers & 
Company, and in 1892, in partnership with William M. Henderson 
and Charles E. Flye, under the firm name of Henderson, Brown & 
Flje, opened a wholesale fruit and produce store at Second and 
J streets ; later Mr. Flye sold his interest to his associates, and in 
1900, Mr. Henderson having withdrawn from the company, the firm 
was incorporated under the name of the Ennis-Brown Company, 
with Mr. Brown as president and Scott F. Ennis as secretary and 
treasurer. The company is now located at Front and J streets, now 
a prominent wholesale district. The old Pioneer Mill on the water 
front, formerly occupied by H. G. Smith & Co., has been used as a 
bean warehouse, and has large cleaning machinery. Thoroughly fa- 
miliar with the work in which he has been so long engaged, Mr. 
Brown is considered an expert in that line, and his progressive 
methods are highly commended by his fellow citizens. He married 
in July, 1898, Lucy Elizabeth Purinton, a native of California, and 
to them have been born two sons and two daughters, viz. : Kenneth A., 
Dorothy E., Edward S. and Virginia Anna. Mr. Brown is an active 
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the 
Sutter Club and the Chamber of Commerce. Active in local politics, 
he maintains a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the develop- 
ment and improvement of the city and is conceded to be a man of 
broad, generous principles and well-directed energy. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 863 



AARON B. REYNOLDS 

It was in 1901 that this successful lawyer came to Sacramento, 
and the admirable career that he has since made has brought him 
the congratulations of a wide circle of acquaintances. Aaron B. 
Reynolds was born in Fort Jones, Cal., July 28, 1878, a son of Isaac 
and Clara (Barr) Reynolds, pioneers of Siskiyou county. He at- 
tended the public school and the Siskiyou county high school and was 
graduated from the latter in 1898. He then entered the University 
of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated with the degree 
of LL. B. in 1901. 

Almost immediately after leaving college Mr. Reynolds came to 
Sacramento and was admitted to practice at the bar of the supreme 
court and of the lesser courts. He entered at once upon the active 
practice of his profession, and has appeared in several cases of note 
which are a part of the judicial history of the county and the state. 
In all of these, as well as in many less important cases, he has been 
very successful, not necessarily winning all of them, but accomplish- 
ing" in all of them all that it was reasonably possible for any lawyer 
to achieve. His clientele, now large, is constantly widening, and as 
the years pass matters of greater and still greater import are en- 
trusted to him. His advice is sought not alone by those who seek 
litigation, but by wise and careful men who would avoid it, and, once 
given, it is found to be sound and based on the true fundamental 
principles of the law. 

His birth within the borders of California made Mr. Reynolds 
eligible to membership in the Native Sons of the Golden West, an 
organization in which he is deeply interested and which he advances 
by every means at his command. He preserves college memories by 
affiliation with the University club. In politics he is independent. 
He married, at Sacramento, February 8, 1905, Miss Beryl Patrick, 
and they have a daughter, Beth, now six years old. 



JOHN QUINCY BROWN 

A career of more than ordinary usefulness marked the busy life 
of John Quincy Brown, Sr., who served the city of Sacramento as 
mayor from 1881 to 1887, and had also filled the position of county 
recorder, public administrator, levee commissioner and other official 
positions which demanded the time and attention of a conscientious, 
painstaking citizen such as he. His birth occurred in Breckenridge, 
Ky., in 1829 and in 1850 he made his way to California, dying in the 
year 1892, at which time he was serving as member of the board of 



864 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

trustees of the Napa State Hospital. His father, William B. C. 
Brown, grandfather of our subject, was a large planter in the Blue 
Grass State, extensively interested in tobacco growing. When John 
Quiney Brown, Sr., first came to this state from Kentucky, crossing 
the plains, he remained at Placerville for a time, but seeking a 
broader field for his activities he found it in Sacramento. His first 
employment here was in the wholesale store of Senator Stanford's 
brother. Shortly after coming here he married Miss Anna Mary 
Williams, the daughter of Joel P. Williams, a prominent mining man 
of that period. They had two children, John Quiney and a girl who 
died at the age of six years. 

John Q. Brown was born in Sacramento. Much of his boyhood 
was taken up studying in the city schools, and he also attended the 
St. Augustine Episcopal Military Academy at Benicia and the 
Golden Gate Academy at Oakland. After graduating from the 
University of California with the degree of Ph. B., he joined his 
father who was then general manager of the Capital Gas Company, 
and acted as assistant manager. During the years he was with the 
company he served in different positions. From 1892 to 1897 he was 
assistant clerk of the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. He 
graduated from the Hastings College of the Law in 1901, with the 
LL. B. degree, and went to Kansas City, where he remained five 
years. November 28, 1888, he married Miss Jessie Brown, daughter 
of Dr. J. T. Brown of that city. Their two children are Harry 
Edgar, born December 24, 1889, a graduate of Stanford University, 
and John Quiney Brown, Jr., born March 17, 1897, and not attending 
Hastings College of the Law. In 1896 Mr. Brown returned with his 
family to Sacramento. He joined Eugene Wachhorst, the present 
district attorney of Sacramento county, and at this date is deputy 
district attorney. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown are popular club people in their home 
city. He is a member and is president of the University Club, and 
is also a member of the Sutter Club. Mrs. Brown holds member- 
ships in the Tuesday and Saturday Clubs. 



EGBERT ALFRED BROWN 

The west has become endeared to Mr. Brown through the associa- 
tions of a lifetime. Born in the state of Nevada, reared in Oregon 
and identified with California ever since early manhood, he repre- 
sents all that is progressive, resourceful and alert in the vast 
region west of the Rockies. Mental attainments conspicuously rich 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 865 

and social qualities pre-eminently attractive have brought him in- 
fluence in local affairs and esijecially in the order of Masons, whose 
organization he has served with tact as past master of the blue 
lodge, past high priest of the Royal Arch chapter and past thrice 
illustrious master in the council, meantime utilizing these offices as 
avenues for the exercise of generous philanthropies and the other 
worthy measures that form the unwritten creed of the order. 

The family residence was at Virginia City, Nev., for some years 
and during that time occurred the birth of Egbert Alfred Brown, 
September 20, 1878. In very early life he was taken to Oregon by 
his parents and there he attended the common schools, completing 
his education in text-books, although since then he has been a con- 
stant reader and thoughtful observer, thereby greatly broadening 
his fund of information. When in 1895 he accompanied his mother 
to Sacramento he secured employment as clerk in a department store 
and continued there for some time. During 1898 he entered the 
California State Bank as an office assistant, beginning in the institu- 
tion at the lowest salary and in the most humble capacity of any 
of the employes. However, he soon proved his worth and rose by 
gradual promotions to the position of assistant cashier. When the 
bank surrendered its charter and became merged into the present 
institution, the California National Bank, he remained as a trusted 
employe and still holds the position of assistant cashier. 

The comfortable home of Mr. Brown is brightened by the pres- 
ence of his three children, Eleanor, Phoebe and Oliver. His wife, 
who was Miss Pearl Jackson, is a native daughter of California and 
a member of an honored pioneer family of Sacramento. Her father, 
Oliver Jackson, for many years held the office of chief of police in 
Sacramento. Mr. Brown's grandfather, George Bruce, for a long- 
period acted as landlord of the Bruce house in this city. As early 
as 1852 he crossed the plains accompanied by his young wife and 
settled in Sacramento, whose gradual growth he helped to promote 
by his own energetic and capable business efforts. In the annals 
of the city his name holds a place of prominence as that of a loyal 
])ioneer. Supplementing the labors which gave him prominence in 
the frontier era, his grandson, Egbert A. Brown, supports the meas- 
ures which he believes to be best adapted to the permanent welfare 
of the community and in politics gives steadfast allegiance to the 
Republican party, while fraternally he has membership with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows in addition to his identification 
with the Masons previously mentioned. The Episcopal Church re- 
ceives his generous support in its maintenance and charitable efforts 
and for years he has been one of its communicants in the Sacra- 
mento parish. 



866 HISTOKY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



JOSEPH I. BRUNSCHWILER 

An association with the banking business that has been of 
comparatively brief duration nevertheless by its success proves the 
admirable adaptability of Mr. Brunschwiler to such activities. 
When he became a clerk in the California National Bank not many 
years ago he assumed his comparatively unimportant duties with a 
zeal and intensity that won prompt recognition. Various promotions 
were accorded him in quick succession and in January of 1911 he 
became assistant cashier, a responsible position which he now fills 
with tact, intelligence and dispatch, displaying the same earnest de- 
votion to the welfare of the bank and the interests of its depositors 
that characterized him in less important functions. The confidence 
of customers has been won and retained through his painstaking 
attentiveness to even the smallest details and his intelligent mastery 
of the most important financial problems. 

It is a matter of pride with Mr. Brunschwiler that he can claim 
California as his native commonwealth and San Francisco as the 
eity of his birth, his parents, Joseph A. and Caroline Brunschwiler, 
having been residents of the western metropolis when he was born 
May 3, 1879. The schools of the city afforded him fair educational 
advantages; at the age of fourteen years he became a student in 
St. Ignatius College and continued in that institution until 1897, 
when he was graduated with an excellent standing. Afterward he 
spent two years at Lick Polytechnic, where he took special studies. 
About 1899 he became an office employe of Hale Bros., in their large 
dry-goods establishment at San Francisco, and he continued in 
the same place until 1904, meanwhile proving an accurate accountant 
and intelligent assistant. An offer of a position as cashier with 
Hale Bros., in Sacramento, led him to this city, where he held an 
important position with the firm until April 18, 1906, resigning at 
that time in order to enter the banking business. He is still in 
the prime of his mental powers and physical activity, so that many 
years of successful connection with financial interests may be pre- 
dicted for him. 

A few years after his arrival in Sacramento and the year after 
his entrance into banking clerical work, Mr. Brunschwiler estab- 
lished a home of his own in this city, his marriage in September 
of 1907 uniting him with Miss Mildred Hunt. Two children now 
grace their home, Mildred and Cyril, both sturdy native Califor- 
nians who have brought nnich joy into his household. While Mr. 
Brunschwiler 1ms not disjilayed partisanship in politics, he is known 
as a stanch believer in Re])ul)lican princi])les and as a consistent su])- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 867 

porter of men and measnres pledged to the npbuilding of the party. 
The Sntter Club claims him among its active members. Being a 
firm believer in the fnture prosperity of Sacramento, it has been his 
policy to promote civic projects to the fullest extent possible, and in 
every question of expansion he is to be found on the side of progress 
and advancement. 



GEORGE SPENCER BULLOCK 

The significance of lifelong identification with California ap- 
pears in the loyalty uniformly exhibited by the native sons of the 
commonwealth. Patriotic devotion to the land of his birth forms 
one of the chief attributes in the character of George Spencer Bul- 
lock, the son of an honored pioneer and himself a native of Yolo 
county, where his earliest recollections are associated with sights 
and scenes around the then insignificant village of Woodland. The 
Hesperian College, which in 1861, his father had assisted in found- 
ing, afforded him the advantages of a classical education and later 
he completed a commercial course in the Woodland Business College, 
of which he is a graduate. Availing himself of these excellent edu- 
cational opportunities, he laid the foundation of a broad fund of in- 
formation and by habits of continued studiousness and close obser- 
vation he has become the possessor of a high degree of culture. To 
some extent he lias specialized in the acquisition of knowledge, being 
particularly interested in financial problems and in monetary mat- 
ters. From early manhood he has been connected with the banking 
business, first at Woodland, where he clerked in a bank for two 
years, and later in Sacramento, where he entered the national bank 
established by D. 0. Mills and from a clerkship won his way to the 
position of ])aying teller. After twenty years of service he re- 
signed this position in November, 1911, to fill the offices of director 
and cashier of the Citizens Bank of Oak Park to which he had 
been elected. After six months with this firm he again resigned, 
having been elected assistant cashier of the Fort Sutter National 
Bank, the duties of which office he assumed in May, 1912. It may 
be predicted that future years will witness a steady advance in his 
prominence in banking circles, for he possesses the keen insight, 
fine discrimination, conservative judgment and unfailing tact that 
almost invariably bring success to men in every line of activity. 
Some years ago he purchased the old homestead of five hundred and 
ninety acres on Grand Island from the estate, and this he has now 
under process of perpetual reclamation. The tract is devoted to the 



868 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

raising of grain, alfalfa and garden produce. Aside from a grow- 
ing prestige in financial circles he devotes some of his leisure hours 
to the activities of the Sutter Club and the Benevolent Protective 
Order of Elks. Under Governor Gillett he was appointed a member 
of the board of commissioners of Sutter's Fort and at the expira- 
tion of his first term he was again appointed to the position by 
the same executive. 

In studying the lineage of the Bullock family we find that they 
are of English stock and southern associations. As early as 1830 
Thomas and Agnes (Ware) Bullock (the latter of Scotch-Welsh 
descent) removed from Kentucky, their native commonwealth, and 
settled in Illinois, taking up a large tract of raw land in Woodford 
county near the county-seat of Eureka. He was one of the first 
settlers in his locality, and he named the county Woodford from his 
native county in the Blue Grass state. From there Mr. Bullock went 
to the front to assist in subduing the savages during the progress of 
the Black Hawk war. Both he and his wife continued to make their 
home in Woodford county until they died. Of their nine children 
James P., the third in order of birth, was born in Woodford county, 
Ky., May 24, 1829. During boyhood he attended country schools in 
Illinois. Later he matriculated in a Presbyterian college near Han- 
nibal, Mo., and continued his studies there until he was graduated 
at the age of twenty. It was his father's ambition that he should 
become a physician and accordingly he was sent to Palmyra, Mo., 
to begin the study of medicine, but the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia changed all of his plans and caused him to relinquish all 
intention of becoming a professional man. Having no money to pay 
for the trip to California lie began to teach school and thus se- 
cured the necessary funds, so that early in 1850 he crossed the 
plains with an expedition of Argonauts. When he arrived in Sacra- 
mento in July he had only seventy-five cents in his possession. How- 
ever, be was strong and willing, hence a lack of capital did not dis- 
courage him in the least. The first job he found was that of cutting 
eordwood on L and M streets in Sacramento. Next he engaged in 
teaming and freighting to the mountains. While thus engaged he 
went on a trip to Downieville, Sierra county, became interested in 
the ]ilace, and later opened a butcher shop there. During the fall 
of 1852 he located on the Sacramento river in Sutter county, taking 
up a claim on what he supposed to be government land, but when 
he discovered it to be a grant he removed to Yolo county. During 
Fel)ruary of 1858 he bought five hundred and ninety acres fifteen 
miles northeast of Woodland, on Grand Island, and there he en- 
gaged in stock-raising and general farming. 

As assessor of Yolo county James P. Bullock served from 1864 
to 1870 and the tact with which he discharged the responsibilities 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 869 

of the position won foi' liim many friends. During 1870 he was 
elected sheriff of Yolo county by a large majority, and at the expira- 
tion of his first term he was honored by re-election to the office. 
Meanwhile he had established his home in Woodland and had built 
a substantial residence on Court street. After having served as 
sheriff for two terms he retired to private life and resumed the 
management of his farm, also superintended the Colonel Hagar land 
grant in Yolo county, which he had managed in previous years. 
After having been an invalid for five years he passed away Sep- 
tember 25, 1888. He was buried in Woodland cemetery with Masonic 
honors under the auspices of the Knights Templar. Politically he 
always voted with the Democratic party. For years he served as a 
trustee in the Christian Church and was one of its most influential 
workers in Woodland. His wife likewise was prominent in the activ- 
ities of that church and she was also for years a leading worker in 
the Woodland Chapter of the Eastern Star. 

The marriage of James P. Bullock and Mary Jane Powell took 
place in Sutter county November 9, 1854. Six children were born of 
their union, namely: Agnes, Mrs. C. F. Thomas, of Woodland; 
George Spencer, whose name introduces this articles ; Lela ; Fred, 
proprietor of the Bullock clothing store in Woodland; Mrs. Mary 
Nelson de Merritt, and Mrs. Helen Fregidgo. During 1902 Mrs. 
Bullock and those of her family yet at home removed to Oakland, 
but later became residents of San Francisco and she is now living 
in that city, retaining, however, her property interests in Yolo 
county. Her father, Jeremiah Powell, was the son of a Virginian, 
of Scotch descent, who served in the Revolutionary war as a boy 
and long afterward gave further service to his country during 
the war of 1812. This ^"irginian patriot spent many years of his 
later life in developing land in Kentuck}^, where Jeremiah Powell 
was born and reared and whence he removed to Missouri during the 
original settlement of that state. 

During the summer of 1853 Jeremiah Powell and Capt. Levi 
Blunt crossed the plains with five hundred head of cattle. In the 
expedition were Mrs. Powell and three children. At Downieville 
they were met by James Powell, a brother of Jeremiah, and with 
him the journey was completed on horseback to Sacramento. Taking 
up land in Colusa county Jeremiah Powell began to raise stock, but 
he later discovered the land to be a grant, hence he removed to 
Kellogg 's slough near Colusa, where he bought a tract of raw land. 
The development of the farm was a difficult task and occupied the 
remaining years of his busy existence. On that farm he died in 
1887 at the age of eighty years. Fraternally he was a Mason, in 
politics a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Christian 
church. His first marriage united him with Amanda Noe, a native 



870 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

of Kentucky, her father, George Noe, having' removed to that state 
from Virginia and later making another move to Missouri, where he 
died. The second wife of Mr. Powell was Priscilla Ferguson, a 
native of Virginia. In April of 1900 she passed away at the age 
of ninety-four. Mrs. Bullock is now the sole survivor of the Powell 
family, her elder brother, George Spencer, having died in Mexico, 
while the younger brother, Charles Shelton, passed away at the old 
homestead in the vicinitv of Colusa. 



GUY W. BUTLEE 

The untiring perseverance and determined will characteristic 
of the English race form noticeable attributes of the character of 
Mr. Butler, while his American nativity is indicated by his resistless 
energy that knows no weariness. Success to him has come solely 
through the exercise of his inherent qualities. Extraneous circum- 
stances have not contributed to his aid in the forward struggle. 
Orphaned by the death of his father when he was quite young, 
forced to make for himself every opportunity to advance, and 
handicapped by lack of thorough educational advantages, he never- 
theless rose out of obscurity into prominence and out of poverty into 
prosperity. When therefore any mention is made of the deserving 
citizens of Folsom his name stands foremost in the list. 

Several generations of the Butler family have made their homes 
in America. Eichard T. Butler, who was born at Liverpool, Eng- 
land, in 1854, came across the ocean about 1861 in company with 
his parents and settled in Iowa. During early years he attended 
school and also learned the machinist's trade. In his chosen occu- 
pation he became unusually skillful. Pew excelled him in expert- 
ness with machinery or with tools. For a considerable period he 
followed his trade at Marshalltown, Iowa, where he married Miss 
Flora Fagg, a native of Iowa, and where their son, Guy W., was 
born October 16, 1883. From Iowa he removed to Albuquerque, 
N. Mex., where he died in 1889. Up to the time of his demise and 
for a long period he had ])een engaged as master mechanic for the 
Santa Fe Eailroad. Through skilled workmanship he gained a high 
reputation among other employes and also with the officials of the 
road. After he had i^assed away his widow came to California and 
settled in San Francisco, where she continues to make her home. 

The various removals of the family and the death of the father, 
upon whom had rested the burden of the support of wife arid chil- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 871 

dren, prevented Guy W. Butler from acquiring the education which 
he desired, but habits of reading and observation partially have 
atoned for his early deprivations. At the age of fourteen years he 
left school to earn his own livelihood. In a very humble capacity 
he secured employment in a clothing store in Sacramento. Chance 
indicated his life occupation, but none could have been better 
adapted to his natural tastes and unexpressed preferences. After 
he had worked for a long period in the employ of others he began 
to desire a business of his own. That purpose brought him to 
Folsom, where he arrived November 7, 1907, and where he has since 
resided. By diligent application he has built up a clothing busi- 
ness that is known for miles in every direction. The honorable 
business principles of the proprietor have won the confidence of 
customers. It has been his aim to treat every customer with such 
honesty and square dealing that they repay his efforts by becoming 
regular patrons of the store. The demands of business keep him 
closely occupied and leave no leisure for participation in politics, 
but he is a liberal Republican and a well-informed man. Various 
fraternities have received his allegiance and helpful co-operation, 
the leading organizations of his association being the Eagles and 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 



ANDREW CARLAW 

The ancient, semi-artistic trade of the stone-cutter has engaged 
the attention of many men of talent and of business ability, who 
have left to the world a lasting record of their achievements as 
builders and decorators. These reflections are inspired by a mental 
review of the successful career of Andrew Carlaw, of Tenth and 
R streets, Sacramento. 

-Jt was in Maddiston, Stirling county, Scotland, that Mr. Carlaw 
was born. After having acquired a practical education in such 
public schools as were available to him in the vicinity of his boy- 
hood home, he learned stone-cutting under the instruction of a 
competent old-country master, and he worked at it in his native land 
until 1881. Then he came to the United States, which he believed 
would afford him a better field for his activities than was o]")eu to 
him at home, and settled in Sacramento. Soon, in partnership with 
his brother, he established a stone-yard in a convenient locality, and 
they carried on a successful business in the handling of general 
stone until October, 1898, when his brother died; since then Andrew 



872 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Carlaw has been manag-er of the enterprise. He has increased the 
business and is well and favorably known thronghout the somewhat 
extensive territory which he reaches with his trade. 

In his political views Mr. Carlaw is a Republican. Well-in- 
formed upon the political issues of the day and their bearing on our 
economic conditions, he believes that the best solution of many of 
the people's troubles will be found in the outcome of the work of 
that party, and to it, its men and its measures he yields most loyal 
allegiance. In his social affiliations he is a Mason and an Odd 
Fellow. 



WILL J. CARRAGHAR 

The high degree of intelligence displayed by the members of 
the Sacramento bar has received wide recognition and deservedly 
so, for it is an accepted fact that the attorneys of this city stand 
unsurpassed for thorough knowledge of the law, conscientious study 
of jurisjDrudence and familiarity with even the smallest details 
connected with the successful practice of the profession. While 
in point of years Will J. Carraghar ranks among the youngest mem- 
bers of the bar, in point of professional information and mental 
capacity his rank is among the highest, and already he is winning 
the recognition which his talents abundantly justify. The spacious 
quarters in the Nicolaus building which he has occupied since 
August 1, 1911, afford him a central location and at the same time 
offer the appointments so valuable to dispatch in modern profes- 
sional enterprises. 

It has been the good fortune of Mr. Carraghar to enjoy identifi- 
cation with Sacramento throughout his entire life. Educated in 
its schools, familiar with its advantages, cognizant of its opportuni- 
ties and acquainted with its incomparable citizenship, he presents 
a type of ]n'esent-day progress and of twentieth-century patriotism. 
His father, Edward J., member of the firm of Buckmann & Carraghar, 
is one of the proprietors of an exclusive and elegant restaurant in 
Sacramento and also for ten years or more has been prominently 
identified with civic affairs as trustee from the ninth ward. During 
his active participation in public affairs he served for ten years as 
chairman of the finance and judiciary committee. In political 
views he favors the Democratic principles and his son likewise gives 
allegiance to the same party. 

After having completed the studies of the public schools u]) to 
the ninth grade Will J. Carraghar entered the Christian Brothers 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 873 

College on K street, Sacramento, where he completed a four-year 
course. Next he became a student in St. Mary's College at Oakland, 
this state, from which he was graduated in 1907 with a high stand- 
ing. Immediately afterward he began to study law with Judge 
C, E. McLaughlin and continued his readings under the late Judge 
DeVine of Sacramento. At the age of twenty-two he was admitted 
to the bar and immediately beg^.n the practice of his profession for 
himself. Already he has won a high standing among the attorneys 
of the city and the promise of a growing success gives favorable 
indication of his future prominence in the law. Throughout all of 
his life he has been a believer in the doctrines of the Eoman Catholic 
Church and his contributions to religious undertakings are generous. 
The Knights of Columbus, a popular fraternal organization, has 
the benefit of his active identification, while socially he holds mem- 
bership with the University Club and the Sacramento County Bar 
Association. His marriage took place October 19, 1907, and united 
him with Miss Irma Scott, daughter of Jed M. Scott (member of the 
firm of Scott & Gilbert, manufacturing druggists of San Francisco) 
and a great granddaughter of Josiah Johnson, one of the pioneer 
railroad builders of California. Three daughters bless the union, 
Helen Mary, Irma Margaret and Catherine Ellen. 



DANIEL EOGEES CATE 

Possessed of remarkable concentrative ability and unswerving 
ambition, Mr. Cate has met with unqualified success in his chosen 
profession and as a member of the prominent engineering com- 
pany of Phinney, Cate & Marshall, Forum Building, Sacramento, 
contributes largely toward the favorable outcome of the projects 
undertaken by that firm. 

Mr. Cate was born November 17, 1880, in Quincy, Cal., where he 
received a public school education, early evidencing a decided inclina- 
tion for the vocation which he entered later. His father, Daniel Eog- 
ers Cate, Sr., a native of New Hampshire, emigrated to California 
in 1850 and for a time mined with fair success in Plumas and Sierra 
counties, later acquiring in Plumas county, several hundred acres 
upon which he engaged in general farming and raised vegetables, 
disposing of his garden products at a good ])rofit in the mining 
cam])s. He married Miss Hannah Loring, a native of Maine, and to 
their union were born five children, all of whom reside in Calif or- 



874 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

nia. Since the death of her husband in November, 1900, Mrs. Cate 
has continued to make her home in Quincy. 

Mr. Cate studied civil engineering in the field actively engaged 
with a corps, and later secured a situation in the surveying depart- 
ment of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1907 he be- 
came associated with Cassius Phinney, who at that time served 
as county surveyor of Sacramento county. Later with U. S. Mar 
shall he established their present offices, their work chiefly em- 
bracing plans and specifications for reclamation and irrigation proj 
ects, municipal improvements, water works, sewerage and street sys- 
tems, hydro-electric work, land surveying and sub-divisions. 

December 23, 1903, Mr. Cate was united in marriage with Miss 
Cora A. AVasson, whose birth occurred in Forest Hill, Placer county, 
and whose father, C. H. Wasson, is a pioneer and well known min- 
ing man of Placer county. Mr. and Mrs. Cate have three children : 
Ronald Marshall, Claire Mary and Daniel, Jr., and in their plans 
and hopes for their little ones the parents find happiness far 
exceeding their highest dreams. In the line of his profession Mr. 
Cate is an associate member of the American Society of Civil En- 
gineers. Fraternally he is a member of Quincy Parlor No. 131, 
N. S. G. W., and in his enthusiastic and practical aid toward aU 
civic movements, he facilitates as well as encourages the labor of his 
fellow citizens who recognize in him a man of exemplary and con- 
scientious principles. 



WILLIAM CHAPLIN 

It was at Leicester, England, that "William Chaplin was born 
December IG, 1866, a son of the Rev. William Chaplin, a preacher of 
the Methodist Episcopal church in England for sixty years, who 
passed to his reward in 1899. The mother, Emma Chaplin, was a 
native of Leicester, England. Of her twelve children ten are liv- 
ing. Fannie is the wife of Warren Jessup Potter of Leicester, 
England, a bridge builder and prominent in a political way. Will- 
iam came to the United States twenty-six years ago and located in 
Philadelphia, Pa., where he opened a butcher shop and built up 
a business which was one of the best of its kind in the city, he 
having thirty-two butchers in his employ and eight wagons deliv- 
ering meat to the wholesale trade. In considering the importance 
of this enterprise it should be borne in mind that it was not that 
of a great corporation but of an individual owner. 

In 1904, owing to the condition of his health, Mr. Chaplin sold 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 875 

Ms business to a corporation of which he was president and man- 
ager two years. In 1906 he came to California and established a 
meat market on Highland avenue in Hollywood, next to the Holly- 
wood Hotel. He was very successful there and had a practical 
monopoly of the local meat trade during a period of five years, at 
the expiration of which he sold out and went to Jergens, Cal.. 
where he owned extensive mining interests. Eventually he took 
up his residence in Sacramento and soon concerned himself with 
amusement enterprises at Oak Park, where he successfully managed 
a well remembered venture for two years. In December, 1911, he 
acquired the lease of the new and modern Mikle Theatre, which 
he turned over to his son, Jack Chaplin, who is now the manager. 

While he lived in Philadelphia Mr. Chaplin was active in poli- 
tics, and at a meeting of voters, which he called in his ward, he 
organized the city party which is still in existence. He served on 
the school board in Philadelphia three years and was instrumental 
in the advancement of street paving in some parts of the city. 

The woman who became Mr. Chaplin's wife was Miss Emma 
Marvin of Leicester, England, and their children were born as fol- 
lows : Thomas in 1885 ; Katie in 1888 ; and Jack in 1890. Thomas 
is chief engineer at the Hollywood Hotel, having fitted himself to 
fill such a position by a course of study in the International Cor- 
respondence School in Scranton, Pa. 

The silk loom now in use throughout the world was invented in 
England by Mr. Chaplin's paternal grandfather. Mr. Chaplin owns 
a fine residence and several valuable lots in Oak Park, and is un- 
wearying in his jn'omotion of the growth and prosperity of that part 
of the city. He is insistent in his demand for the square deal in 
politics, in business and in every relation of life. Fraternally he 
affiliates with the Masonic order, holding membership in the Blue 
Lodge and in the Royal Arch chapter. 



ARCHIE WILLIAM CLIFTON 

The career of this successful dealer in furniture and house-fur- 
nishings at Oak Park, Sacramento, Cal., is that of the self-made 
man and as such it will be found interesting. Archie William Clif- 
ton was a native Californian, born in Amador county, September 
4, 1877, a son of Thomas Joseph and Alice Nevada (Simmons) Clifton, 
natives respectively of Ohio and Nevada. The mother, whose parents 
came from Pennsylvania, passed away in Amador county in No- 
vember, 1911. 

49 



876 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

It was in the public school that Archie William Clifton acquired 
his education. After that for some years he was variously em- 
ployed in coast towns whose geography ranged from Grant's Pass, 
Ore., to Los Angeles, Cal. He had been reared on a farm and care- 
fully instructed l)y his father in agricultural aifairs, but farming 
was not congenial and he gave it up, after which he became inter- 
ested in learning the furniture business with the John Breuner Com- 
pany of Sacramento. He silent three years in that house and for 
the next two years was in the emi)loy of the Home Furniture Com- 
pany, after which he was given the management of the latter's 
branch store at Oak Park, assuming his duties January 1, 1910. 
Six months later he bought the establishment and is now engaged 
in the general house-furnishing business. His place of business is 
well located, his stock is kept up-to-date and his geniality and hon- 
est methods are doing much to increase his business popularity. 

June 1, 1907, Mr. Clifton married Miss Jennie Solomonson, of 
lone, Cal., the daughter of a rancher of that vicinity. They have 
two children, Henry and Morris Clifton. Mr. Clifton is independent 
in politics, and is an energetic, patriotic man of nnich public spirit. 



BENJAMIN L. SISSON 

Of that sturdy Empire State ancestry which has contributed 
so richly to the citizenship not only of the Pacific coast country but 
of the entire old and new west, Benjamin L. Sisson, cashier and 
secretary of the American Fish Company of Sacramento, was born 
in Oakdale, Stanislaus county, Cal., December 27, 1878, a son of 
Benjamin Haight and Ida (Simmons) Sisson, both of New York 
state nativity. In their native state they married, remaining there 
till 1850, when they made the long, tedious and perilous journey to 
California and settled at Oakdale, where the husband and father 
was for a score of years engaged in the transfer business. 

In the public school at Oakdale Benjamin L. Sisson gained a 
primary education, to which he has added by observation and ex- 
tensive reading until he is one of the well informed men of the cir- 
cle in which he moves. After leaving the grammar school he be- 
came a clerk in a general merchandise store in the town of his 
birth. So ably and so faithfully did he devote himself to the in- 
terests of his employers that he was gradually advanced from posi- 
tion to position until he was made cashier. That responsible place 
he resigned in 1905 to come to Sacramento, where he entered the 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 877 

service of Mr. Morgan, president of the Owl Transfer Company and 
of the American Fish Company. With the company first mentioned 
he labored a year, then was transferred to the office of the Ameri- 
can Fish Company. There he was started in 1906 as assistant book- 
keeper, and his rise to be cashier and secretary of the concern has 
been rapid and those who know him best know that his promotion 
has been worthily won and well deserved. 

By marriage, Mr. Sisson united his fortunes with those of Miss 
Ella May Bach of Knight's Ferry, Stanislaus county. Their mar- 
riage was celebrated May 8, 1900, and they have an interesting lit- 
tle daughter, Marjorie, born October 30, 1909. Mr. Sisson is an 
Odd Fellow, high in the councils of his order. Mrs. Sisson is iden- 
tified with the Order of the Eastern Star and with the Native 
Daughters. Her father, who was a prominent farmer and stockman, 
was both a Mason and an Odd Fellow. 



CHARLES H. CROCKER 

There are many young men who upon the threshold of life's ac- 
tivities pause with irresolute steps, uncertain as to future labors, 
undecided as to business or professional preferences, and unwitting 
as to their own capabilities. Such, however, was not the experi- 
ence of Mr. Crocker, who notwithstanding the handicap of limited 
educational opportunities and lack of means to continue his studies 
made an early resolution to fit himself for the profession of the law. 
From the time the determination was made he devoted every en- 
ergy to the acquisition of a law education. No effort was neg- 
lected that would promote the task of preparation. As a conse- 
quence of his singleness of purpose he achieved the anticipated 
results, entered upon his chosen life work and now has a high 
standing at the bar of Northern California, achieving a purpose- 
ful career through his own force of will and his trained mental 
faculties. 

While not among the earliest settlers of California the Crocker 
family has been identified with the west for thirty-five years or more. 
William C. Crocker, a native of Redruth, county of Cornwall, Eng- 
land, and a miner by occupation, had been employed in various 
eastern mines ])rior to his removal to the coast and while follow- 
ing his chosen occupation at Galena, 111., his son, Charles H., was 
born in that city September 15, 1870. In 1876 William C. Crocker 
came to the Pacific coast with a view to permanent settlement. For 
a tune prior to the above date he sojourned at Virginia City, Nev., 



878 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and was connected with the introduction of the Burleigh drilling 
machine on the Comstock lode. While he was working in the quick- 
silver mines in Santa Clara county, CaL, he sent for his family 
(consisting of wife, daughter and son), and on the 1st of October, 
1877, they arrived in Sacramento, from which place they immedi- 
ately proceeded to Santa Clara county. During 1880 the family 
established a home on Sheep Ranch in Calaveras county, CaL, 
where they remained for four years, thence going to Jackson, 
Amador county, where the father engaged in mining pursuits until 
his death, February 11, 1904. His wife, in maidenhood Grace 
Roberts, also a native of Cornwall, and a school teacher by profes- 
sion, died in Sacramento September 10, 1912. Their family com- 
prised seven children, of whom Charles H. is the eldest. In 1877, 
at the age of seven years, he came to California with his mother 
and received his education in the schools of this state. 

When only seventeen years of age Charles H. Crocker became 
interested in the study of law and thereafter, although the neces- 
sity of earning a livelihood interrupted his studies, he did not lose 
sight of his ambitious purposes. For a time he taught school in 
Amador county. In 1892 he was appointed deputy county clerk of 
Amador county, which position he filled for sixteen months. Mean- 
while he carried on his studies during leisure hours. Originally a 
student with Eagan & Rust, the leading law firm of Amador county, 
he later studied under E. C. Farnsworth (then the district attorney 
of Amador county, now practicing in Visalia), and also had the 
advantage of study under J. J. Paulsell, of Stockton. In 1893 he 
was admitted to practice in the supreme court and in 1901 he was 
also admitted to the United States district court. Taking up a 
permanent residence in Sacramento during 1909, he has since won 
a high standing among the attorneys in the capital city. Prior 
to his removal to this place he had his office in Amador county, but 
his wide range of practice included several counties and meanwhile 
he also maintained an active part in politics as a leading local 
worker in the Republican party. May 2, 1903, he was united in 
marriaare with Miss Ellen Curnow, of San Jose. 



ANDREW ANDERSON 

The early recollections of Mr. Anderson are associated pleas- 
antly with the pros]oerous city of Ribe, Ijang on the banks of the 
stream of the same name not far from the point where the tumultu- 
ous waves of the North Sea dash against the isolated coast of Den- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 879 

mark. That same thrifty town of Ribe is his native place, and he 
was born March 7, 1859, son of Nelson and Annie M. Anderson, 
lifelong residents of the Danish kingdom. While the associations 
of his childhood were principally Scandinavian, there was some in- 
termingling with representatives of the Teutonic race, for quite 
near the Ribe was the province of Schleswig-Holstein, whose orig- 
inal Danish residents had been replaced to some extent by German 
farmers. There were excellent national schools at Ribe and in them 
he acquired a fair knowledge of the three R's, but at the age of 
fourteen he discontinued the study of text-books for the compli- 
cated processes incident to acquiring a knowledge of a trade. The 
calling to which he served an apprenticeship was that of cabinet- 
maker and in it he gained considerable skill under the capable over- 
sight of skilled masters of the craft. 

Crossing the ocean to the United States during 1881 at the age 
of twenty-two years Mr. Anderson settled temporarily in Boston, 
Mass., where he secured employment as a cabinet-maker. In 1883 
he came west as far as Milwaukee, Wis., and there spent six months 
as an employe in cabinet-making. From that city he proceeded 
to California and settled in Sacramento, where he entered the 
Southern Pacific Railroad shops as a cabinet-maker. Eleven busy 
years were spent in those shops and afterward he spent one year 
in the planing mill operated by Pierson, Amson & Burnett. Next 
he engaged as a cabinet-maker in the planting mill conducted by 
Christopher Sutter. At the expiration of two years he resigned 
that position and began to take building contracts, which business 
he conducted with fair success during the next ten years. Eventu- 
ally he discontinued the taking ' of contracts in order to engage 
again in the planing-mill business, and since then he has operated 
a mill that furnishes employment to twelve experienced men. Evi- 
dence of his right reputation as a cabinet-maker appears in the 
fact that leading citizens, in erecting fine residences, have looked 
to him for suggestions along that line and have bought material 
from his mill. In addition to providing material for many resi- 
dences, he furnished that used in the German Lutheran Church 
of this city. 

Upon becoming a citizen of the United States and having studied 
the Republican form of government as exercised in our country, 
Mr. Anderson affiliated himself with the Republican party, and 
ever since he has been stanch in his advocacy of its principles. 
Reared in the Lutheran faith and confirmed in that denomination 
during early years, he still retains an earnest and faithful devo- 
tion to its doctrines. Fraternally he holds membership with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also has been prominently 
connected with the organization Dania in Sacramento, being now 



880 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

a trustee of the lodge. At the time of his removal to California he 
was unmarried, his union to Fredericka Joraas having been solem- 
nized in tliis city April 13, 1886. They are the parents of four chil- 
dren. The eldest, Miss Alma, is a talented musician and teaches 
that art in Sacramento. The Misses Freda and Edith are at home, 
the former a graduate of Howe's Business College and the latter 
being now a high-school student. The only son, Alf. C, is attend- 
ing tlie iniblic schools of this city. 



HENRY C. KEYES 

Among the men who have accomplished much in the develop- 
ment of Sacramento and environs, is Mr. Keyes, organizer, secre- 
tary and manager of the Sacramento Natural Gas Company, who, in 
all his labors, has evidenced an executive ability and far-reaching 
business judgment unexcelled by his associates. 

Born in London, Ontario, Canada, May 12, 1852, Mr. Keyes re- 
ceived his education in the schools of his native section and at an 
early age displayed the perseverance and high ambition which have 
characterized his career. His father, Henry Keyes, a native of 
London and a well-known writer of ability, contributing articles 
chiefly on the Canadian Northw^est to different magazines, owned 
and operated a fine farm near London for many years and actively 
conducted his duties until he reached an advanced age, his stir- 
ring poem on the Northwest having been published after he en- 
tered his eighty-third year. His wife, formerly Martha Taylor, 
was a woman of exceptional culture and shared every joy and sor- 
row of her husband and children with the spirit of abnegation char- 
acteristic of the true wife and mother. 

In 1868 Henry Keyes left Canada for the States, joining a 
surveying party as rodman on the Alabama & Chattanooga, now 
the Alabama & Great Southern Railroad, with whom he worked 
for two years. Subsequently he secured a situation in the service 
of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, running out of 
Chicago, and he remained with them until 1876, when he came to 
Placer count}', C*al., and spent three years in following mining, at 
the end of that time locating in Stockton, where he started in the 
real estate business. So well did he succeed in this venture that 
for twenty years he conducted a real estate and insurance busi- 
ness there and also organized the Citizens Natural Gas Company 
of Stockton, the affairs of which he managed for fifteen years. In 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 881 

1896 lie started the organization of the Sacramento Natural Gas 
Co., and in 1899 he located his residence here. He developed natural 
gas in Sacramento City and nine wells have been put down by the 
company, which is incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000. 
It has fifty-five miles of gas mains and is conceded to be one of 
the most perfectly constructed and controlled systems of its char- 
acter in the state. 

Mr. Keyes is affiliated with Charity Lodge No. 6, I. 0. O. F., 
of Stockton. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. 
& A. M., of Stockton Chapter No. 8, R. A. M., and the Sacramento 
Commandery No. 2, K. T. He is also a member of all the Scottish 
Rite bodies of Sacramento up to the thirty-second degree, and is a 
member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. Socially 
he is a member of the Sutter Club, his comprehensive knowledge 
of all public matters of interest playing no inconsiderable part in 
liis popularity among his associates. 



MOSES NIXON KIMBALL 

It has been well said that the human soul that has never been 
gauged is like the shining piece of iron ere it is subjected to the 
tempering process essential to its conversion into invulnerable steel, 
and certain it is that he who has passed through the crucible of 
experience without the loss of his finer qualities or of his faith in 
humanity, is worthy of the highest esteem of his fellowmen. In 
the varied career of Mr. Kimball, president of the well known firm 
of Kiml)all-Upson Co., who are conducting one of the largest sport- 
ing goods stores in the West, all the trials and disillusionments in- 
evitable to a man of his courageous spirit and principles of right 
and honor have been present, yet it is the testimony of all who 
know him well that his attitude toward mankind is most generous 
and his oi)timism regarding life one of his leading characteristics. 

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 23, 1862, Mr. Kimball was 
the fourth eldest child of a family of fourteen born to Caleb and 
Frances (Nixon) Kimball, natives of Pennsylvania, and among the 
early settlers of Iowa. Mr. Kimball is a thorough American, de- 
sended from the first Puritan settlers of .Massachusetts. 

No question as to the validity of his claim to membership in the 
organization of the Sons of the Revolution could arise, since the 
direct ancestors of both his father and mother served in the war 



882 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

for Independence. On the paternal side, his great-grandfather, 
Jacob Kimball, while yet a mere boy, was among the first to en- 
list in a division formed in Salem, Mass., while among his moth- 
er's illustrious progenitors were both Col. Ethan Allen, distin- 
guished in history not only because of his wonderful service in the 
capture of Fort Ticonderoga, but in numerous other engagements, 
as well, and John Nixon, president of the first Continental Con- 
gress which convened in May, 1775, at Philadelphia. 

Mr. Kimball received his early education in the public schools 
of Iowa and served an apprenticeship under his father, who fol- 
lowed the vocation of contractor and builder. In 1883 he left his 
home in Council Bluffs to locate in Stockton, Cal., where he re- 
sumed his studies for four years in Clark's Commercial College 
and Normal Institute, graduating from both departments in 1887, 
after which he came to Sacramento, where he was offered a situa- 
tion in the Bainbridge Business College, serving efficiently two years 
prior to entering into a real estate partnership with Charles F. 
Gardner, who at that time was receiver of the United States Land 
Office at Sacramento. A year later, in 1891, Mr. Kimball engaged 
in business for himself at 705 J street, purchasing a bicycle stock, 
supplemented by a small line of sporting goods, and in 1893, having 
in the interim taken Mr. L. S. Upson into the company he trans- 
ferred the business to the building on the corner of Seventh and J 
streets, where, the new bank of D. O. Mills now stands. During 
the succeeding ten years, they continued their trade upon this site, 
and in 1903, upon the incorporation of the firm as Kimball-Upson 
Co., moved to 609-611 K street, where they are still located. 

Leaving the care of his interests in Sacramento in capable 
hands, Mr. Kimball spent most of the eleven years from 1897 to 
1908 in Alaska, where he was engaged in mining and speculating, 
during this time spending seven or eight winters in the frigid north 
meeting the adventures, hardships, fortunes and misfortunes in- 
cident to the nortliland. Since 1908 he has resided in Sacramento, 
having resumed his old work in his business house. On Decem- 
ber 16, 1903, he was united in marriage with Miss Clara Miller, a 
native of Georgetown, Cal., whose parents, John H. and Ellen 
(Spencer) Miller, natives of California, were among the earliest set- 
lers of this state. Mr. Kimball is a member of the Arctic Brother- 
hood, the Pioneers of Alaska, and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and he maintains a wide interest in both civic and national 
developments, his special attention centering in his home section 
which he is most generous in supporting. His wife is widely known 
for her tact and culture and lends her assistance in many impor- 
tant movements, sharing also her husband's varied interests. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 883 



HON. EUGENE ARAM 

This prominent lawyer of Sacramento, if not the oldest, is one 
of the oldest native sons of California, of American born parents, 
having been born at Monterey, now within the borders of the state, 
more than two years before California was admitted to the Union. 
The day of his birth, January 26, 1848, was two days after the dis- 
covery of gold in Eldorado county, and he was one month old 
when the treaty of peace was concluded with Mexico. He was of 
the third generation removed from Yorkshire, England, where his 
grandfather, Matthias Aram, was born, destined to become tJie 
founder of the family in America, for he came to New York and 
during the war of 1812 was drillmaster of United States troops. 
Capt. Joseph Aram, father of Eugene, was born in the state of New 
York and came with a party of emigrants across the plains in 1846, 
while the Mexican war was in progress. In the mountain foothills 
they were met by soldiers sent by Fremont to protect them from the 
rapacity of roving bands of Spaniards. Camping at Sutter's Fort, 
they were escorted by soldiers to Santa Clara, where Fremont com- 
missioned Joseph Aram a captain and gave him charge of the fort 
at Santa Clara Mission, where he remained until the end of the 
war, participating in the battle of Santa Clara and later building a 
fort at Monterey. Eventually he was elected a member of the first 
constitutional convention of California of 1849, and of the first state 
legislature. He was a pioneer nurseryman at San Jose and raised 
fruit there until his death, which occurred in June, 1898, when he was 
eighty-eight years old. His wife, Sarah M. (Wright) Aram, died 
in 1872. She was a pioneer in California and a descendant of early 
English settlers in this country. Her primitive American ancestor 
was one of three English brothers, one of whom was the ancestor 
of Governor Silas Wright of New York. She was born in Ver- 
mont, married in New York, and accompanied her husband in the 
historic overland journey which brought him to honor on the Pa- 
cific coast. She was the discoverer of gold on the south fork of 
the Yuba, October, 1846, but word came from Sutter's Fort to hurry 
through on account of the war, and they all rushed on to Fort Sut- 
ter. It was two years before Marshall made his discovery and 
great strike in 1848, and this same place on the south Yuba proved 
afterward to be very rich. Of their family of five children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Aram two are living, Mrs! Sarah M. Cool of Los 
Angeles, and Eugene Aram. 

It was in the public schools of San Jose that Mr. Aram ob- 
tained his primary education. He was graduated from the Univer- 
sity of the Pacific in 1870, with the A. B. degree, and soon after- 



884 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ward took up the study of law with Judge D. S. Payne, then county 
judge of Santa Clara county, and was admitted to the bar in 1873. 
For some years he practiced his profession at San Jose, but in 
the early '80s went to Arizona and in 1885 was elected a member of 
the territorial legislature. Returning to California he resumed his 
practice in the state at Woodland, Yolo county, and in 1894 was 
elected senator to represent the Sixth Senatorial District, compris- 
ing Yuba, Sutter and Yolo counties, and served during the sessions 
1895-97. A little later he located in Sacramento, where he has since 
practiced his profession. He was a partner of the late Gen. A. L. 
Hart until the latter 's death. He gives his attention to general 
practice and has numbered among his clients some of the most prom- 
inent men and concerns in the state. Politically he is a strong Re- 
publican and has been a delegate to various state and county con- 
ventions, and in Yolo county he was a member of the County Cen- 
tral Committee. During his senatorial term he had charge of the 
appropriation of $300,000 for the improvement of the Sacramento 
river, the first appropriation for that purpose. 

In 1875 Mr, Aram married Miss Lizzie Jasper, of Yuba county, 
and she died in 1892. Fraternally he affiliates with the Elks. Some- 
thing more should be said in this connection of Captain Joseph 
Aram, Senator Aram's father. He and members of his overland 
party of 1846 had "known members of the Donner party before the 
latter had left for the West. The leaders of both parties had agreed 
to meet on Green river and make the rest of the journey in com- 
pany. The Donner party made slow progress and, a meeting not 
being effected, came on by way of the Hastings cut-off. By advice 
of Kit Carson the Aram party came on l)y way of Fort Hall, and 
when it reached the Truckee river was told by Indians that the Don- 
ner party was a long" way back and it would be useless to wait for 
them. Aram and his party crossed the mountains and arrived at 
Sutter F'ort early in October, 1846. The Donner party arrived at 
Donner Lake and was snowed in and lost. 



WALTER THEODORE FOSTER 

The intimate ties of ancestral and personal identification with 
England were severed when the Foster family became established in 
the United States during the early half of the nineteenth century. 
With the head of the household came his family, which included a 
son, John, then eight years of age. Reared amid frontier conditions 
in Missouri, he became associated with genei-al farm ]Hirsuits in 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 885 

Pike county, that state, where his parents remained until their 
deaths; but he, with the adventurous spirit of the pioneer, sought 
newer lands in tlie far west. Establishing- himself near Capay, Yolo 
county, he bought a small tract of land and later added to his pos- 
sessions from time to time until he had the title to about two thou- 
sand acres of raw land. A portion of this has been sold, but he still 
owns fourteen hundred acres, rei)resenting the energetic efforts of 
his lifetime. Retired from active labors, he and his wife reside in 
Berkeley, where they are surrounded by the comforts rendered pos- 
sible by their own laborious and long-continued efforts. 

Among the seven children comprising the family of John Fos- 
ter there was a son, Walter Theodore, whose birth occurred at 
Woodland, Yolo county, Cal., in September, 1872, and whose edu- 
cation was secured in the i)ublic schools of that county, the Pierce 
Christian College at College City, Colusa county, and a business 
college from which he was graduated in 1892. His marriage, Sep- 
tember 8, 1893, united him with Miss Maggie Kirtland, and they 
settled on a farm in Yolo county. For a time he leased fifteen hun- 
dred acres owned by the Bank of Woodland and while acting as 
foreman for that institution he also became the personal owner of 
three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Yolo county. 
For a time he operated lioth his own property and that of the bank, 
but at the expiration of twelve years he began devoting himself 
exclusively to his own tract. Two years later he came to Sacra- 
mento and settled in Oak Park in Octol^er, 1906, since which time 
it has been taken into the incorporation of Sacramento, but at that 
time was outside of the corporate limits. 

Coming to Oak Park in 1906, Mr. Foster was a member of 
the real-estate firm of Becker & Foster until 1908 and since 
the latter year he has conducted real estate activities alone, hav- 
ing his office on the corner of Thirty-fifth and Cypress streets. When 
he first became a resident of the suburb he bought for $800 a tract 
40x75 feet in dimensions and on this site he erected a two-story 
modern office and store building, for which after its completion he 
was offered $25,000. Opposite the block he owns another corner, 
which likewise has become very valuable. Recently he paid $12,000 
for a location near his office Iniilding, and here he is now erecting a 
modern fireproof moving-picture theatre, containing all the latest 
ideas in such buildings and leased for three years to C. E. Hoff- 
man, of Reno. 

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Foster consists of four children, 
namely: Lester, Grace, Meryl and Ruth. The son is not only a 
student in school, but also successfully superintends the insurance 
business in charge of his father. In politics Mr. Foster has been 
a lifelong adherent of the Democratic party and a stanch supporter 
of its principles. Although enjoying the opportunity of holding of- 



886 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

fice lie has never aspired to such jjositions, his tastes inclining him 
rather toward business pursuits. In fraternal relations he is con- 
nected with the Eagles and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
From early life he has been a believer in the doctrines of the Chris- 
tian Church and has identified himself with its missionary and char- 
itable movements. No one has more faith than he in the future of 
the Sacramento valley and the expansion of a Greater Sacramento, 
enjoying all the advantages and conferring all the opportunities 
within the power of a capital city that is progressive, prosperous 
and far-reaching in its activities. 



WILLIAM R. GORE 

On a slight elevation overlooking the beautiful valley to the 
south a visitor to the Fair Oaks district notes with admiration the 
attractive residence owned and occupied by Mr. Gore, who in se- 
lecting the location bore in mind the need of a soil adapted to his 
specialties in fruit, but at the same time did not fail to note the 
advantages of the eminence as the site of a modern country home. 
Adjacent to the residence are the three fruit ranches wliich have 
come under his ownership and to which he devotes considerable at- 
tention, personally directing their management and overseeing the 
harvesting of the fruit. In the main, however, he has given his 
time to business ])ursuits. For a time after his arrival in Fair Oaks 
he conducted a general mercantile establishment and in this he still 
owns an interest, although no longer its proprietor. Recently he 
has been interested in the management of the lumber business which 
he has bought and now manages with the same keen comprehensive 
energy characteristic of him in every commercial association. 

The birth of this influential citizen occurred in Clark county, 
Ohio, November 18, 1858. At an early age he was taken to Illinois 
by his parents, who settled on a farm in Sangamon county near the 
city of Springfield. There he passed the years of youth and received 
a common-school education, supplemented by attendance at the Spring- 
field high school. Immediately after com])leting his studies he began 
to learn the profession of a pharmacist, in which lie soon acquired 
proficiency. For some twenty years he carried on a drug store at 
Mechanicsburg, 111., near Springfield, and meanwhile he devoted 
his leisure hours to the supervision of a valuable farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres which he had bought with the profits of the 
business. At Mechanicslnirg he was also a local leader of the Demo- 
cratic party and a well-known politician, serving as a delegate to 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 887 

numerous conventious and influencing the decisions of many as- 
semblies of local party men. The only office which he consented to 
hold was that of assessor, but he aided his friends in their candi- 
dacies and kept himself thoroughly posted in regard to all impor- 
tant political measures. 

Having made visits to California in 1896 and '98 and having 
purchased property in Fair Oaks in 1896, Mr. Gore located perma- 
ently in California in the year 1900. Settling at Fair Oaks, he iden- 
tified himself with the district by the purchase of a tract which he 
has since developed and still owns. His activities have been varied, 
for he has been a fruit rancher, merchant and owner of a lumber 
yard. In addition he promoted the organization of the Fair Oaks 
Bank, bought stock in the concern and now serves as one of the di- 
rectors. A further proof of his devotion to the community is given 
in his zealous promotion of the Fair Oaks Fruit Company, in which 
he was one of the first to buy stock and to which he has tendered 
time as well as means with a firm faith in its importance to the com- 
munity. Indeed, every enterprise of value to the town has felt the 
impetus of his energy and sagacity and he even has found leisure 
to promote numerous commercial ventures outside of Fair Oaks, for 
while this place naturally receives the principal share of his time, 
thought and investments, he posseses the broad patriotic spirit that 
foresees the general prosperity of the commonwealth and desires to 
aid in its permanent up-building. Sharing with him in the good-will 
of the community are his wife, a woman of culture, and his daugh- 
ter. Miss Hortense S., who is a graduate of Mills College. The only 
other child in the family, Flutie, died during infancy. Prior to their 
marriage, which was solemnized at Springfield, 111., December 6, 
1882, Mrs. Gore bore the name of Miss Lizzie McDaniel. The fam- 
ily of which she was a member bore a part in the early upbuilding 
of Sangamon county, where she was born and where during girl- 
hood she received the educational training, afterwards graduating 
from St. Mary's College at Knoxville, which forms the foundation 
of her broad fund of general information and her wide scope of men- 
tal attainments. 



WILLIAM GEARY 

Perhaps no occupation presents more difficulties to the amateur 
or imposes greater responsibilities upon the expert than that of phar- 
macy. The fact that, during a very long and close identification 
with the drug business, Mr. Geary has met with exceptional sue 
cess in the work proves his natural qualifications of accuracv, in- 



888 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

telligence and trustworthiness. When he left school, scarcely more 
than a boy, it was for the purpose of studying the drug business, and 
as the years passed he displa.yed an increasing knowledge of the 
occupation. From that he rose by thrift and energy into a finan- 
cial association with an old-established drug establishment, and 
•eventually he acquired a large interest in a western house. When 
it is remembered that he began without means or influence and rose 
from a humble station into prominence and business success, it will 
be realized that lie ])ossesses abilities of a high order, and such 
indeed is his reputation throughout the country tributary to the city 
of Sacramento. 

It was during 1881 that Mr. Geary first became a resident of 
Sacramento, where later he achieved business success of a high order. 
For a long period prior to his removal to the west he had been 
identified with Canada and the eastern states, but his residence in 
our own state has covered so many years that he is now a typical 
Californian, loyal to the progress of the commonwealth, interested 
in any movement for the general welfare and a contributor to proj- 
ects of permanent value to the people. Of Canadian birth, he was 
born in London, C^anada, in March of 1837, and received his educa- 
tion in the schools of that city, but at the age of fifteen left school 
in order to learn the drug business. When nineteen years old he 
went to Philadelphia, Pa., and secured employment with a large 
drug firm. As a traveling salesman for that house he visited the 
prinei])al cities of the east and gained a comprehensive knowledge 
of all that section of country. The west, however, proved so much 
more alluring to him than the older-settled east that in 1862 he be- 
came a resident of San Francisco, where he made his home for al- 
most twenty years, meanwhile being connected with a wholesale 
drug firm. Upon coming to Sacramento and assuming the manage- 
ment of the wholesale drug house of H. C. Kirk & Co., he became 
a partner in the business, the title of which was thereupon changed 
to Kirk, Geary S: Company. Since then he has built up one of the 
most important drug bouses of its kind in the state, and he has es- 
tablished a wholesale trade whose customers com]irise retail deal- 
ers throughout (California, Nevada and Southern Oregon. 



EDWARD H. GERBER 

The intimate identification of an honored pioneer family with 
the interests of Northern California finds expression in the mani- 
fold activities engaging the attention of Edward H. Gerber, a life- 
long resident of the state and a native son of Sacramento. Belong- 



HISTOBY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ing to the vonnger generation whose task it is to develop the weighty 
interests secured by their fathers, he has been wholly exempt from 
the privations of the pioneer era and from the vicissitudes incident 
to a frontier environment. His has been an enjoyment of twentieth- 
century advantages, an appreciation of present-day opportunities 
and a familiarity with the culture and refinement typical of every 
portion of the state in the present period of development; at the 
same time, with these advantages, he has faced great responsibili- 
ties, all of which he has met and discharged with tact, energy and 
forcefulness of purpose. 

A son of W. E. and Hattie (Lyon) Gerber, the former from 
Buffalo, N. Y., and the latter from Boston, Mass., Edward H. Ger- 
ber was born March 25, 1883, and received his early education in 
Sacramento, after which he attended St. Matthews College at San 
Mateo until the completion of the regular curriculum of "that insti- 
tution. With his entrance into the business world there began an 
association of some duration with a firm of wholesale hop dealers 
m San Francisco. In the interests of their business he traveled in 
Europe for two years and on his return to the United States re- 
mained in New York City for some time as superintendent of their 
branch office there. Returning to California he became interested 
m general ranching and had the supervision of extensive tracts of 
land and herds of stock. An organization of which he acts as presi- 
dent and which has its offices at the California National Bank, Sac- 
ramento, is incorporated under the title of the Tehama Investment 
Company. This company has laid out and built up the town of Ger- 
ber, Tehama county, a point planned by the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road Company as a division center with passenger and freight 
connections from Red Bluff. Mr. Gerber is a director in the California 
National Bank and is vice-president of the Farmers' and Mechan- 
ics' Savings Bank. In addition he is the owner of the Buckley- 
Gerber Abstract and Title Company, one of the oldest concerns of 
the kind in the entire state. Varied as are his business interests 
and comprehensive as are his activities, he nevertheless finds leisure 
for participation in social functions and with his wife enjoys a 
popularity as broad as the cii'cle of his acquaintances. The' Bo- 
hemian Club of San Francisco and the Sutter Club have his name 
enrolled among their members. The Masonic order also has the 
benefit of his identification with its measures, particularlv those 
relating to the work of Washington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., in 
which he has been a member for some years, fli's marriage, Sep- 
tember 8, 1908, united him with Miss Gertrude Whitaker, of' Gait, 
daughter of the late Andrew Whitaker, a citizen whose wealth and 
fine personal qualities brought him into prominence throuo-hout his 
section of the state. 



890 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



FERDINAND KOHLER 

An almost imiversal progressive tendenc}' in business circles 
and an expansion of commercial affairs commensurate with local 
development have been noticeable in the history of Sacramento dur- 
ing the opening years of the twentieth century. One of the very 
few exceptions to the otherwise universal rule of expansion has been 
the history of the milling industry, which has been injuriously af- 
fected by the lessened wheat acreage in Northern California. The 
land having proved adapted to crops exceedingly remunerative in 
value has been taken from its original cultivation in grain and has 
been devoted to more profitable uses. As a result many mills have 
discontinued business and of those still in operation the Phoenix 
is one of the few that shows a constantly increasing patronage. The 
cause of this prosperity is not difficult to ascertain. It is a result of 
superior business management and the securing of a product of un- 
surpassed quality. 

The secretary and treasurer of the Phoenix flouring mill is a 
native of Germany, but has made America his home since 1872 and 
at the expiration of two years in Montana he came to Sacramento 
in 1874, since which time he has risen to prominence among the 
business men of the city. The firm of George Schroth & Co. pur- 
chased the mill in 1881 and incorporated the business under the name 
of the Phoenix Milling Co. in 1892. The original president was 
George Schroth, who died in 1902. Ferdinand Kohler, who was 
the first secretary and treasurer, has continued in the office up to 
the present time and has given his time closely to the upbuilding of 
the business. The first directors were J. G. and W. C. Schroth and 
J. H. Arnold, in addition to the president and secretary. The com- 
pany met with a severe loss in 1885, when the plant burned to the 
ground, but in rebuilding a more substantial structure was erected 
and more modern equipment provided, so that every facility has 
been secured for the attainment of satisfactory results. 

The fact that the company has agents and warehouses at Placer- 
ville, Chico and Oakland proves the importance of its business and 
the expansion of its interests. The output averages three hundred 
and fifty barrels per day, twenty-five tons of rolled barley and twenty 
tons of other mill feed. The reputation of the mill has been greatly 
enhanced by the manufacture of their famous specialty. White Rose 
wheat flakes, a favorite cereal among the people of Northern Cali- 
fornia and a product whose superior quality has resulted in an 
enormous sale in every locality where introduced. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 891 



WILLIAM F. GORMLEY 

The county of Fermanagh, around whose history there cluster 
legends of romance and tales of tragedy, formed the environment 
familiar to the childhood days of William F. Gormley, who was born 
in the village of Irvinestown, March 5, 1862, and belonged to an 
old famih^ in the north of Ireland. Memories of those early years, 
as they mingle with the interesting activities of maturity, form a 
pleasant background to life's bright picture of earnest purpose and 
manly action. The first eventful change in the family affairs came 
in 1871 with the departure of the father, Thomas Gormley, from the 
old Irish home. For years he had worked in Fermanagh as a mill- 
wright and pattern-maker and his removal to California was the 
result of a contract to look after the mining interests left by Will- 
iam Hughes, one of the pioneers of Eldorado county at a camp 
known as Georgia Slide and who had some years previous been 
struck by a large rock in the mine and received fatal injuries. The 
following year the mother with their two sons and one daughter 
followed him to America and joined him in Eldorado county. 

It was in 1874 that the family came to Sacramento, where the 
father entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad shops 
as a machinist and later was pattern-maker. He is now making his 
home in Sacramento, his wife, Mary Ann Gormley, having passed 
away November 2, 1903. William F. Gormley was but twelve years 
old when his parents brought him to Sacramento, and he entered the 
city schools to complete his studies. During 1877 he became an ap- 
prentice in a bookbinding estalilishment and at the expiration of his 
time he continued at his trade in the state printing office, where he 
remained for a ]ieriod of nine years altogether. When the state 
established a bindery in 1886 he secured a position there in a very 
humble capacity and at low wages. Although at that time he voted 
the Democratic ticket while the head of the department, A. J. John- 
ston, was an ardent Re]mblican, owing to his efficiency in the busi- 
ness he rose to be assistant foreman and the difference of his politi- 
cal views with those of his superiors was not allowed to jeopardize 
his position. Eventually, when he was assistant, he tendered his 
resignation in order to enter other lines of business. 

The undertaking business which he still conducts was estab- 
lished by Mr. Gormley October 1, 1897, and later he erected the sub- 
stantial structure at No. 914 Eighth street, where he established a 
public morgue, the first in the county. Elected coroner in 1902, 
he was re-elected to the office at the expiration of his term four 
years later and during 1910 he was chosen for the third term, which 
he now fills. During February of 1911 he purchased the former 

50 



892 HISTOEY OF SACBAMENTO COUNTY 

home of Grove L. Johnson, father of the present governor of Cali- 
fornia, which is located at No. 720 H street. Through various im- 
provements and enlargements he has built up one of the finest es- 
tablishments of its kind in the northern part of the state and to 
add to the convenience of his equipment he recently purchased an 
automobile ambulance. During the period of his association with 
the bookbinding business he attended the convention of the Inter- 
national Brotherhood of Bookbinders at Buffalo, N. Y., in May of 
1895 and in that session he received the honor of election as vice- 
president. For one term he held office as president of the Feder- 
ated Trades Council. 

With the honored Bishop, Thomas Grace, acting as officiating 
clergyman, the marriage of William F. Gormley and Mamie E. 
Fogarty was solemnized January 8, 1896. They are the parents of 
three children, namely: William Manogue, born February 1, 1897; 
Thomas Grace, March 27, 1898; and Mary Frances, August 20, 1901. 
Mrs. Gormley is a member of a pioneer family and is a niece of Rt. 
Rev. Patrick Manogue, remembered with affection as the first bishop 
of the Sacramento diocese, embracing all of Northern California and 
Western Nevada. With his family Mr, Gormley holds membership 
in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at Sacramento. That 
prominent and successful Roman Catholic fraternity, the Knights of 
Columbus, has in him a loyal and generous member. Recognition of 
his ability has come in his selection to serve as grand knight of the 
local council. He is a member of the local branch of Catholic Knights 
of America, of which he has served as both secretary and president. 
In 1895 he was honored by being chosen by the state convention as 
representative from California to the National Convention of the 
Catholic Knights of America at Omaha, Neb., and his influence was 
apparent in many of the measures adopted by the assembly. 



BERNHARDT P. KOCH 

With the inheritance of a name indicative of his Teutonic an- 
cestry Mr. Koch also inherited the national characteristics of thrift, 
industry and unwearied perseverance; and although he came to 
the new world in young manhood and identified himself thoroughly 
with the interests of his ado]^ted country, he never lost the attri- 
butes of character which are found in the German race the world 
over. In the German town, where his birth had occurred in 1857, it 
was his good fortune to attend the national schools, which prepared 
him for the responsibilities of life and enabled him to conduct his 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 893 

own business affairs with accuracy and promptness. After lie had 
left school he learned the trade of tailor, and this he followed for 
some years in his home land. Meanwhile he had heard much con- 
cerning the opportunities offered by the new world and finally he 
decided to cast in his fortunes with those of the people beyond the 
sea; accordingly he bade farewell to old friends and relatives, took 
passage on a ship bound for New York and landed in due time in 
the metropolis of the new world, where he found employment with- 
out delay. After a time he removed to Pennsylvania and there in 
August of 1887 he was united in marriage with Miss Engla Yahm, 
who like himself claimed Germany as her native land. Their union 
was one whose mutual happiness and helpfulness was broken only 
by his death in May, 1896, ere yet old age had claimed him for its 
own and while the future had seemed to offer many more years of 
usefulness in his chosen work. 

Subsequent to the demise of Mr. Koch his widow and children 
came to California and settled in Sacramento, where now they re- 
side at No. 3211 W street. There were four children in the family 
and all of them were born in Pennsylvania, where the eldest of the 
four died at an early age. The three now living are with their 
mother in Sacramento, where the older son, Harry B., is employed 
by the California Wine Company, and the only daughter, Elsie, acts 
as stenographer and typist for one of the leading business firms. 
The youngest child, Karl W., is a student in the Sacramento high 
school. 



HARRY WORTHINGTON LEONARD 

Just south of the city of Sacramento lies the old Leonard home- 
stead, which originally embracing one hundred and thirty acres has 
been reduced by various sales of small tracts, so that the place still 
owned by the family now contains only eighteen acres. Years ago 
the ranch was the home of a large family, for x\lbert and Caroline 
(Merrill) Leonard were the parents of eleven children and all but 
one of these attained maturity and still survive. A native of Massa- 
chusetts the father came to Cahfornia on a sailing vessel around 
Cape Horn in 1849, and almost immediately upon arriving in this 
state located in Sacramento, where he was associated in different 
business enterprises, becoming well and favorably known, and here 
he remained imtil his death, which occurred in 1891, when he was 
sixt3^-five years old. He was one of the first real estate dealers in 
Sacramento, and for thirty years was interested in that enterprise. 
The mother was born in Illinois, and crossed the plains in 1849. Her 



894 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

death occurred January 8, 1912. Harry Wortliington, the youngest 
child born to them, first saw the light of day in Sacramento July 
7, 1877. His education was obtained in the public schools, after 
which he entered the Southern Pacific Railroad shop as an appren- 
tice coppersmith. ('Ompleting this he spent about eleven years in 
the shops and in 1907 accepted the ap])ointnient of superintendent 
and secretary of the I. 0. 0. F. Lawn Cemetery, which position he 
has filled ever since. The cemetery was established and platted 
in 1906, since which time there has been a constant effort to de- 
velop the natural beauties. An attractive entrance has been planned 
and trees have been planted which, with the aid of well-kept lawns 
and flowers, will supplement the natural charm of the spot, making 
of the cemetery one of the most beautiful in the state. 

Mr. Leonard was united in marriage, March 9, 1904, with Miss 
Ella. Jones, member of a well-known family of the capital city. The 
local prominence of Mr. Leonard as a worker in the Republican 
party led to his selection for the office of public administrator, to 
which he was elected in November of 1910 and which he still fills 
with discrimination and painstaking attention to details. From 
young manhood he has been actively connected with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and for seven years he served as secretary of 
Eldorado Lodge No. 8, Sacramento, besides which for one term he 
officiated as district deputy. He is clerk of the Canton, Uniform 
Rank, I. 0. 0. F. 



ARTHUR H. LINDSAY 

The secretary and manager of the Pacific Grocery and Produce 
Company belongs to that noteworthy circle of Californians who 
achieve a fair degree of success along any line of endeavor. By birth 
he is eligil)le to membership with the Native Sons of the Golden 
West, for he claims Siskiyou county as his earliest home and the 
center of his youthful activities. Born May 11, 1873, he was a mem- 
ber of a pioneer family and himself grew to manhood in the midst 
of a frontier environment, for Siskiyou responded to the uplifting 
influences of increasing population with less rapidity than other 
portions of the state. Naturally, therefore, the occupations of the 
frontier were the first to interest him and we find him buying and 
selling cattle, raising stock on the broad ranges of the north country 
and following the uncertain life of a miner. From the cattle indus- 
try he gradually drifted into the butcher business and at an early 
age he was familiar with every detail incident to that occupation. 

For a considerable period the headquarters of Mr. Lindsay were 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 895 

at Fort Jones, which stands at the confluence of two small streams 
that merge eventually into the Klamath river. A sense of isolation 
is inspired by the long distance from the railroad and by the over- 
hanging peaks of the Salmon mountains. Realizing that a more 
central location would afford him better commercial advantages, Mr. 
•Lindsay closed out his interests in Siskiyou county and remoA^ed far- 
ther south, arriving at Sacramento July 30, 1907. Here he purchased 
an interest in and assisted in the incorporation of an old-established 
business, formerly known as D. Deirson & Co., and made popular 
through a long experience covering twenty-five busy years. The 
business was incorporated with C. F." Dosch as president and A. 
H. Lindsay as secretary and manager and the latter has since been 
the managing head of the important and growing business. Recently 
large quarters were secured in the new general market on J street, 
where the firm occupies the entire west side of the market as well 
as commodious floor space in the center. For thirty years J. P. 
Murphy, better known as "Panama" Murphy, of baseball fame, 
has been with this firm and its predecessors and meanwhile he has 
gained tlie reputation of being the best game and produce man in the 
entire state. 

Upon coming to Sacramento and entering into business for 
himself Mr. Lindsay was unmarried, but on Christmas day of the 
following year he established domestic ties, being then united with 
Miss Ethel Tilton, a cultured young lady of Sacramento, born and 
reared here, also educated in the local schools. The Tilton family 
holds a place among the influential pioneers of Sacramento and her 
father for twenty-five years has been connected actively with Baker 
& Hamilton, wholesale dealers in hardware and agriculture imple- 
ments. While Mr. Lindsay possesses to an unusual degree the 
qualities that win and retain friends in social circles, he has been 
devoted so closely to business affairs that social functions and 
political conventions have lacked his genial presence and helpful 
encouragement. Nor has he identified himself with any of the 
fraternities with the exception of the Benevolent Protective Order of 
Elks, whose camp at Sacramento has the benefit of his generous con- 
tributions and cordial co-operation in all progressive work. 



PETER F. DONNELLY 

The discovery of gold was the immediate cause of the removal 
of the Donnelly family to the west and since then their identification 
with the material upbuilding of Sacramento county has been perma- 



896 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

nent and important. Three successive generations have resided at 
Folsom, the original Argonaut, Henry F., representing the first 
generation, while his children and grandchildren continue the family 
identification with this section of Sacramento county. All have 
been characterized by a patriotic devotion to the local welfare, a 
pride of citizenship in this great commonwealth, a personal associa-. 
tion with important commercial affairs and a decided individual 
interest in mining activities. A genuine degree of success has re- 
warded their painstaking efforts and they have become well known 
in their chosen place of residence. 

Not only was Henry F. Donnelly a native of Paterson, N. J., 
but liis wife, who bore the maiden name of Katie McKernan, likewise 
claimed that city as the place of her birth. Upon coming to California 
immediately after hearing of the discovery of gold, this pioneer began 
to prospect and mine and he never lost his interest in such work, 
although later he gave his attention almost wholly to ranching in 
Sacramento county and at one time owned the Natoma grant. Over 
the broad range his large herd of cattle roamed throughout much of 
the year, and when the round-ups came and those ready for market 
were sold he usually received a neat sum to repay him for the care of 
the stock. He died in 1877 while yet in middle life. His widow was 
later married to Mr. Foster, and she now resides in Sacramento. 

Peter F. Donnelly, son of Henry F., was born at Folsom, Sacra- 
mento county, October 22, 1875, and at the age of six entered the 
Folsom primary department of the public school. Later he studied 
in the grammar school, but at the age of thirteen he discontinued his 
studies and took up the task of self-support. 

Ever since his father's death Mr. Donnelly carried on a livery 
and teaming business in connection with his brother, and besides 
owning this stable he was also proprietor of the Folsom hotel. These 
he conducted until 1912, since which time he has leased them. He 
owns other valuable property interests, and in addition to devoting 
considerable time to the care of these various holdings he is also 
serving as constable of Folsom. Prior to 1905, and since then, he has 
served as deputy, in all six years, during which time he made some 
important arrests, among them being the Natoma high-graders. At 
this writing he is engaged in mining, owning and working some gravel 
mines that hold out especially fascinating inducements. Throughout 
all of his life he has been identified with the Roman Catholic Church 
and his contributions to its maintenance and charities have been 
large. The Republican party has received his ballot ever since he 
attained his majority. His marriage took place April 8, 1901, and 
united him with Miss Mollie Scott, who was born in Iowa, but has 
spent her life principally in the west. Of this union there are three 
sons, Henry, James and Peter, to whom the father hopes to give 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 897 

every educational advantage possible and every opportunity to pre- 
pare with thoroughness for life's responsibilities. In fraternal rela- 
tions he is connected with the Eagles, the U. P. E. C. and the Native 
Sons of the Golden West. 



JACOB J. FISCHER 

As one of the members of the Sacramento broom factory Mr. 
Fischer retains an intimate identification with one of the well-known 
industries in Sacramento. Long experience in the work admirably 
qualifies him for the accurate discharge of all duties connected with 
his responsible position. Although not an elderly man, but still in 
the prime of mature activities, he has given more than one-quarter 
of a century to work at the one trade and meanwhile he has acquired 
a thorough -knowledge of the industry. Up-to-date machinery has 
been introduced, and the output has been increased. While a portion 
of the raw material comes from Illinois, much is bought in California 
and largely grown in Sacramento county on the river of the same 
name, in the district lying north of Knight's Landing. The special 
product is the house broom of ordinary size but superior quality and 
in addition there is manufactured every other kind of broom for 
which any demand exists. 

Himself a native of Marietta, Ohio, born December 5, 1865, Jacob 
J. Fischer comes of Teutonic parentage. When they were young his 
parents, William and Catherine Fischer, came across the ocean from 
Germany and settled at Marietta, Ohio, where the former followed 
the trade of boot and shoemaking. While yet in the old country he 
had served an apprenticeship to the trade and his unusual expertness 
was recognized l)y a large circle of customers. Throughout practically 
all of his active life he followed the same occupation, quietly and 
successfully continuing his work until his death at the old Ohio home 
about 1894. His widow still continues to reside in Ohio. Of their 
five sons William is a lawyer in Rainier, Ore.; Frederick is engaged 
in the ministry and has a charge at Zanesville, Ohio ; Edward is a 
business man of Rockford, 111.; whil-e Herman carries on a grocery 
business in Indianapolis, Ind. The fifth, Jacoli J., likewise has been 
successful in his life efforts and by his high standing and enviable 
reputation adds in-estige to an honored family name. 

The financial condition of the parents did not permit idleness on 
the part of the sons and we find that Jacob J. Fischer was a mere 
lad when he began to earn a livelihood through enqiloyment on farms 
and through work at the broom-maker's trade. The latter he acquired 
familiarity with when very young and always liked the work, so that 



898 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

he naturally drifted into it as a permanent occupation. Seeking em- 
ployment in various jjarts of the country he continued as a journey- 
man for some time. During early manhood he became interested in 
the west and decided to come hither, but he made the journey a 
means of self-support and of education. Work at the trade enabled 
him to earn his own way through the country, and he was thus able 
to gain an excellent knowledge of various sections of the United 
States. Dui'ing June of 1899 lie arrived in Sacramento and here 
he promptly found a position with the Columbia Company, in whose 
employ he remained, meanwhile by various promotions reaching the 
position of manager. Continuing until October, 1912, he resigned and 
with three partners started the Sacramento Broom Factory at No. 
1715 Fifteenth street. Of his two children the older daughter, Delia, 
married Roy Walthers and resides in San Francisco ; the younger 
daughter, May, is at home. Fraternally Mr. Fischer is associated 
with the Druids, Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men 
and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In national elections he votes 
with the Republican party, but in local cam]^aigns he gives his 
influence to those whom he regards as best qualified to represent the 
people, irrespective of their political ties. 



ALFRED GILBERT FOLGER 

Shortly before his death during the latter part of the eighteenth 
century the illustrious philosopher and statesman. Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin, presented to his namesake and relative, Benjamin Franklin 
Folger, of Nantucket, a medallion head as a token of affection and 
remembrance. This souvenir, which presents an excellent likeness 
of the noted doctor, is now in the possession of Alfred Gilbert Folger, 
a grandson of the original owner and himself a claimant to kinship 
with the statesman through the latter 's mother, who was a member 
of the Folger family of Massachusetts. In addition to his relationship 
to one of America's most noted men, he also is a descendant of a 
Forty-niner, his grandfather, Hosmer P. Osborn, Im^'ing come to the 
west immediately after hearing of the discovery of gold, and many 
years afterward this honored old settler served as president of the 
Pioneer Society of Sacramento. 

Born in the city of Sacramento April 4, 1854, Alfred Gilbert 
Folger is a son of Benjamin F. and Juliana (Osborn) Folger. A fair 
education received in the local schools afforded him preparation for 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 899 

the activities of business. Upon starting out for himself he em- 
barked in the stock industry and for two years owned and man- 
aged a large flock of sheep in the northern part of the state. After 
he had disposed of the sheep he turned his attention to general 
farming and for six years he tilled the soil in Placer county. A 
later experience of one year in the mercantile business was fol- 
lowed by his association in 1890 with the People's Saving Bank of 
Sacramento. At fir.st he held a position as teller and bookkeeper, but 
in a short time he was made assistant cashier. Upon the resignation 
of the cashier, George W. Lorenz, in 1906 Mr. Folger was selected 
to fill the vacancy. Largely as the result of his far-seeing business 
judgment, the bank decided to purchase the site on the corner of 
Eighth and J streets. On this unexcelled location the finest bank 
building in Sacramento was erected at a cost of $275,000. The struc- 
ture contains seven floors, the first of which is fitted with the elegant 
appointments of a modern bank and is utilized entirely by the bank- 
ing institution for its own large business, while the upper stories 
are rented as offices. 

The marriage of Mr. Folger took place in Sacramento, December 
12, 1877, and united him with Miss Ella A. Gallup, a lifelong resident 
of Sacramento and a descendant of Eevolutionary ancestors. Her 
parents, Josiah and Julia A. Gallup, were pioneers of the west. Mr. 
Gallup, who could speak the Chinese language with fluency and was 
a man of wide intelligence, held a high position among the early 
settlers of the state. Until his death, which occurred in 1859, he 
engaged extensively in raising and buying mules to be utilized for 
transportation ]nirposes, a business of great importance owing to the 
fact that no railroad had as yet been built into the valley. The only 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Folger is Miss Julia Ardel Folger, l)orn 
October 31, 1890, and educated in Mills College near Oakland. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Folger are prominent in the most exclusive circles of 
Sacramento society, Mrs. Folger being one of the leading members 
of the Tuesday Club, while he is past president of the Sunset Parlor, 
Native Sons of the Golden West. He was made a Mason in Wash- 
ington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., is member of Sacramento Chapter 
No. 3, E. A. M., Sacramento Council No. 1, E. & S. M., Sacramento 
Commandery No. 2, K. T., and is a member of Islam Temple, N. M. S. 
of San Francisco. The Sutter Club numbers him among its members, 
and he is also a member of the Junior Society of California Pioneers. 
The Eepublican party has received his ballot ever since he attained 
his majority and he has been stanch in the support of the principles 
which he believes to best conserve the permanent progress of our 
connuonwealth and countrv. 



900 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



RICHARD C. IRVINE 

The twentieth century has been marked by the inauguration and 
rise of many public-spirited projects, few of which possess greater 
value or promise greater benefit than the good-roads movement. As 
a pioneer worker in the developing of the roads R. C. Irvine gained 
local prominence many years ago, when the movement was yet in 
its infancy. Consistently advocating permanence in roads, from the 
first he opposed the temporary quality and unsatisfactory nature of 
such work as was done on the roads, but gave the pressure of his 
influence toward better highway's as a precursor to better farms and 
larger profits to the farmers. Before automobiles had come into' 
common use and their owners had united to advocate a more satis- 
factory highway, he had attracted attention through his persistent 
efforts to interest property-owners in such work. It has been his 
privilege to see a marked advance and a deepened interest in the 
movement, but he believes the work already accomplished is only the 
predecessor of greater efforts in the years to come. 

Taking up a consideration of Mr. Irvine's personal history, it 
may be stated that he was born in Jefferson City, Mo., February 
5, 1846, a son of Capt. Alexander and Lou Anne Irvine, of that state. 
His father raised a company which was assigned to the regiment 
of Colonel Donovan for service in the Mexican war, and he served 
as captain. Wounded in the first engagement of his company, he 
started for the Paso Robles Springs, CaL, but after a few weeks 
became so ill that he was obliged to turn back. Nevertheless, in 1850, 
Captain Irvine piloted a train across the plains to California, where 
the family made their home. Richard C. Irvine for some years at- 
tended the public schools of St. Louis, Mo., but in 1859 he accompanied 
the family to California and settled in Eldorado county, where he 
continued his studies in the public schools. In 1862 he secured a 
clerkship in the general mercantile business in his home county and 
continued in the same position until his removal in 1870 to Sacra- 
mento, where he engaged as clerk with R. Stone & Co., wholesale 
saddlers. Later he was promoted to a salesmanship for the company. 
When they first sold out in 1881 to A. A. Van Voorhies & Co., Mr. 
Irvine bought stock in the new concern and continued a partner in 
the business until January of 1891, when he sold out his interest. 

After a period of service as county assessor from 1891 to 1895 
Mr. Irvine was appointed by Governor Budd as a member of the 
bureau of highways, the executive's attention having been drawn to 
him through his intense interest in every phase of the good-roads 
movement. During 1896 he resigned the position to take charge of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 901 

a large wholesale saddlery in Los Angeles. After a year in Southern 
California he returned to Sacramento and took charge of the Capital 
Soap Company until 1898. From that time until 1903 he served as 
deputy to the city street superintendent, after which he was manager 
of the Wilson Manufacturing Company. His first appointment as 
city superintendent of streets came to him in January, 1906, and for 
two years he filled the position with scrupulous fidelity, resigning in 
January of 1908 to serve as general inspector over country roads, 
which office had been tendered him by the county board of super- 
visors. At the expiration of a term of two years he was again ap- 
pointed city superintendent of streets and continued to fill the "position 
with marked intelligence and industrious application. 

The marriage of Mr. Irvine and Miss Adelaide Wells took place 
in Sacramento in March of 1881 and they have since been popular 
in society functions, also contributors to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, with which they are identified. Always stanch in his 
allegiance to the Democratic party, Mr. Irvine is yet broad in his 
views and concedes to other voters the same choice of nominees and 
measures which he demands for himself. A man of genial disposition 
and companionable nature, he finds pleasure in social and fraternal 
activities and is one of the founders of the McNeil Club of Sacra- 
mento. In addition he has been a leading local worker in the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, Knights of Honor, Loyal Order of Moose 
and the Masonic Order, in which he has taken many degrees, including 
that of Knight Templars and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 



R. McELWAINE 

Noteworthy among the industrial plants of Sacramento mav be 
mentioned the one founded by Mr. McElwaine and promoted through 
his intelligent, capable efforts as secretary and treasurer. This 
organization, incorporated under the title of the Sacramento Pump 
Manufacturing and Supply Company, is a somewhat recent acquisi- 
tion to the commercial institutions of the capital city, but already 
it has proved its value to the locality and has given promise of im- 
portant future development. The plant is located at No. 1800 R 
street, where machine work of all kinds and also foundry work mav 
be done expeditiously and with thoroughness. With H. L Seymour 
as president and with other capable business men and engineers con- 
nected with the foundry and machine shop, all contracts receive 
prompt attention and the business is promoted by sagacious super- 



902 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

vision. A specialty is made of centrifugal i)iinips for all purposes, 
also of refrigerating plant sii])plios and in tliese lines the firm has 
established a wide and excellent reputation. 

A son of W. J. McElwaine, for many years a citizen of Northern 
California, R. McElwaine was born March 19, 1874, in the mining 
town of Oroville, in Butte county, so that he is eligible to member- 
ship with the Native Sons of the Golden West. At an early age he 
accompanied the family from Butte county to Solano county, where 
he attended the grammar school at Dixon and later became a student 
in the Dixon highschool. Upon the completion of the studies in local 
schools he began to earn his own livelihood, but there remained 
with him a desire for further educational advantages, and to gratify 
this ambition he entered the Leland Stanford University in 1896, 
continuing a student in that institution for two years. From 1898 
until 1900 he was connected with the United States navy in the 
transport service. Upon his return to Dixon he acquired land near 
that village and became interested in farming, which occuy:)ation en- 
gaged his attention until December, 1910, the time of his removal 
to Sacramento. In this city he helped to organize the company of 
which he since has been secretary and treasurer and whose success 
he has promoted by personal efforts. Ever since attaining his ma- 
jority he has voted with the Democratic party and has maintained a 
warm interest in public affairs, although he has not solicited official 
honors for himself, nor has he exhibited partisan spirit in local issues. 
In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Masons and 
the Kniii'hts of Pvthias. 



CASSIUS M. PHINNEY 

The secret of success in all undertakings is to be found not alone 
in faithfulness to duty, but, as well, in the power to maintain through 
all situations a well defined, individual purpose; for rarely does 
failure reward the man who believes in his hopes and accords 
them the i)atience and energy essential to their fruition. Ambitious 
from boyhood to become a successful business man, and sup])lement- 
ing his yearnings by strong, concentrative effort, the ])rosperity of 
Mr. Pliinney has been fully merited and in his work as a member 
of the well known engineering firm of Phinney, Cafe and Marshall, 
who maintain offices in the Forum Building, Sacramento, he has 
justified the highest confidence of his associates. 

A native of Mahaska county, Iowa, his birth having occurred 
there, August 9, 1865, Cassius M. Phinney moved to Nebraska with 
his ])arents, John B. and Mary (Steward) Phinney, of Ohio. He 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 903 

received his education in York and Tliayer counties, Nebr., applying 
himself to his studies with such diligence that he was enabled to 
graduate at an early age. Upon completing the high school course 
he entered the engineering corps of the Burlington & Missouri River 
Railroad and studied surveying with them for two years. Then for 
about two years he was county surveyor at Lincoln, and in 1887 
came to Sacramento, where he secured a situation as assistant city 
engineer, serving faithfully during the succeeding nineteen years. In 
1906 he was elected county surveyor, taking the office in January, 
1907, and conducting this office one term, after which he became 
associated with Cate & Marshall, the latter of whom served as city 
engineer of Roseville, Cal., and by means of their united skill, they 
succeeded in establishing an excellent business, embracing particu- 
larly plans for reclamation and irrigation enterprises, street work 
and sub-divisions. 

Mr. Phinney's mother passed away in Seattle, Wash., in 1904, 
and his sister Carrie and his father share his well appointed home. 
His elder brother, H. S. Phinney, resides in Seattle, Wash., where 
he is well known as a successful fruit commission man, and save for 
occasional visits to California, thus far prefers the North as a perma- 
nent domicile. 

Mr. Phinney is an active member of Sequoia Camp No. 104, 
M. W. A., Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. 0. E., and is an associate 
member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the home offices 
of which last named organization are located in New York City, 
and by his exemj^lary conduct and deep interest in public affairs is 
recognized as a citizen of remarkable integrity and the highest worth. 



SOLOMON RUNYON 

The genealogy of the Runyon family is traced back to French 
ancestors, but several successive generations of the name have been 
identified with American history. Michael Runyon and wife, the 
latter of American birth but English parentage, lived upon a })lanta- 
tion in Kentucky until their demise when advanced in years. Their 
son, Armstead, was born and reared in the Blue Grass state, whence 
he removed to Preble county, Ohio, and then became a pioneer of 
Will county. 111., during a period so early in the development of the 
Mississippi valley that Chicago was still a frontier trading post 
and the rich agricultural section of Northern Illinois wholly undevel- 
oped and sj^arsely inhabited. During young manhood he had married 
Anna Hornbacker, who was born in Ohio of German or Pennsylvania- 



904 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Dutch stock, and with her energetic assistance he had earned a liveli- 
hood from a tract of unimproved and undeveloped land. Fond of the 
frontier, a pioneer in every sense of that word, he found his highest 
enjoyment in the strenuous labors incident to such an existence, and 
when he heard of the discovery of gold in California he was as eager 
to join the procession of Argonauts as though he himself had been 
a stalwart youth in his teens. With his sons, 0. R., A. N. and Solo- 
mon, he left Illinois early in the spring of 1849 and followed the 
usual route of migration across the plains, arriving safely at Sacra- 
mento during the middle of September. It was his privilege to wit- 
ness the memorable era of early Californian development, the rapid 
accession to the population, the admission of the state into the .Union, 
the growth in wealth from mines and of prosperity from the early 
expansion of agricultural interests, and with his own past experience 
amid frontier conditions he was in a position to understand and 
appreciate the environment of the period as well as the prospects for 
future development. His death occurred in Santa Rosa, where he 
had spent the last days of his useful existence. 

Upon the frontier farm in Will county. 111., where for years 
Armstead and Anna Runyon labored to earn for the family the neces- 
sities of existence, their son, Solomon, was born November 27, 1827. 
The neighborhood had not developed a public-school sj^stem and he 
had scant opportunity for acquiring an education, but he learned to 
read and write and to keep accounts in a primitive manner. The 
broad knowledge of his later years was wholly self-acquired. Re- 
maining on the home farm and working for his father until he was 
twenty-one, he afterward took up the battle of life for himself. 
When he came to California during 1849 he began to work in the 
mines, and for two years he pursued the exciting life of a seeker 
after gold, but the results did not justify further continuance. 
Accordingly he resumed the occupation which in Illinois had en- 
gaged his attention. During 1852 he entered one hundred and sixty 
acres of state land near Schoolcraft, Solano county, and there he 
settled, spending the next few years in the improvement of the 
property. Septeml^er 15, 1859, he bought a ranch twenty-four miles 
below Sacramento on the- river of that name, and there he took up 
agricultural activities with such success that in 1868 he was able 
to replace the old home with a modern mansion, which for years 
ranked as the most elegant residence on the river. 

After he had remained a bachelor until middle life Mr. Runyon 
established a home of his own, being united in marriage, July 23, 
1863, with Miss Adaline Bloom, who was born in Missouri and 
arrived in California September 12, 1850, having been brought across 
the plains by her parents, William H. Harrison and Delilah Bloom. 
The only child of her marriage was a daughter, Ora, born January 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 905 

18, 1875, and educated in Mills College, Oakland. Her demise occurred 
November 18, 1905. The landed possessions of Mr. Eunyon were 
enlarged by the purchase, December 13, 1871, of one hundred and 
fifty-five acres at the head of Andrus island five miles down 
the river from the old homestead. August 21, 1881, he purchased 
an adjacent tract of two hundred and eighty-six acres, so that he 
had in one body four hundred and forty-one acres of rich land. 
Other acquisitions of property made him one of the largest land 
owners of the entire valley and much of this vast acreage was planted 
in fruit trees, so that he ranked among the most extensive orchardists 
of the locality. In addition he owned considerable property in Sacra- 
mento and San Francisco. 

The landed possessions of Mr. Eunyon and the management of 
the same did not represent the limit of the varied activities of his 
useful career. Assisting in the incorporation of the California Trans- 
portation Company, he afterward retained a large amount of stock 
in the concern and served upon its directorate. For years he was 
interested in the Sacramento street railway and was one of six men 
who bought the farm that is now Oak Park, laid out the townsite, and 
built a residence as a model; and this was virtually the starting of 
that prosperous suburb of Sacramento. In order to promote through- 
out the west an interest in the growing of fruit he identified himself 
with the State Board of Horticulture, which he served as treasurer 
at one time and in which he was a member of great influence, his 
recognized success as an orchardist giving him prestige among those 
who were seeking to give to horticulture its rightful position near 
the head of the profitable occupations of the west. 

Honored among the pioneers of the state, respected by the rising 
generation cognizant of his successful supervision of large enterprises, 
a leader in the charities of the Knights Templar and the Masons 
of the thirty-second degree, Mr. Eunyon was regarded as one of the 
most influential men of the Sacramento valley, and his death, which 
occurred May 23, 1896, was regarded as a calamity to the interests 
of his community. However, with a sagacity equal to his own, his 
wife took up the supervision of the vast estate of twenty-eight hun- 
dred acres, divided into six ranches, and she has given intelligent 
and successful oversight to the important holdings, which are largely 
devoted to the growing of fruit and vegetables, the raising of grain 
and alfalfa and the care of dairy products. On two of her ranches 
she makes a specialty" of growing asparagus, having over two hun- 
dred and fifty acres in that product, and is one of the largest aspara- 
gus beds in the state. Markets in San Francisco and also local 
canneries are supplied from these beds. In order to ascertain the 
condition of every ranch and the needs of the crops, she makes 
frequent trips to the tracts and gives personal attention to the same. 



906 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Her success is a matter of general observation. While owning and 
occupying one of the finest residences in Sacramento, situated at 
No. 1801 H street, and holding a position among the society leaders 
of the capital city, she has not limited lier life to home and society, 
but has endeavored to aid in the greater interests of the entire 
valley. For years she has made a specialty of reclamation work. 
On this subject she is regarded as an authority in the Sacramento 
valley. Her long study of reclamation and her broad knowledge of 
the local conditions caused her to be selected as a member of the com- 
mission that is studying a feasible plan for the opening of the mouth 
of the Sacramento river. She is a frequent attendant at the meet- 
ings of the National Rivers and Harbor Congress and enjoys the 
distinction of being its only lady member in the United States, besides 
having the further honor of occupying a high place in the councils 
of that important organization. She is a member of the Rebekahs 
and the Onisbo Chapter No. 164, 0. E. S, of Sacramento, and is past 
grand treasurer of the Chapter, 0. E. S. of California, 



FRANK MEYER 

The unknown possibilities of the great coast country formed 
tlie attraction that allured Frank Meyer when a young man of twenty 
years from the older commonwealth of Missouri to the growing, pro- 
gressive state of California, where with the exception of a few 
years spent in St. Louis he has since remained, identifying himself 
with the development of Sacramento and taking the part of a loyal 
citizen in all of the more important movements of the era. In his 
removal to the west he found conditions radically different from 
those in his native environment of St. Charles, Mo., where he was 
born June 10, 1856, and where his parents, Anton and Katharine 
Meyer, had borne the part in pioneer upbuilding that he himself 
assumed in his early residence in the capital city of our western 
commonwealth. The family, while possessing the higliest principles 
of honor and integrity, accumulated little of this world's goods and 
could gi\'e him few educational advantages, nor could they aid him 
in the important task of securing a start in the business world; 
hence what lie is and what he has, represents self-sacrificing, intelli- 
gent and persevering efforts of the man himself. 

As i)reviously stated, Frank Meyer was twenty years of age 
when in 1876 he came to Sacramento for the first time. Here he 
secured a clerkship in a grocery and continued for three years, mean- 
while laying the foundation of warm friendships, many of which con- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 907 

tinue to the present day. Returning to Missouri in 1879 he became 
a grocery clerk in that city, where he remained for three years. 
His permanent residence in Sacramento dates from 1882, when he 
entered a grocery owned l)y John Belhner. At first his wages were 
very small and his work unimportant, Init as time passed he was 
given greater responsibilities and as a clerk proved his trustworthi- 
ness and ability. After nine years with the same grocer he left the 
store in order to. take up other lines of work. As manager for 
T. J. Clunie, owner of the Clunie opera house and Metropolitan 
theatre, he held a position of importance and responsibility. Abun- 
dant testimony as to the satisfactory nature of his services appears 
in the statement that he was retained by Mr. Clunie until the death 
of the latter, since which time he has been manager of the various 
holdings of Mrs. Clunie in Sacramento, including, also the manage- 
ment of the hotel which she inherited upon the death of her husband. 
While his attention is given closely to his business duties, he does not 
neglect civic reponsibilities, but contributes of time and influence to 
measures for the general welfare, and in politics he takes a warm 
interest as a member of the Democratic party. Throughout his en- 
tire life he has been an adherent of the Roman Catholic Church and 
a generous contributor to its charities. During May of 1908 he was 
united in marriage with Mrs. Henrietta (Harrington) Bedell, of 
Sacramento, but a native of Colusa, who by her former marriage was 
the mother of two children, Milton and Edwin. 



ANDREW MIKULICH 

The proprietor of the Peerless cafe in Sacramento has so thor- 
oughly imbibed American principles of thrift, energy and resource- 
fulness that he easily might win recognition as a native of our coun- 
try, if not indeed of California itself, but a residence of thirty 
years in the United States has not caused him to lose a feeling of 
loyal devotion to Austria, the land of his birth and the home of his 
parents, Martin and Kate Mikulich. Memory affectionately recalls 
the scenes of his boyhood, the occurrences of youth and the friends 
with whom he worked and played at the old home in Fiume, where 
he was born November 21, 1865. From an early age he was familiar 
with the sea, for the city of Fiume lies at the head of the small 
bay of the same name and it in turn forms an arm of the Adriatic 
sea. The people living along the shores of this beautiful body of 
water were accustomed to the sights and sounds of the sea, to the 
crafts lazily floating across the blue sea, the vessels moored in the 



908 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

harbors of Trieste, Ravenna, or other important ports, and to the 
vision of the sea-kissed city of Venice whose canals were gay with 
their swift-speeding gondolas. 

Upon leaving forever behind him the pleasant associations and 
picturesque environment of the Austrian coast and crossing the 
Atlantic ocean to the New World in 1882, Mr. Mikulich was pre- 
pared for the future by a fair education in the free schools of 
Austria and by a rugged constitution qualifying him for patient en- 
durance in labor. After he had landed in Philadelphia he secured 
employment as a sailor. During 1885 he went as far west as 
Chicago, where he worked in a restaurant for three years. In 1888 
he went south to New Orleans, La., and there found work in a restau- 
rant. The next move brought him to San Francisco in 1889 and 
from there in 1891 he came to Sacramento, where he has since 
made his home and has engaged in the restaurant business. In this 
city, June 30, 1903, he married Miss Lena Arnold. Here, after one 
year as an employe in a restaurant, he embarked in business for 
himself. When he sold out the business he became manager of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad restaurant. During 1902 he opened a res- 
taurant at No. 1010 Seventh street, but four years later he moved 
to his next location. No. 720 K street, and on April 25, 1912, he 
opened his present beautiful place which he had built himself. It is 
located at No. 1117 Ninth street and is a palace of mirrors set in 
mahogany, the furniture all being of that same wood. The mezzanine 
floor for ladies' parties is furnished in old gold and ivory, the whole 
presenting an etfect so exquisite and magnificent as to earn it the 
place of leading cafe in the vicinity and among the finest in the state. 
It is known as the Peerless cafe and is strictly a first-class restau- 
rant that receives a large share of the public patronage. The care 
exercised in the management of the business has left Mr. Mikulicli 
little leisure for participation in political affairs, but he upholds 
Republican princii:>les and keeps posted concerning national issues. 
Fraternally he is a popular member of the Foresters, Moose, Flks 
and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 



GEORGE H. TOWNSEND 

The resistless tide of emigration that has swept over the coun- 
try since the develo]iment of the west first commenced has caused 
many changes in the population, so that the majority of men spend 
the busy period of maturity far removed from the scenes of their 
cliildhood. But not so with Mr. Townsend, whose enviable privilege 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 909 

it has been to spend the years of manhood's activities upon the 
same farm associated with his earliest memories. Unallured by the 
call to other localities, he has been content to remain at the old 
homestead and to continue the work of cultivating the land whose 
first furrows were turned by his father during the era of pioneer 
development. With progressive tendencies he has made the place 
more productive and its annual returns larger through his interests 
in stock of all kinds and his identification with other forms of agri- 
cultural labor. 

In studying the record of the Townsend family we find that 
remote ancestors came to this country having had a part in the 
material upbuilding of Maine, when Elisha Baker Townsend was born 
in the city of Portland. There also he was reared and during young 
manhood he there married Eachel Hodgkins, likewise a native of 
Maine. Attracted by reports concerning the possibilities of the west, 
during the spring of 1853 he and his young wife left New England 
for California and at the end of their long journey they arrived in 
Sacramento county. He entered government land at Mormon Island, 
Sacramento county, cleared the tract, turned the first furrows in the 
virgin soil and gradually brought the ranch under improvement. 
For about twenty-five years he engaged in the dairy business on this 
i'anch. In addition for some time he carried on a meat market in 
Folsom, fattening the stock on his ranch and later utilizing them for 
the needs of the butcher shop. After a busy life, whose success was 
up to the measure of his expectations, he died in 1898 at the old 
homestead. 

From his natal day, September 15, 1875, George H. Townsend 
has had the same surroundings except as the improvements associated 
with modern civilization were made on the ranch. The neighboring 
schools enabled him to acquire a fair education. Early experience 
on the farm gave him a thorough knowledge of the tilling of the 
soil and the raising of stock. In addition he learned the details of 
the meat business while working at the Folsom meat market. When 
he succeeded to the management of the ranch he at once turned 
his entire attention to its care and cultivation. Under his keen 
oversight the three hundred acres, located about three miles northeast 
of Folsom, present an appearance of thriff and productiveness. Cattle, 
horses, hogs and sheep may be seen in the pastures and the yearly 
output of stock forms a valuable addition to the income of the owner, 
who further engages in the dairy business with success and also raises 
grain, hay and vegetables for the local markets. A part of this ranch 
is under irrigation from the Natomas ditch. A farmer of great 
energy and wise judgment, he is making a success of his work and 
has proved his ada])tability to agricultural pursuits. 

The marriage of Mr. Townsend took place at Folsom March 27, 



910 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

1901, and united him with Miss Annie M. Russler, who was born, 
reared and educated at Clarksville, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Town- 
send are the parents of three children now living, namely: George B., 
Anna E. and Lavern. The political views of Mr. Townsend are in 
harmony with the platform of the Republican party. While voting 
the party ticket with consistent regularity he has always refused to 
consider official honors and has never been a candidate for any of 
the local offices. By virtue of his nativity he is eligible to member- 
ship with the Native Sons of the Golden West and we find him identi- 
fied with Folsom Parlor No. 83, in which he has held all of the 
offices and for years has served as secretary. In addition, since 
1905 he has been honored with the secretaryship of the Folsom 
Aerie of Eagles. Not only in Folsom, but also throughout the entire 
east end of the county, he is known and honored as a progressive 
rancher and a citizen whose upright character entitles him to the 
respect and confidence of the people. 



WILLIAM J. WEISMAN 

Of that energetic and progressive blood that makes the German- 
American a good citizen in whatever community his lot may be 
cast, the well-known bookbinder of Sacramento whose name gives 
prominence to this page was born August 3, 1876, a son of Charles 
F. and Henrietta (Moffelt) Weisman, natives of the Fatherland 
of history and of song. His father came to the United States 
when a young man and served a while by enlistment in a New 
York regiment that did gallant duty in the Civil War. After the 
close of that memorable experience he came to California, making 
the overland journey with oxen, and arrived after about five 
months arduous travel in Sacramento. There he met and married 
Henrietta Moffelt, who in 1864 had come alone across the ocean to 
America and, after remaining some time in New York, had come 
on to California. To this worthy people were born four children, 
of whom William J. is the only one living in Sacramento county. 
Two of them live in Berkeley, Cal., and the remaining one died 
young. 

Educated to the useful life he planned for himself Mr. Weisman 
acquired his training in the public schools of Sacramento. After 
laying down his text-books he apprenticed himself to E. W. Bruen- 
ning, of Sacramento, to learn the bookbinder's trade, and labored 
in his establishment six years. Those were six years of honest 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 911 

and earnest endeavor, devoted to gaining knowledge both funda- 
mental and in detail that would be essential to a successful career 
in the field that the young man had determined to enter. The 
succeeding eight years he passed busily in the binding department 
of the state library. Then for four years he was in the cigar and 
tobacco trade. But no success in any other department of endeavor 
could be so dear to him as even moderate prosperity as a book- 
binder, and he purchased the Sacramento Bookbindery, at No. 309 
J street, which he has conducted with increasing success to the 
present time. His plant is modern in every detail, fitted with 
up-to-date machinery and appliances and capable of turning out 
fine work in large quantities. He makes a specialty of the manu- 
facture of loose-leaf office devices and other record supplies which 
have come in demand during recent years, and as a business man 
and as a citizen is notably progressive. He builds not alone for 
himself but for the community, for he believes that the good fortune 
of one is in a measure the good fortune of all. In his political 
convictions he is Republican, and on his party ticket he was nominated 
for city collector in 1906, but was defeated at the polls. He married 
Miss Alice Collins, daughter of Wilkie Collins of Sacramento, Sep- 
tember 28, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Weisman are popular in the circles 
in which they move and their home is noted for its hearty hospitality. 
He is identified with the Elks, with the Native Sons, with the Eagles 
and with the Foresters of America. Of Sacramento Parlor No. 3, 
N. S. G. W., he is a past president, and in the Foresters has served 
as chief ranger. 



HENRY F. G. WULFF 

Teutonic ancestry is indicated in the name of Wulff. The founder 
of the family in the United States was one Henry Wulff, who came 
to the new world at the age of sixteen years. Prior to emigration 
he had served an apprenticeship to the trade of cabinet-maker and 
later he also gained a thorough knowledge of the occupation of a 
millwright. A desire to avoid the military service obligatory upon 
him if he remained in his native land caused him to seek a new 
home across the seas and for some time he worked at his trades 
in St. Louis, Mo., but as early as 1850 he crossed the plains to 
California and ventured into mining with a fair degree of success. 
Returning to the east via Panama he married Miss Caroline Lehnke 
and established a home in St. Louis, where occurred the birth of 
his eldest child, Henry F. G., January 31, 1854. During the spring 
of the same year the family made the long journey across the plains 



912 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

and at the expiration of one-half year landed in Placerville, Eldo- 
rado county, when the son was nine months old. 

For years identified with mining interests, Henry Wulff did not 
limit his energies to that occupation, but acquired varied interests 
in the west. He had the contract to build the first quartz mill 
at Placerville. Removing to his ranch in 1859, he took up the stock 
business on a large scale and at one time controlled a ranch of one 
thousand acres at Green Valley. Some of the land was acquired under 
the homestead laws and some by purchase, but the whole was im- 
proved through his industrious efforts and" represented the results 
of his sagacious management. After years of active identification 
with the development of the west he died on his ranch in 1886 and 
his widow still remains at the old homestead. In December of 1911 
she celel)rated the seventy-fifth anniversary of her birth. Of her ten 
sons and four daughters there now survive five sons and all of the 
daughters. 

After having completed the studies of the Placerville public 
schools and also for a time having clerked in a Sacramento grocery, 
in 1873 Henry F. G. Wulff attended evening classes at Heald's 
Business College at San Francisco, from which he graduated in 
1874, and in the meantime he earned his livelihood by clerking in a 
grocery store in the daytime. For one year he was employed in 
the coining room of the mint, and after resigning this position he 
went to Virginia City, Nov., continuing there until June, 1879, when 
he was appointed United States ganger in the Internal revenue 
officer for the Sacramento district. For nineteen years and three 
months he was identified with the Internal revenue office, meanwhile 
acting as chief deputy of the local department for ten years. While 
thus engaged he drew every check paid out for the construction 
of the new postoffice, the check in payment for the ground being 
the only one not drawn by him personally. When he had resigned 
as chief of the department he embarked in the real-estate business, 
during 1898 becoming a member of the firm of Kromer, Wiseman 
& Wulff. The retirement of the senior member of the firm in 1901 
caused a change to the present title of Wiseman- Wulff Co. In 
addition to carrying on a general real estate, loan and insurance 
business, the firm has pioneered sub-division work in Sacramento. 
Among their most important tasks was the improving of eleven 
thousand acres at Knight's Landing, Yolo county, forming the 
Fair ranch at one time owned by the senator of that name. Under 
the name of the Sacramento Farms Co. they purchased this bottom 
land, which is as fertile as the far-famed valley of the Nile. On 
reclamation work here $350,000 has been spent, the results of the 
expenditure appearing in the first crop (1911) raised after the work 
had been completed, when six thousand acres yielded more than 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 913 

eighty thousand sacks of grain. Mr. Wulff has been secretary of 
the company since its organization. 

By marriage of Mr. Wulff to Miss Louisa Galvin a son, Albert 
H., was born, who is now connected with a wholesale grocery business 
in Sacramento. After the death of his first wife Mr. Wulff married 
Miss Elizabeth Stelter May 2, 1888, and thus became connected with 
one of the old and honored pioneer families of Sacramento county, 
her father, Frederick Stelter, having been a resident here since 1860. 
Of the second marriage there are three children, namely: Fred L., 
who is identified with his father in the real-estate business; Ramona 
and Horace B., who are students in school. The family attend the 
Lutheran Church. In politics Mr. Wulff stands stanchly by the 
principles of the Republican party and in 1911 he was its candidate 
for trustee from the ninth ward. For years he has been prominent 
among the Odd Fellows, -belonging to Eldorado Lodge No. 8 and 
Occidental Encampment No. 42, and in 1910 he occupied the office 
of grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of California. In 
the capacity of grand representative he attended the Sovereign Grand 
Lodge in September of 1911, held at Indianapolis, Ind., to which 
important gathering delegates were sent from lodges in every part 
of the world. His tact and counsel have been most helpful to the 
local advancement of lodge work and thus to the general prosperity 
of the order. 



WILLARD WARNER 

Legion is the name of the men who, coming to Sacramento in 
early life, have achieved here a gratifying degree of material success 
without the prestige of an influential family name and without the 
aid of capital in their first personal enterprises. It is proof of 
the opportunities afforded by the capital city that these men, with 
few exceptions, have risen out of obscurity into civic prominence 
and individual prosperity, contributing in their personal achieve- 
ments to the advancement of the community selected as their perma- 
nent place of residence. Not the least noteworthy among these 
progressive, prosperous business men may be mentioned Willard 
Warner, who by an apparent chance became identified with the 
business to which he has given whole-hearted and effective at- 
tention. When he came to Sacramento and sought a means of liveli- 
hood, the fact that he had a previous experience in a laundry 
establishment made it possible for him to secure work as driver 
of a laundry wagon, and from that beginning he rose through suc- 
cessive steps until finally he was chosen secretary and manager 



914 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the Cascade laundr}^, one of the well-known industrial plants 
of the city and an organization that has built up an immense business 
through careful attention to the needs and desires of customers. 

Born in Fulton, N. Y., January 4, 1865, Willard Warner was 
taken to Iowa at an early age by his parents, Josej^h W. and 
Harriette Warner, who settled at Clear Lake near the shores of 
one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the northern part of 
the state. On the shores of the lake there had been started a 
small hamlet, which since has developed into a popular summer 
resort. The little school of this village gave him his early educa- 
tional opportunities and afterward he carried on his studies at 
Luverne, Rock county, in the southwestern part of Minnesota. At 
the age of fifteen years he removed to Washington and for two 
3^ears attended the Seattle high school, later securing employ- 
ment in a laundry of the same city. During the year of 1885 he 
came to Sacramento and secured work as a wagon-driver with 
the American laundry. 

A gratifying otfer from the Union Laundry Company caused 
Mr. Warner to leave the other firm in 1899, after which he acted 
as manager of the Union until 1903, when a consolidation was 
eifected of a number of plants under the title of the Cascade 
Laundry Company. Of this he since has acted as secretary and 
manager. Employment is furnished to one hundred persons and 
a general laundry business is conducted, customers being largely 
people of Sacramento, although there is a growing patronage 
from other towns. In addition to the management of this impor- 
tant business, with its increasing responsibilities and constant need 
of intelligent oversight and tact, Mr. Warner * holds the office of 
treasurer in the California Expert Cleaners' Company, which was 
organized largely through his personal efforts and as a result of 
his realization of the growing need, for such an industry. The 
Sacramento Laundry Club also has the benefit of his active co- 
operation and wide knowledge of the business. With the mani- 
fold cares connected with his special work, he has not been able 
to participate in politics aside from casting a Republican ballot 
at all national elections. One of his favorite forms of recreation 
has brought him into prominence among the members of the Sacra- 
mento Bowling Club, whose most expert players confess to his 
superior skill. For some years he has been identified with the 
Loyal Order of Moose. His marriage took place in Seattle, 
Wash., May 19, 1890, and united him with Miss Flora Rich, by 
whom he has three children, namely: Eugene, who is em]iloyed as 
bookkeeper at the Cascade Laundry; Philo, who is a student in St. 
Francis convent; and Adeline, who is attending the Sacramento 
])ul)li(' schools. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 915 



WILLIAM S. WATSON, M. D. 

The lineage of the Watson family is traced to the nobility of 
England and afterward the family was established in the United 
States. The historical annals of Great Britain indicate that for 
more than thirty-five years Sir Thomas Watson, M. D., held the 
honored place as physician extraordinary to Queen Victoria. Dr. 
Watson of Sacramento is the son of William Watson, who was a 
brother of Sir Thomas Watson and was a man of classical education, 
and the highest culture, a graduate of the noted university at 
Cambridge, and for years connected with a Philadelphia college 
as instructor in higher mathematics and classics. While identified 
with the educational interests of that eastern city he was united 
in marriage with Miss Priscilla Price, who traced her ancestry 
to Scotland but claimed Philadelphia as her home city. Later they 
established a residence in Indiana for a brief period and were 
associated with the pioneer educational development and social de- 
velopment of that then frontier state; while there the birth of their 
son, William S., occurred in September of 1853. Inheriting from 
his parents a degree of intellectuality, as well as a keen ambition 
to acquire knowledge, his progress through the lower schools of 
learning was swift and while yet a mere lad he matriculated in 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City. At the 
expiration of the regular course of lectures he was graduated with 
the class of 1870, with the degree of M. D. Two years later he 
embarked in practice in Central Illinois, but his talents demanded 
a different field of professional labor and in pursuance of his 
ambitious plans to specialize in medical work he went to the 
Hudson river district of New York. For a long period he resided 
at Fishkill on Hudson and Matteawan, Dutchess county, and New 
York City, the changes of headquarters being made by reason 
of professional demands or business activities. 

The achievements of Dr. Watson in the realm of medicine 
during his long residence in the east reflects a permanent lustre 
upon his professional reputation. For fourteen years he conducted 
as sole i^roprietor the River View Sanitarium near the banks of the 
Hudson in Dutchess county. The institution was founded and 
maintained for the treatment of nervous and mental troubles. 
Later on lie associated himself with William T. Jenkins, M. D., 
a former health officer of New York City, in the founding of a 
charitable hospital for the care and treatment of those unfortunates 
who were ill and penniless. Such work, although not financially 
remunerative, had its rich reward in the consciousness of promo 



916 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ting a needed and beneficent philanthropy. It was during the 
period of his residence in Central Illinois that Dr. Watson was 
married and there his only son, "William Martin Watson, was 
born. He is now engaged as a bank and corporation attorney and 
is one of the leading professional men of New York City, where 
likewise he is prominent in society and in civic affairs. 

Coming to Sacramento in 1908, Dr. Watson opened an office at 
No. 501 K street, but later removed to the new Nicolaus building, 
where now he occupies a modern suite, provided with all up-to-date 
appliances. In the midst of a successful professional career he found 
leisure in the east to identify himself with progressive civic movements. 
Not only did he serve with the greatest efficiency as mayor of Mattea- 
wan, but twelve years later he was elected to the same position at Fish- 
kill on Hudson and was the incumbent of the mayor's chair at the 
time of selling his sanitarium, which was in 1900. He is a member 
of Beacon Lodge No. 283, F. & A. M., and Highland Chapter No. 83 
R. A. M. at Newburgh on Hudson. Professional associations enlist 
his co-operation and wise assistance. Besides being connected with 
the Sacramento County Medical Association and the California 
State Medical Association, likewise the French Society of Electro- 
Therapy, he is a charter member of the American Electro 
Therapeutic Association. For twenty years he served as examiner 
of lunacy for the state of New York and for four years he has 
acted in the same capacity for the State of California. During his 
many years of medical research work,, he has written many articles 
for the medical and lay press, upon current topics, recently on the 
cause for the increase of the insane, treatment of the insane and 
educational matters, etc. 



DAVID E. WILEY 

Genealogical records show that several generations of the 
Wiley family lived and labored in Maryland, their principal place 
of residence having been Harford county, whence their descen- 
dants scattered into many portions of the United States. The 
ancestral mansion stood at Norrisville, a small town lying near to the 
state line of Pennsylvania, near also to the placid waters of the 
Susquehanna river and not far distant from the Chesapeake bay. 
There occurred the birth of David E. Wiley June 20, 1858, and 
there in 1825 the eyes of his father, Hon. David Wile}^, first opened 
to the light. The latter had been the recipient of fair advantages in 
the select scliools common to the early half of the nineteenth century 
and, although he limited his attention to farming and stock-raising. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 917 

lie not only attained prominence in that occupation, but also be- 
came a leader in civic affairs, in business enterprises and in pro- 
gressive projects for the welfare of his commonwealth. In recog- 
nition of his noteworthy achievements and genuine talents for the 
public service he was chosen as a member of the Maryland as- 
sembly in 1881 and 1883 and at the time of his death, February 27, 
1887, he was still very prominent in the state. As a farmer he was 
progressive. In the stock business he aimed to raise only the best 
grades. No finer herd than his might be found in all of Harford 
county. To him belonged the distinction of sending the first carload 
of cattle ever shipped to England, while he constantly bought and 
sold in the markets of the eastern cities. During early manhood 
he married Mary S. Terril, who was born at Norrisville, Md., and 
died there in June of 1865, while still in the prime of womanhood. 
The schools of Norrisville were excellent in their standard of 
training and in their discipline. Hence David E. Wiley had ad- 
vantages superior to those possible to many of that period. When 
he left school at the age of eighteen he secured emploj^ment in a 
mercantile establishment in his home town and there he remained 
for twelve years. Meanwhile from 1882 to 1884 he served as justice 
of the peace in his home township. Coming to California in 1888 
he entered the mint and remained an employe of the government 
until 1904, when he resigned to devote his whole attention to a 
store at Folsom, which he had bought in 190.3. After having en- 
gaged in merchandising for seven years he sold out in 1910. Since 
then he has acted as agent for several old-line insurance companies 
and also has carried on a cigar business. While still a resident 
of Maryland he was united in marriage, September 24, 1884, with 
Miss Edith May, a member of an old Maryland family and a 
woman of culture and education. In addition to his family resi- 
dence Mr. Wiley owns another dwelling-house in Folsom. Through- 
out all of his life he has favored Democratic principles and at all 
elections he supports the regular party nominees. In fraternal rela- 
tions he holds membership with the blue lodge of Masons, the 
Knights of Pythias, the Eagles, the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Rebekahs, to which last-named his wife also be- 
lonars. 



ISAAC HINKLE 

The quiet round of important duties discharged with painstaking 
care has filled the life of Mr. Hinkle since he left his Indiana home 
for the greater opportunities offered by the far west. An apparent 
chance brought him into the work for which nature had qualified 



918 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

him and ever since his removal to this state more than thirty years 
ago he has been identified with the irrigation industry. Perhaps few 
men are more conversant than he with this business whose value to 
the development of the west cannot be overestimated. That his 
knowledge is appreciated by others is proved by the fact that since 
1882 lie has acted as su]:>orintendent of the North Fork Ditch Com- 
pany. Although the ditch has changed ownership a number of times 
he has been retained through all the various managements, besides 
which he has acted as superintendent for all outside water. 

Born in Howard county, Ind., April 9, 1855, Isaac Hinkle was 
the son of Henry and Hester (Brock) Hinkle, natives of Ohio and 
Tennessee respectively, and who were farmers in Howard county, 
Ind. Having been reared on the farm, such education as he pos- 
sesses was acquired in the public schools which he attended only 
three months a year. Such success as he has won (and it is by no 
means unimportant) comes from his determined but unassisted ap- 
plication. During 1881 he came from Indiana to California and 
settled at Auburn, where he at once began to work for the North 
Fork Ditch Company. The corporation recognized his worth and 
promoted him to be superintendent the following year, when he took 
charge of a section of the ditch at Folsom. The business being 
located in this village he established a home here and has since 
lived in the town, whose prosperity he has promoted, whose growth 
he has fostered and whose real-estate interests he has developed 
through the buying and selling of land. In the capacity of agent 
he has handled a great deal of property and at this writing owns 
three hundred and sixty acres of valuable land on the Auburn road 
near Folsom, where he is engaged in fruit and stock raising, besides 
which he has a number of building lots on the same road across the 
American river, and on one of these he has erected a substantial resi- 
dence for his own home. 

Upon the organization of the Bank of Folsom in 1910 Mr. 
Hinkle was one of the original subscribers and assisted in the 
promotion of the new enterprise with customary zeal and sagacity. 
The honor of being chosen the president on its organization came 
to him, and his identification with the concern was made more 
complete through his service as a member of the board of direc- 
tors. When he came west he was a single man, but four years 
later he started a home of his own, being united in 1885 with Miss 
Jessie Brown, who was born and reared in Tennessee, received an 
excellent education there, and after coming to the west engaged in 
teaching prior to her marriage. Three children blessed their union, 
but the only daughter, Fjthel May, died at the age of nine months 
and the younger son, Allen, passed away at the age of two years. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 919 

leaving but one survivor in the family, Henry J., who is now 
married and a resident of Folsom. 

In national campaigns Mr. Hinkle gives his support to the 
Democratic party. Locally he is independent and favors the men 
whom he deems best qualified to represent the people irrespective 
of their party views. At no time in his life has he sought official 
honors and the only public position he has ever consented to fill 
is that of member of the Folsom board of education, in which post 
he has given time and influence toward the upbuilding of the 
schools. Having been deprived of higher educational advantages 
in his youth, he has been especially solicitous that the children of 
his home town should receive every desired opportunity to fit them- 
selves for life's responsibilities. Religion enters with harmonious 
rhythm to perfect a rounded character and both he and his wife 
have found pleasure and help in their relations with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Both enjoy their membership in the Rebekah 
Lodge No. 166, at Folsom, while in addition Mr. Hinkle has been 
prominent and active in the general work of the Odd Fellows. 
Shortly after his arrival in the west he joined Auburn Lodge No. 
7, I. 0. 0. F., in which he has served through the chairs and is past 
grand. After coming to his present location he identified himself 
with Folsom Encampment No. 24, I. 0. 0. F., in which he filled all 
of the chairs, being past chief patriarch at the time of this writing. 



GEORGE KEACH 

As an illustration of the commercial opportunities afforded by 
Sacramento and also as an index to the ability of the man himself, 
mention belongs to the record established and the reputation achieved 
by George Keach in the commercial history of the capital city. 
When first he arrived here it was a poor workman with his kit of 
tools, a journeyman who had followed the trade of an upholsterer 
in various parts of the country and who had been attracted to the 
great west by reason of the glowing reports. In the busy years that 
have since brought their changes, their opportunities and their suc- 
cesses, he has found the climate healthful, the people congenial and 
the business openings equal to his own ability, so that he has no 
reason to regret the decision that brought him to the coast country 
and made him a business man in Sacramento. 

In studying the Keach family history we find that William and 
Melinda Jane Keach were married in Indiana and died at Logansport, 
that state, the former in 1884 and the latter a vear later. For 



920 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

twenty years lie had engaged in the furnitnre business in Chicago, 
where both before and after the great fire he was an influential busi- 
ness man and a public-spirited citizen. His son, Greorge, was born 
at Logansport, Ind., October 23, 18G3, and was graduated from the 
high school of that city in 1882. He was one of a large family, the 
majority of whom reside in the east, although one of his brothers, 
William Henry, a pioneer investor in property at Butte, Mont., still 
makes his home at that place and is now one of its most wealthy 
retired real-estate operators. 

After a sojourn of two years in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin 
George Keacli came to Helena, Mont., and thence to Denver, Colo., 
where he was engaged in the furniture business for two years. Later 
he was engaged in mining in Larimer county, Colo., for about four 
years, next coming to Sacramento in 1896, and later traveling through 
Nevada with his kit of tools. On his return to Sacramento the same 
year he secured employment with a local furniture store, where he 
remained for eight years. At the expiration of that time he opened 
a small repair shop at No. 1003 K street, where also he carried a 
small line of furniture. A few months afterward, January 1, 1907, 
he removed to larger quarters at No. 1003 J street and No. 923 Tenth 
street. At that location he built up a large trade; he incorporated 
the Home Furniture Company, with himself as president and manager 
and his wife secretary and treasurer. His principal aid in winning 
the confidence of patrons was his unwavering- honesty. In even the 
smallest sale he always has been scrupulously honest and customers 
have come to realize that they may depend upon the straightforvrard 
expression of his opinion. No sales have been made under false 
impressions and no goods are allowed to be sent out from the estab- 
lishment under a misrepresentation. As a consequence of this 
accuracy and integrity of business management the proprietor has 
built up a wide reputation and now he receives orders from almost 
every part of Northern California. In January of 1912, upon the 
completion of the modern fireproof structure on Ninth between K 
and L streets, one of the finest buildings in the Sacramento valley, 
he removed to that location, where he has leased thirty-six thousand 
square feet, including one-half of the entire ground floor and the entire 
three floors above. In addition to the trade with private families the 
proprietor has furnished various hotels throughout, also a number 
of apartment houses in Sacramento, and on several occasions he has 
bought the lease to new apartment houses, which he had furnished 
. complete and then sold the lease. 

The marriage of Mr. Keach took place in Sacramento September 
22, 1904, and united him with Miss Nora Jacox, formerly of Flint, 
Mich., and the daughter of a retired farmer. The only surviving child 
of the union is Adalaide iVllene, born September 21, 1905. The son. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 921 

Howard, died at the age of nine months. Mrs. Keach is a member of 
the Saturday Club and holds membership with the Baptist Church, 
to the work of which Mr. Keach has contributed with characteristic 
generosity. Various organizations have received the benefit of his 
active co-operation, including the Fraternal Brotherhood, Moose, 
Modern Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World, also the 
Knights of P^-fhias and the Improved Order of Red Men, in which 
latter he has passed through all of the chairs. He is an active 
member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Merchants' Asso- 
ciation and the Pacific Coast Advertising Club. In citizenship he has 
been progressive, promoting the advancement of his adopted city 
by every influence within his power and supporting all enterprises 
which he believes for the permanent welfare of the people. The 
measure of his prosperity is well deserved, for it has resulted from 
industry and the exercise of business ability. His tireless energy 
and resolute spirit have carried to completion large business under- 
takings and have given to him a position of prominence among Sacra- 
mento's distinguished men of affairs. 



WILLIAM D. MORRILL 

An identification with California during the eventful era of the 
'50s gave to Mr. Morrill a thorough knowledge of the crude, unde- 
veloped conditions that eventually were replaced by a cultured citi- 
zenship and a prosperous commercial environment. Although it was 
not his privilege to survive until the accomplishments of the great 
aims of the pioneers were realized he contributed his quota thereto and 
when his earth life came to an end in 1885 at the age of fifty years, 
there were not wanting friends to bear testimony to the integrity of 
his character nor old settlers to witness concerning his helpfulness in 
the strenuous tasks devolving upon the pioneers in their loyal and 
patriotic attempts to raise the standard of citizenship in their adopted 
commonwealth. Before coming to the west in 1851 at the age of 
sixteen he had seen much of the east and had enjoyed the excellent 
advantages of the Boston schools, as well as a brief attendance in the 
schools of Pittsburg. He was, however, a native of Van Diemen's 
Land, Australia, and was born in 1835 during the residence of the 
family there while his father held the position of American consul. 
It was not until he was almost twelve years of age that the family 
returned to Pittsburg and in 1849 his father joined the vast throng of 
gold-seekers leaving the Atlantic coast for the then unknown regions 



922 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the far west. Early iu life he learned the trade of boiler maker and 
in 1869 he had the honor of putting together the first train that 
started for the east over the newly completed system of the Southern 
Pacific Company. From the first he was interested in all move- 
ments for the upbuilding of the state and gave liberally of his time 
to promote progressive projects. 

The marriage of William D. Morrill in 1864 united him with Mary 
IT. Pulaski, who was born in Galveston, Tex., and now resides at No. 
1529 E street, Sacramento. Five children came to bless their union, 
but they suffered a deep bereavement in the early demise of three of 
these, the only survivors being Jessie and William H., both of whom 
are married and living in Sacramento. As early as 1852 Mrs. Morrill 
was brought to California by the family and afterward she attended 
scliool in Sacramento, where her father, August Pulaski, opened the 
first harness shop and for years carried on a large trade along the 
line of his chosen occupation. It was said that he was an expert in the 
manufacture of harness and few of the men of his day and locality 
could compete with him in the line of his specialty. As a citizen he 
was quiet but progressive, unostentatious but liberal, and in all 
measures for the civic welfare he stood on the side of progress and 
development. At one time he owned many acres within the limits of 
Sacramento, a part of the tract covering the present site of Eighth and 
J streets, but he disposed of the property before it had become val- 
uable. Three of his famih^, all of them being daughters, continue to 
make their home in Sacramento, among them Mrs, Morrill, who has 
witnessed the slow but sure growth of the capital city, has kept posted 
concerning its advancement and recalls with pride the remarkable 
transformation wrought in its aspect since she first saw it as an 
insignificant village with a transient and undevoted population, form- 
ing a striking contrast to the progress and patriotism noticeable in the 
twentieth centurv. 



NIRON LUCE 

A radical change from the environment of his early life came to 
Mr. Luce with his removal from Maine to California. As a boy at 
Farmington, Me., where he was born in 1836, he had become familiar 
with conditions existent in the far northeast regions of our country. 
The impressions made upon his plastic mind in youth were never 
forgotten, although they were dimmed by later and more pleasurable 
experiences in the agricultural activities of the west. The rigorous 
climate of Maine and the unpromising soil, with the forests of 
pine trees and the multitude of streams, imparted to the inhabitants 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 923 

in their isolation something of like attributes, for they exhibited 
a dauntlessness of courage in trial, a fixedness of purpose in adversity 
and a resolution of character in business associations that brought 
them success notwithstanding the discouraging conditions under which 
they often labored. 

Seeking an environment more favorable for permanent residence 
and profitable labor, Mr. Luce left Maine at the age of nineteen and 
made the long voyage to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. 
Immediately after his arrival in the west he settled in Placer county 
and became identified with the ranching interests of that region. 
In order to secure a start he homesteaded one hundred and sixt}' acres 
of raw land. This he brought under cultivation and improved with 
buildings. It was his far-seeing judgment that an investment in land 
would prove profitable eventually. Acting upon that theory he began 
to buy out squatters' claims. For this purpose he incurred a heavy 
debt, but he planned his enterprises in such a manner that he always 
was ready to meet the interest when due. With the increase in 
valuation of the land his financial standing became assured and he 
entered into the gratifying reward of his early foresight. At his 
death, December 16, 1901, he left to his family a splendid estate of 
fifteen hundred and twenty acres in Placer county, on which he had 
raised profitably both stock and grain. The widow, finding the care 
of so large a tract of great burden, finally disposed of the ranch and 
in 1910 established a residence in Sacramento, where at No. 1613 
Eighteenth street she is now surrounded by all the comforts of life. 

It was not until a considerable period had elapsed subsequent to 
his location in California that Mr. Luce formed home ties, his marriage 
in 1867 uniting him with Miss Lottie Wheeler, a native of Maine, and 
the daughter of a minister who served in the Baptist denomination 
throughout the entire period of his useful and consecrated maturity. 
Eventually Mrs. Wheeler came to California and settled in Placer 
count}^, where she died at an advanced age. Three children blessed 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Luce, but they had the heaviest bereave- 
ment of their wedded life to endure when their only son was taken 
from the home by death. The older daughter, Effie, was educated 
in Placer county and is now the wife of G. A. Wessing, of Sutter 
county. The other daughter. Miss Ida, who resides with her mother, 
is a woman of culture, qualified by nature and by education to enjoy 
the advantages connected with a residence in the capital city. The 
welfare of his family was always close to the heart of Mr. Luce. 
For them he lal)ored with patient industry and for them he accumu- 
lated his large acreage of land, in order that he might leave them 
beyond the reach of material want or financial struggle, and in his 
last days it afforded him gratification to realize that his efforts in their 
behalf had been crowned with such abundant success. As a citizen 

52 



924 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

he was loyal to the interests of his county, a believer in Republican 
principles and a stanch supporter of the party, but not a politician 
in the usual sense of that word, his desire being to promote the com- 
mon good of the i)eople and to iwaul all partisan activities. 



MRS. ANNA SMITH 

It has been the privilege of Mrs. Smith to witness remarkable 
changes in the appearance, condition and population of the west since 
the time when she first arrived in California sixty years ago. The 
excitement caused by the discovery of gold had not yet faded before 
the more important enterprises pertaining to the upbuilding of the 
great western empire. The entire trip from her native commonwealth 
of Ohio, where she was born near Columbus in 1835 and where she 
had been reared, made an indelible impression upon the mind of the 
young girl of seventeen, and she recalls the interesting fact that, after 
disembarking from the ship at the Isthmus of Panama, she was put on 
the back of a mule for transportation across to the Pacific ocean, 
whence she sailed up to San Francisco on the ship Blond in 1852. 
Arriving at Sacramento she found a small village of rude shacks and 
tents, crowded with a populace whose principal topic of conversation 
was that of mining and whose favorite vice was gambling. Prices 
of all commodities were high and the cost of living, an interesting- 
theme of conversation in the present era of the world, offered a 
problem as serious to the poor of that period as to those of the 
twentieth century. Even the smallest articles brought a quarter 
instead of a nickel as they would in the present day,' while no one 
seemed to recall that pennies were in existence. A church stood on 
K street at that time and there the young girl became the wife of 
John White, a native of England, and a pioneer of substantial traits 
of character. The following year, 1853, was made memorable to the 
couple, not only by reason of the birth of their first child, John A., at 
the family home on the corner of Third and ,0 streets, Sacramento, 
but also because of the disastrous flood and even more calamitous fire 
of that season. 

When the eldest child was three years of age the family removed 
to Folsoni and there remained for a considerable period. Besides 
the child mentioned four others were born to the couple, but only 
two of the entire number now survive, those being John A., of Sacra- 
mento, and Emma, Mrs. Lowrey, of San Fi'ancisco. Mr. White, who 
was an interested worker in the blue lodge of Masonry and a con- 
tributor to movements for the public welfare, was dee]^ly mourned 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 925 

when he passed away in 1861, but he left to the community the 
example of disinterested service as a pioneer and a true champion 
of his adopted country. During 1890 his widow was united in mar- 
riage with Daniel Smith, a native of Scotland, who was a physician 
in Sacramento county. His death in 1902 left Mrs. Smith once again 
alone, but with the companionship of her surviving children to gladden 
her declining days. In her quiet home at No. 723 Seventh street, 
Sacramento, surrounded by the comforts made possible by years of 
energetic work and cheered by the friendship of other pioneer women 
of the city, she passes the twilight of her useful existence in tranquil 
contentment. 



STEPHEN UREN 

For more than one-half century Mr. Uren has been identified with 
the development of the Sacramento valley and during the whole of 
this long period he has been a resident of the city of Sacramento, 
where he is still living, now retired from the heavy responsibilities of 
his younger years. Of English birth, he was born in Cornwall Sep- 
tember 10, 1837, and was the son of William and Bathsheba (Sincock) 
Uren, the former a blacksmith and machinist by trade and for many 
years employed as foreman in a large shop in Cornwall. It was there 
that the son learned all the details connected with blacksmithing. 
When he crossed the ocean in 1857 he was well qualified to earn a 
livelihood at his occupation. For almost one year he was employed in 
the copper mining district of Ontonagon county, Mich., from which 
place he returned to New York City for the purpose of starting to 
California. The steamer Constitution conveyed him to Aspiuwall. 
After he had crossed the isthmus he resumed the voyage on the 
steamer Golden Gate, which cast anchor in San Francisco October 
15, 1858. Coming from the coast city to Sacramento county, he 
worked for two years at his trade near Folsom, then spent a year 
in the mines of Eldorado county. After working for several months 
in Virginia City, Nev., he returned to Sacramento, and here he since 
has made his home. 

After a period of employment on the. capitol building Mr. Uren 
secured employment as a blacksmith, December 20, 1866, in the 
shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad. September 7, 1871, he was 
promoted to be assistant foreman under A. F. La Sholles. May 1, 
:J'^76, he was promoted to the position of foreman in the blacksmith 
shop, succeeding George Genshlea. The rolling mills also were under 
the direction of Mr. Uren and the first bar was rolled out in Julv of 



926 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1881 under his supervision. For the year 1888 eleven thousand tons of 
material were turned out by the mill and during November five hun- 
dred men were employed in the rolling mill and the blacksmith depart- 
ment. The heaviest steamboat forgings ever made on the Pacific 
coast (including those for the ship Piedmont) were manufactured 
under the direction of Mr. Uren, whose success with such tasks was a 
matter of common knowledge to the workers in the shops. 

The efficiency of the department under his charge was greatly 
increased through the introduction of Mr. Uren's own inventions. 
Several of these may be enumerated. April 27, 1880, he patented 
a device for forming car-links, which previously had been made by 
hand. The new process reduced the cost about one-third. October 6, 
1885, he patented a process for the manufacture of nuts at the rate 
of one per minute, superseding the old method which required one-half 
hour for each nut. December 1, 1885, he patented a wrought-iron 
brake-shoe, which possesses an advantage over the cast-iron shoe in the 
ratio of five to one and which is now in great demand by railroads in 
every part of the United States. May 28, 1889, a slot attachment to a 
bolt-heading machine, which has the distinction of being the only 
device in existence that will simultaneously head a bolt and slot the 
key; this is conceded to be one of his most important inventions. 
Another patent is on a method utilizing scrap cast-steel, which is 
composed into ingots and rolled down into bar steel. May 27, 1890, 
he patented a spike-making mechanism. His latest patent, that for 
reverberating heating furnaces, bears date of October 6, 1903. By 
reason of advancing years he retired from the shops September 30, 
1907. Since 1881 he has made his home in a residence that he built 
on the corner of Thirteenth and Gr streets and in 1911 he erected an 
attractive four-flat building adjacent to his own house. Honored in 
many movements, he was especially prominent in the Master Black- 
smiths' Association and during 1893 he served as chairman of the 
committee that effected the organization at Chicago. Three years later 
he was chosen president and ever since then he has been active in the 
order, often serving as committee member or as official, and doing all 
within his power to promote its usefulness. 

The marriage of Mr, Uren took place in Sacramento September 
9, 1865, and united him with Miss Mary Walch, who was born in Ire- 
land August 12, 1844, and came to California in May, 1863. Four 
sons and three daughters came to bless the union, namely: William 
Stephen, born June 18, 1866; Edward, March 31, 1868;' Mary G., 
March 22, 1871; Stephen J., August 2, 1873; Walter, December 6, 1876; 
Grace Ella, November 24, 1879 ; and Nellie Maude, March 6, 1882. The 
eldest son, now employed as assistant chief clerk in the motive power 
department of the Southern Pacific Company, married Miss Anna 
McDonald, a native of Toronto, Canada, and they are the parents 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 927 

of two daughters, namely: Gertrude M. E., March 30, 1902; and 
Marjorie, October 26, 1909. The older daughter was born in Sacra- 
mento and the younger in San Francisco. William S. is a native of 
Sacramento and his brothers and sisters likewise claim the capital city 
as their native place. The second son, Edward, learned the machin- 
ist's trade in the railroad shops at Sacramento and while living 
here patented a rotary engine. During 1892 he was married at Oak- 
land to Miss Lulu Crompton, by whom he became the father of two 
daughters, viz. : Nell, born in Portland, Ore., August 9, 1893 ; and 
Ruth, born in San Francisco March 20, 1895. The elder of these two 
girls, Nell, was reared in the home of her grandfather, Stephen 
Uren, and has received excellent advantages in the Sacramento 
schools. 

The eldest daughter of Stephen and Mary Uren was given her 
mother's name and October 25, 1891, became the wife of L. P. Kerner, 
who was born in San Francisco April 20, 1865, and is now connected 
with a real-estate firm in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Kerner are the 
parents of four children, namely: Harry, born in San Francisco Sep- 
tember 24, 1892; Louis, March 3, 1896; Gertrude, March 29, 1899; 
and Frances, April 6, 1907. The third son of Stephen and Mary Uren 
was given his father's name and is now first assistant foreman of 
the blacksmith shop and rolling mills of the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company at Sacramento. For a wife he chose Miss Annie Theresa 
Burke, who was born in Sacramento July 29, 1878. They have three 
children, viz. : Raymond Stephen, born November 9, 1900 ; Cleta Mary, 
February 2, 1902, and William Donald, March 26, 1912, all natives 
of Sacramento. 

The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Uren was taken from them by 
death. Walter Uren received a fair education in the grammar- 
schools and later learned the machinists' trade in the Southern 
Pacific shops at Sacramento, thence going to San Francisco, where he 
died November 4, 1905. Interment was made in the Eastlawn 
cemetery of Sacramento. The second daughter, Grace Ella, be- 
came the wife of Alfred Schaden, who was born in Sacramento 
April 21, 1878, received a fair education in the city schools and now 
engages in the grocery business in Sacramento. There are two chil- 
dren in the Schaden family, namely: Harold Alfred, born September 
22, 1907; and Claire, October 30, 1910. The youngest member of the 
Uren family, Nellie Maude, was married June 14, 1905, to Hazard 
Snowden Williamson, who was born in Walla Walla, Wash., July 25, 
1878, and is now conducting at San Francisco one of the largest 
candy factories on the western coast. They have two children, 
Dorothea Marie, born September 20, 1906, and Ursula Jane, November 
26, 1911. 



928 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



CHARLES E. WENTZEL 

The manager of the Sutter Photo-Engraving Company of Sacra- 
mento, Cal., is Charles E. Wentzel, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, born 
November 16, 1862. After finishing his studies in public schools of his 
native city, he was for two years a student in the high school. He 
then learned the photo-engraving business and when he had mastered 
it was for some time employed in prominent photo-engraving estab- 
lishments in Cincinnati and Chicago. In the meantime he made several 
trips to the Pacific coast, which he first visited in 1895, and it was in 
1904 that he first located in this state, for a time being employed in 
San Francisco. 

The history of the Sutter Photo-Engraving Company dates from 
February, 1906, when the Howes Electrotype & Engraving Company 
was organized and incorporated. Ten months after it began business, 
Mr. Wentzel acquired an interest in it and it was reorganized under its 
present name with Charles E. Wentzel as vice j^resident and manager. 
The plant and processes of this concern are kept thoroughly up-to- 
date; it turns out an excellent grade of engraving and electrot^s^ing, 
having just installed a new electrotyping plant, and it is enabled to 
turn out a class of work equal to any in the large cities of the east. 

In July, 1889, Mr. Wentzel married Miss Catherine Houtz, of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, and they have a daughter, Anna, who was born in 1903. 
Mrs. Wentzel, who is a lady of much culture and of great social 
popularity, is a member of the Tuesday club. 



CHARLES LOTHHAMMER 

This musician, once well known in Sacramento and vicinitj^ was 
born in Germany and died in Sacramento in August, 1885. He was in 
his time a leader among local musicians, was prominent as a Turner 
and long affiliated with Schiller Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. Frank, honest, 
outspoken, in all his aspirations friendly and helpful, he was beloved 
by all who knew him. 

Early in his life Mr. Lothhammer enlisted as a musician in the 
band of the Third Regular Volunteer Infantry and at the expiration of 
his term he re-enlisted at Watertown, N. Y. He was captured and 
taken prisoner. Afterward he was exchanged, his health shattered, 
and he received his honorable discharge. After his discharge from 
the service he located in Sacramento and soon attained a high place 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 929 

iu his profession. He married Mary Clara Clark, who survives him. 
Her father, Casper Kloth, who was born in Hanover, was married 
there to Gertrude Ferseu. He brought his family to the United States, 
they later coming as pioneers to California, where they died. Mrs. 
Lothhammer bore her husband a daughter, Gertrude Frances. Since 
her husband died she has made her home in Sacramento, where she 
has lived since childhood. 



PHILIP WISE 

The proud i)rivilege of claiming Sacramento county as his native 
place belonged to Mr. Wise. Nor was he less fortunate in being able 
to boast of a lifelong identification with this same portion of the 
state, for he was born at Walnut Grove, Sacramento county, Cal., 
October 18, 1857, son of Joseph and Nancy J. (Pliipps) Wise. The 
parents crossed the plains in the '50s. 

The son of a pioneer who had been attracted to the west by the 
discovery of gold and who, disappointed in his hopes of finding a 
fortune in the mines, had settled down to ranching pursuits on a 
large tract of raw land, it was the fate of Philip Wise as a boy to 
undergo all the hardships incident to existence in an undevelo]:)ed 
farming country of unknown possibilities. Schools were few in that 
period of our history. The sparsely settled country regions forbade 
any permanent educational work. Whatever education he received, it 
was largely through his unaided application to books and his own 
desire to obtain the knowledge necessary for the business affairs of 
life. When attendance at school was possible he availed himself of 
such opportunities and at other times he assisted in ranch work, 
thereby gaining a diversified knowledge of agriculture most helpful 
to him in his life work as a farmer. After years of successful effort 
in the agricultural districts of Sacramento county in 1896, at the 
age of thirty-nine years, death terminated his earthly activities. 

The marriage of Mr. Wise had been solemnized in Freeport, June 
24, 1885, uniting him with Miss Mary L. Beach, who was born at 
Freeport, Sacramento county, and is a daughter of the late Julius 
C. Beach, an Ohioan who came to the west during the memorable 
year of 1849, afterward identifying himself with the pioneers of Sac- 
ramento county. Mr. Beach returned east and was married in October, 
1855, to Mary E. Davis, who was born in Pittsburg, Pa., and they 
came by way of Panama to his home in Sacramento county, where they 
resided until death took them. They were the parents of a son and 
five daughters. Mrs. Wise was the fourth eldest of her parents' fam- 



930 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ily; she received her education in the public schools of Sacramento 
county and is a well-informed woman, keeping abreast of the times 
and being- especially conversant with the early history of our count}^ 
She has witnessed the gradual development into the prosperity and 
progress characteristic of the present era. While giving patriotic 
support to movements for the civic growth and county welfare, her 
time since her marriage has been devoted chiefly to her family, 
whose happiness is ever uppermost in her thoughts. Her first deep 
bereavement came in the death of her son, Joseph Clinton, a bright 
boy of four years, and later she was bereaved by the untimel}^ passing 
of her husband. Three children are now living, the eldest of whom, 
Carol M., is the wife of Milo E. Dye, of Walnut Grrove, Sacramento 
county, and they have one child. Grove Ernest, born October 9, 1907. 
The others, Mabel E. and Philip E., remain with their mother, and 
all are a source of blessing, joy and comfort to her. 



0. F. WASHBURN 

From Maine to Califoi'uia is the width of a continent, but these 
states are two points in the life of 0. F. Washburn, of Sacramento. 
He was born in Kennebec county. Me., November 25, 1849, on the 
farm on which his father, Abisha Washburn, was born and reared. 
He is related to the well-known Washburn family which furnished 
governors for Maine, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois. 

When a young man Mr. Washburn went to Portland, Me., and 
engaged in the wholesale grocery business. In May, 1876, he was 
married to an old schoolmate. Miss Ray Williams. Their wedding 
trip to the Centennial Fair at Philadelphia was really the first lap 
of their immigration westward, for after doing the wonders of the 
great one-hundred-year exposition they left for California, coming 
by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and located in Los Angeles, 
where they remained for several years. Then, after two years spent 
in connection with the wholesale grocery business in San Francisco, 
he opened the American Cash Store in Stockton, which was success- 
fully conducted under the firm name of Parmalee & Washburn. After 
selling out his interest in the business to Mr. Parmalee Mr. Wash- 
burn came to Sacramento in 1885 and established the American Cash 
Store at No. 915 K street. After two years the business was moved 
to a larger store in the Clunie building, on the corner of Eighth and K 
streets, where it soon developed into the first store in its line in the 
citv. In 1901 Ex-Governor Fancher became associated and the cor- 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 931 

poration was formed of whicli Mr. Washburn is president and Mr. 
Fanclier secretary and treasurer. The quarters again becoming too 
small, in 1909 Mr. Washburn and Mr. Fancher built a three-story brick 
building with an eighty-foot frontage for the company. The various 
departments include grocery, market, delicatessen, bakery and hard- 
ware, and the sixty-seven people and seventeen delivery wagons are 
not one too many for the daily work of this big establishment. 

Mr. and Mrs. Washburn became the parents of two children, one of 
whom, Virginia, died at the age of seventeen; the other daughter, 
Alice, was married August 17, 1904, to George B. Lorenz, who is 
identified with the People's Savings Bank, and they have two children, 
Robert Washburn, born June 22, 1905, and Edith Virginia, born 
October 25, 1911. Mrs. Washburn has also done her share of the firm's 
work and contributed considerably to the success it is today. She was 
the confidential bookkeeper for ten years and her practical oversight 
of the affairs of the establishment has been invaluable. She is 
prominent in the club life of her home place. Mr. Washburn can trace 
his familv line back to the Pilgrim Fathers and the Mavflower. 



ADOLPH WALKE 

One of the leading grocers of Sacramento and one of the most 
extensive dealers in poultry, eggs and butter in Sacramento valley, is 
Adolph Walke, No. 920 J street. Mr. Walke was born in Germany and 
was there educated. He came to Sacramento in 1891 and identified 
himself with the business of D. Dierssen, in the old Pacific market. 
After two years' experience in that connection he entered the grocery 
and produce business in a small way and has since built it up to large 
proportions. Originally he started at No. 1208 J street, after which he 
bought the stock of Walters and Dunbar and later the Heilbron stock 
at No. 703-05 J street. There he did business six years and then 
moved to his ])resent quarters, the location of which is mentioned 
above, and made very extensive improvements in the building and its 
appointments. He now has one of the most up-to-date and attractive 
groceries in the city. 

In 1899 Mr. Walke married Miss Myrtle Smith of Sacramento, 
daughter of H. B. and Phoebe Smith. Their children, Charles, 
Delphine, Adolph and Heilbron, are attending school in their native 
city. Mr. Walker has given too close attention to his business to be at 
all active in politics, but he has well defined opinions on all economic 
questions and takes a public-spirited interest in the advancement of 
the city and county. 



932 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



GEORGE WASHINGTON CAVITT 

The arduous labors connected with the improvement and culti- 
vation of a ranch occupied the time of Mr. Cavitt throughout almost 
the entire period from his arrival in California during 1865 until his 
death, January 24, 1907. His birth occurred in Rush county, Ind., in 
1832, and some years later, in 1845, his jjarents removed from there to 
Iowa, where they engaged in farming pursuits until 1864. In that year 
he started for California, and settling in Sacramento county he 
eventually became the owner of eighty acres of ground. In that long 
era of agricultural and commercial upbuilding he witnessed the 
transformation of the commonwealth from a broad expanse of unde- 
velo])ed and sparsely settled land into a region of prosperity and even 
wealth. In the difficult task of improvement he bore an honorable 
share. To the labors of such indefatigable pioneers may be attributed 
the ])resent high standing of the entire state. Beginning to till the 
virgin soil ere yet a furrow had been turned in it and keeping up the 
labor of cultivation long after bare tracts had been transformed into 
finely improved ranches, he contributed his quota to the general 
agricultural prosperity and proved beyond question the adaptability 
of the soil to many important crops now grown with profit. Wlien 
he came across the plains at the close of the Civil war rapid transpor- 
tation was unknown. Large expeditions of emigrants were organized 
as a means of protection against the assaults of Indians. Oxen were 
utilized as motive power and supplies were conveyed in the old- 
fashioned "prairie schooner," in which also rode all the women and 
children together with the least rugged of the men, while others of 
the men acted as cattle-drivers or guards. Immediately after his 
arrival Mr. Cavitt took up land at Antelope, Sacramento county, and 
there he passed his remaining years busily engaged in general ranch 
pursuits on his eighty-acre ranch, situated two miles southeast of 
Antelo]ie and fifteen and a half miles from the city of Sacramento. 

Mr. (Cavitt was married Fel)ruary 28, 1856, to Rebecca J. Perkins, 
a native of Virginia, who survived him for a few years, passing away 
May 8, 1911. Pour children came to bless their union and crown 
their last days with affectionate devotion. One of the sons now 
resides in San Francisco ; the other son and one of the daughters 
remain at the old homestead and superintend the eighty acres of 
almond trees, finding both pleasure and profit in the thrifty manage- 
ment of the finely improved ranch. The children were born as fol- 
lows: William c] November 30, 1856; Thomas T., September 20, 1858; 
Ida Bell, January 30, 1860; and Eva T., April 10, 1867. 

Mrs. Eva T. Stackbouse, who likewise owns an interest in the old 
home ranch, but makes her home in Sacramento, passed the uneventful 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 933 

years of childhood upon that farm and attended the country schools. 
When she left the homestead it was as the wife of Nathan Stackhouse 
and they became the parents of four children. The deepest sorrow 
that has come to the family has been the loss of two daughters, one of 
them, Hattie M., when a lovely young lady of twenty-two years, and 
the other, Mildred, when a loved child of only four years. George 
Alvin Stackhouse resides with his mother in Sacramento. The other 
surviving child, Effie A., born in Alameda county and educated in 
Sacramento, is now the wife of A. C. Moore, a native of Maine. A 
daughter, Angela Moore, blesses their union and represents the third 
generation in descent from that honored old pioneer, George Wash- 
ington Cavitt. Could he now speak it would be to endeavor to inspire 
in the hearts of the rising generations a deep affection for their 
native commonwealth and an unselfish loyalty toward its progress, 
inasmuch as a region, matchless in fertility and climate, with^'com- 
mercial prospects limited only by the energy of its people, forms a 
monument to the privations of the pioneers as well as the business 
sagacity of the citizens of the twentieth centurv. 



FRANK M. DERBY 

A residence in the west beginning at the age of five years and 
continuing up to tlie present time qualifies Mr.' Derby for accurate 
judgment concerning the possibilities of the region and the oppor- 
tunities it affords to young men of energy. Having spent so much of 
his life in California he cherishes for the state an appreciation impos- 
sible to be understood by a newcomer, but directly resultant from 
his faith in the country and his knowledge of its resources. Of his 
native commonwealth of Pennsylvania he entertains only vague and 
indistinct recollections. Born at Greenville, that state, February 1, 
1877, he is a son of Daniel B. Derby, for many years a prominent 
nurseryman at Oakland, but more recently a horticulturist at Vaca- 
ville, and he is also a brother of Charles M. Derby, manager of the 
Natoma Mining and Dredging Company. 

Educated in the grannnar and higli schools of Oakland and in a 
business college of that city, Frank M. Derby enjoyed the advantages 
which materially assist in the preparation for life's activities. After 
leaving school he assisted his father in horticultural pursuits at 
Vacaville for a number of years, but later he came to Natoma, Sacra- 
mento county, joining his brother at this place. Since then he lias 
officiated as superintendent and manager of the orchard and packing 
house of the Natoma Mining and Dredging Company, also as manager 



934 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the water system, and recently he became a stockholder in the 
company, whose officials repose the fullest confidence in his ability 
to fill his ini})ortant position. Under his snj^ervision there is a large 
force of men on the ranches, in the orchards and vineyards, in the 
packing house and with the water system, and the immense amount 
of work accomplished proves the energy and industry of the workmen. 
The marriage of Frank M. Derby took place in Sacramento and 
united him, May 23, 1911, with Miss Corinne Bell, who was born and 
reared in San Francisco and received a classical education in the 
best schools of that city. The family residence is a pleasant and 
comfortable home on Alder creek near the packing house and there 
Mr. and Mrs. Derby welcome their friends with gracious and un- 
failing hospitality. 



JOHN DONAHUE 

The ciuiet round of daily duties does not form necessarily a 
narrow, eventless existence. The life of John Donahue, while it con- 
tained no thrilling events and no exciting experiences, yet held much 
that was heroic and sincere and successful. So different were the 
conditions of his early life from those of the twentieth century that 
the young people who embarked on the slow sailers for the new world 
had little hope of ever again seeing their native land or the friends of 
their youth. It required, therefore, not a little courage for Mr. 
Donahue to break all the tender ties of kinship and affection when in 
1859 he followed the example set by many thousands of Irish lads in 
days gone by and sought a livelihood in America. At the time of his 
departure from his native county of Tyrone he was about twenty-five 
years of age (having been born in 1834). Little he had to assist him 
in the stern battle of life except a brave heart and a pair of willing 
hands. Of education he had little and of money he had even less, but 
in spite of his handicap he never lacked employment nor did he ever 
undergo the painful trial of an appeal to others for aid. Always he 
remained the same self-reliant, industrious, quiet and persevering man, 
and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, his employers practically 
from the time of his arrival in Sacramento in 1859 up to the date of 
his death, October 1, 1894, profited by his conscientious labors and 
sincere devotion to duty. After landing in Philadelphia he had come 
direct to California and here he spent the remainder of his life, being 
so pleased with the country that he had no desire to seek a home or a 
livelihood elsewhere. 

For many years Eliza (Mcllhatton) Donahue has occupied the 
family residence at No. 2319 K street, Sacramento, and this property 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 935 

she still owns, caring for the place personally and making of it an 
attractive and comfortable home. Of Irish birth and ancestry, she 
was born in County Antrim and was a farmer's daughter. Her 
father never left the home of his birth, but continued to till the soil 
of a small farm in County Antrim and by diligent industry earned a 
livelihood for those dependent upon him; he also was the road sur- 
veyor of county highways. His death occurred at the old home in 
1874. Mrs. Donahue was born October 26, 1838, and came to the 
United States in 1860, -landing in New York City. Thence she jour- 
neyed on to St. Louis, where she lived until 1867. From St. Louis 
she came to California and settled in Sacramento county, where Feb- 
ruary 15, 1870, she became the wife of John Donahue. Five children 
blessed their union, namely: Henry, Ruth, John, Eveline and Hugh. 
Henry and John are painters by trade, while Hugh follows the occu- 
pation of mining. It has been the privilege of Mrs. Donahue to wit- 
ness much of the growth and development of Sacramento. Since she 
first saw the capital city forty-five years ago there have been many 
changes in its appearance. The business streets have been improved 
with substantial structures and in the residence district there is 
abundant evidence of the thrift of the permanent residents. Into her 
own pleasant home she has welcomed many of the pioneers of the 
community and always she has had a hospitable welcome for all, 
whether old or young, who seek her cheerful society or depend upon 
her practical sjTiipathy. 



JAMES FRANKLIN ELLIOTT 

With the exception of his first fourteen years Mr. Elliott could 
claim a lifelong citizenship in California. At the time of his arrival 
in 1851 the country was filled with gold-seekers. The spirit of devel- 
opment had seized the newly-admitted state, the youngest child of the 
great Union, and he himself became immediately loyal to his chosen 
home, stanchly devoted to the welfare of his adopted commonwealth. 
The surroundings were radically different from those of his native 
Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1837 and where he had gained a 
knowledge of the three R's in the country schools of the day. The 
loneliness caused by such a complete change of environment was in- 
creased by the severing of family ties, for his parents never came to 
the west and he found himself forced into the struggle for a livelihood 
without parental counsel or encouragement. The fact that he attained 
a competency before age rendered further efforts impracticable speaks 
volumes for his energy and patient perseverance. In all of his actions 
he was governed by high ideals. His was the far-seeing discrimina- 



936 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

tion, the sagacity of judgmeut and the honesty of purpose that are 
consijicnous attributes of our noblest citizens. Tliough of eastern 
birth, in everything else he was a typical Californian, hospitable and 
energetic. The spirit of western enterprise was a prominent ingre- 
dient in his nature. AVhile he gained considerable success as a farmer 
and business man, he also gained that which he valued far more, the 
respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. During the first period 
of his residence in the state he had seen much of hardship and priva- 
tion, but he had carefully hoarded his wages as a day laborer, thus 
becoming able to take up land in Yolo county. "When he sold that tract 
he purchased land on the river in 1874 and there engaged in general 
ranching for eight years, after which selling the property he removed 
to Sacramento. There in 1904 he passed away, mourned by his family 
and by his large circle of acquaintances of pioneer days, who realized 
appreciatively his integrity as a man and his worth as a citizen. 

When about thirty years of age Mr. Elliott established a home of 
his own. February 27, 1867, occurred his marriage to Alameda J. 
Johnston, a native of Ohio and the daughter of John and Fidelia 
(Tyler) Johnston, natives of Ohio and New York, respectively. While 
her parents came to the west earl}^ in the '50s it was thought wise 
to leave her behind with relatives and on that account she was 
separated from the immediate famil3^ for some time. For years Mr. 
Johnston held an honored position among the pioneers of Sutter 
county and his acquaintanceship extended through all that section of 
the country, where he was universally honored as a man of fine prin- 
ciples and great industry. When advanced in years he died in that 
county. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott consisted of eight chil- 
dren, of whom the eldest, Frank, passed away in 1906. Another mem- 
ber of the family died in early years. The six now living are named 
as follows : Minnie W., Mrs. Reece Murphy ; Evelyn Mary, Mrs. Augus- 
tus Hall; Edgar Elmer, of Sacramento; George E., who is now living 
in Modoc county; Bertha L. and Maude, who reside with their mother 
at No. 1513 Eighteenth street, Sacramento. 



WILLARD A. FAIRFIELD 

It was at Fort Wayne, Ind., that Willard A. Fairfield was born 
November 12, 1854. He was educated in public schools, and after his 
graduation from the high school was employed there at farm labor 
until he was twenty-two years old. He then went to Golden, Colo., and 
entered the Colorado State School of Mines, from which he was 
graduated as a mining engineer in 1881. From that time until 1891, 



IIISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 937 

during a period of ten years, he was kept busy examining mines and 
reporting on mining property in Colorado. Meanwhile, in 1889, 
he returned to Fort Wayne, Ind., and opened a real-estate office and 
engaged in the sale of stock. For several years he was successful in 
these lines and especially so in the stock department of his business. 
Then he came to Sacramento, Cal., and made a careful survey from his 
professional point of view of the Sacramento valley in particular and 
in a general way of the whole state. Going back east he remained for a 
short time, but reappeared in Sacramento March 26, 1910, and 
acquired the interest of J. F. Brickell in the Oak Park Eealty Com- 
pany, of which he is now president, engaging in a general real-estate 
and brokerage business. 

On December 4, 1894, Mr. Fairfield married Miss Ella M. Bar- 
rows, of La Grange, Inch, daughter of an early settler and prominent 
farmer of that section of the state and one of the leading men of that 
city until his death, which occurred when he had reached the advanced 
age of ninety-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield have three children : 
Mabel Ruthi born July 10, 1897; Paul B., born March 10, 1899, and 
Howard I., born March 27, 1902. 

As a business man Mr. Fairfield is successful beyond many in 
his line. As a citizen he undertakes in a public-spirited way to do his 
duty as a consistent Democrat. Fraternally he affiliates with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has long been helpfully iden- 
tified with the Congregational Church. 



JOHN FARREN 

With his aspirations directed beyond the mere struggle for a 
daily livelihood and turned toward the acquisition of a competency, 
John Farren passed an exceedingly busy life in his adopted city of 
Sacramento. When eventually in 1909 death summoned him from the 
quiet little home which he and his capable wife had occupied for many 
years, he passed into the grateful peace justly earned by the honorable 
and industrious citizen. Unselfish toil had sanctified his existence and 
kindly good humor had cheered his intercourse with his fellowmen. 
Acquaintances unite in attributing to him the possession of the wit 
and optimism that characterize the Celtic race. Although it was not 
possible for him to secure an education in his native Ireland, nor did 
any good fortune come his way through early life, by dint of industry 
and frugality he made a place for himself in his own chosen circle of 
society and had a host of friends among the other pioneers of Sacra- 
mento county, where he had made his home from an early day. 



938 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The lady with whom John Farren was united in 1896 and whose 
devotion cheered his last days was, at the time of their marriage, the 
widow of William Mehary, a native of Ireland and a pioneer of Cali- 
fornia. She likewise was of Celtic blood and claimed the Emerald Isle 
as her native home, but, her parents having died when she was very 
small, she was brought to the United States in 1850 by one of her 
brothers, settling first in New York, where all of her kindred still 
remain. When first she came to California she bore up bravely against 
the depression of homesickness and isolation from relatives, but as her 
circle of acquaintances enlarged and as she found more to admire in 
the vast country beside the sunset sea she became a devoted champion 
of its progress. Especially is she interested in Sacramento, which 
she has seen develop from an insignificant western town into a pros- 
perous and progressive city, worthy of the great commonwealth whose 
capital it is. For more than forty years she has lived in the town 
and for a quarter of a century she has owned and occupied the resi- 
dence at No. 523 M street, where surrounded by an environment grown 
dear through long associations she is passing into life's twilight forti- 
fied by a deep Christian faith, cheered by the good will of the pioneers 
who still survive and crowned by a realization of an existence un- 
selfishly devoted to the welfare of others. Were it not for the warm 
friendship of so many old friends her days would be lonely, for hus- 
band and near relatives are gone, and with her departure from the east 
long ago she passed out of intimate touch with the kindred there, but 
the friends in Sacramento minister to her comfort and see that she 
is surrounded by those evidences of affection so precious to all who 
have passed out of youth. 



STEPHEN FOSTER 

Genealogical records indicate that the Foster family was iden- 
tified with Great Britain back to a period where historical accuracy 
becomes lost in legendary tradition. England was the native country of 
Stephen Foster and August 23, 1852, the date of his birth. It was in 
that country also that he received his education, which was limited to 
the study of the common branches, yet sufficiently thorough to enable 
him to transact all business matters with accuracy and dispatch. As 
he grew to manhood he heard much concerning the opportunities 
offered by California and as soon as the way became clear for him to 
do so he migrated to the Pacific coast country, settling first in Sacra- 
mento. From that time until his death, which occurred December 8, 
1902, at the age of fifty years, he remained a resident of the Sacra- 
mento valley, and was a useful, honorable and industrious citizen, 



HISTORY OP SACRAMENTO COUNTY 939 

belonging to that class of men whose citizenship possesses permanent 
value to the community with which they identify themselves. 

The marriage of Mr. Foster was solemnized June 17, 1886, and 
united him with Mrs. Kate (McKernan) Donnelly, of Folsom, 'cal, 
the widow of Henry Donnelly, a native of Ireland, but for vears a 
useful citizen of Folsom, where he died in 1877, at the age of forty- 
eight years. Six children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Donnelly, but only three of these survive. The eldest, James Henry 
Donnelly, born November 21, 1868, received a common-school educa- 
tion m Folsom and is now serving his third term as representative 
from the fourth district of Sacramento countv on the board of county 
supervisors, where he has proved most helpful in promoting measures 
for the permanent upbuilding of his district. The only survivino- 
daughter, Mary Donnelly, is the wife of H. ^Y. Hall, of Sacramento" 
The younger son, Peter F. Donnelly, still resides in his native village 
of Folsom, where he is proprietor of an hotel and also holds the 
office of village constable. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs Foster 
was blessed with two children. The daughter. Pearl F., married Albert 
Arnold, of Sacramento, and is the mother of one son. Reuben S., who 
is unmarried, resides with his mother at No. 2125 E street Sacra- 
mento. ' 

The ancestry of Mrs. Foster had headquarters on the Emerald 
Isle. Her father, the late James McKernan, was a native of Ireland 
whence he crossed the ocean to the United States during 1844 He 
was at the time a stalwart youth, physically robust and capable of 
long endurance m any task, but entirely without means or friends 
After his marriage he remained in the east for some vears, but havino- 
heard much concerning the vast resources of California he came 
hither m 1856 to test the opportunities of the new countrv In 1858 
he was joined by his wife and children, among the latter being Kate 
who was born m Paterson, N. J. The mother died at Folsom 'in 1873 
and the father survived until March of 1886. 

For over thirty years Mrs. Foster was engaged in the hotel and 
ivery business in Folsom. In 1903 she built the Enterprise Hotel a 
large briclv' building modern in every particular, and the largest and 
best building in that city. She also built up the Donnellv liverV stable 
the largest establishment of the kind in the place. All of this she 
accomphshed by her own industry and business abilitv, building the 
enterprises up from the profits ofi the business. She also built manv 
residences m Folsom and it was stated that she erected more buildings 
there than any other individual. However, in June of 1910 she became 
a resident of Sacramento, where she has a large circle of friends 
among the honored pioneers of the city. For vears Mr. Foster was an 
interested worker in the Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd 
i^^ellows and she also became prominent in Fedora Rebekah Lodge No. 



940 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

166 of Folsom, of wliieli she is a charter member and a past officer. 
She contributes liberally to its charitable measures and also aids all 
movements for the helping of the needy and the relief of the dis- 
tressed. 



HUNTER W. S. SHANNON 

Among those who have taken up their residence in Sacramento 
in recent years is H. AV. S. Shannon, who since 1907 has been actively 
engaged in the real estate business in this city. His success may be 
attributed not alone to his ability to rightly judge of land values and 
to a foresight as to future development, but rather to his innate 
integrity and unvarying straightforwardness in all of his relations 
with patrons. It has always been a rule with him to make no assertion 
in favor of a property which he cannot vouch for and he never advises 
a purchase in which he himself does not see an honest value. These 
underlying principles of upright dealing have brought Mr. Shannon the 
splendid reputation which he bears throughout the Sacramento valley. 

Mr. Shannon was born in Sydney, Australia, November 17, 1876, 
and is the son of Thomas and Martha (Prentice) Shannon, both na- 
tives of Australia, their parents being natives of England. The ma- 
ternal grandfather, who was a captain in the English army and par- 
ticipated in the Crimean war, traced his family line back to the English 
Stuarts. Thomas Shannon was a prominent and influential citizen in 
the colony in which he made his home, and for many years was Alder- 
man of Ulmarra, his native town. He was also judge of the agricul- 
tural shows, a position which in that country carries with it large 
honors. He is still a resident of that country and is now shire coun- 
cillor for Sherwood. 

H. W. S. Shannon received good educational advantages in the 
schools of Sydney, and after completing his schooling he was associ- 
ated in business with his father. Later he engaged in business inde- 
pendently, dealing in livestock and land, continuing this until deter- 
mining to come to California. This he did in 1907, landing at San 
Francisco, and from there he came the same year to Sacramento, 
which ever since has been the scene of his real estate operations. 
Among the many properties which he has handled may be mentioned 
the following: the Los Molinas lands, the Patterson lands, the Oakley 
homestead and the Oakley tract, and he is now engaged in subdivid- 
ing the Kildonan Oaks tract, on the line of the California Traction 
Company's Railroad, about fourteen miles east of Sacramento. 

In Sacramento Mr. Shannon was united in marriage, August 
23, 1910, with Miss Floretta Woodward, a native of California, and 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 941 

thej have one daughter, Lucile. As might be expected of a man of 
Mr. Shannon's enterprise and public spirit he is a member of the 
chamber of commerce, and is actively interested in any project that 
has at heart the welfare of community, city or state. Fraternally 
he is identified with the Odd Fellows, Mrs. Shannon being a member 
of the Eastern Star, and both are members of the Episcopal Church. 



BERNARD FROMMER 

In our commerce and industries, from the railroad builder to the 
bank president, our foreign-born citizens have shown excellent quali- 
ties, and this is especially true of the natives of Austria. Bernard 
Frommer was born in Kra Kow, Austria, and landed in New York 
City in 1884, coming to San Francisco from there in 1888, and was 
for several years thereafter employed along mercantile lines. He 
came to Sacramento in 1895 and in that year and in 1896 was em- 
ployed as salesman in one of the stores of that city. Then he opened 
a small furnishing store for men on K street and two years later 
opened his present clothing store at 301-303 K street, in a fine business 
building of which he is now the owner. As a progressive merchant 
and man of commercial achievment he has made a record that might 
well be envied by any business man in California. His beginning was 
comparatively small and represented very little capital, but by 
close application to business and by his splendid judgment and financ- 
ing he has been very successful and built up a large trade. He has 
amassed a comfortable fortune, being the owner of much valuable 
real estate, one of his choice holdings being at the corner of 
Eleventh and K streets. On this, in 1912, Mr. Frommer erected the 
Frommer Building which is a credit to the city as well as himself. 
It is a four story structure of Roman pressed brick with terra cotta 
finish, and it is the concensus of opinion that it is the most modern 
and up-to-date building in construction and architecture of any 
in the city. He took a very active part in the building of the Hotel 
Sacramento, of which he is a large stockholder. 

To some extent Mr. Frommer may be said to have inherited his 
peculiar business ability from his father, who was a successful 
merchant in Austria. He is a member of the Retail Merchants Associa- 
tion of Sacramento and of the local Chamber of Commerce, is identi- 
fied with the Jewish Congregational church and is active in various 
charitable societies. As a business man he is public-spirited and 
helpful to all worthy interests. His parents died in Austria some 



942 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

years ago and he has a sister living in the old family home. He has 
been as successful in his real estate as in his commercial ventures and 
those who know him best know that his success has been honorably 
achieved. All in all, he is one of the notable upbuilders of Sacra- 
mento. 



JAMES GOULDEN 

A long identification with the industrial development of Cali- 
fornia qualified James Goulden among the most progressive citizens 
of the state. In Quebec, Canada, he was born in 1853, and he died 
at his home in Sacramento, CaL, May 6, 1909. He was quite a young 
man when he settled near Truckee, Nevada county, CaL, and there 
eventually he became interested in the lumber trade, with which he was 
connected twenty-eight years. In 1895 he took up his residence in 
Sacramento, and from that time until his death was chief inspector 
for the Southern Pacific Eailroad Company. In 1883 Mr. Goulden 
married Laura McCullough, a native of Cass county, Ind., who 
had come with her parents across the plains with ox-teams to Cali- 
fornia in 1854. They landed at Dutch Flat in October that year. 
Socially Mr. Goulden affiliated with the Masonic order, in which he had 
taken high degrees, and with the Knights of Pythias. In railroad and 
commercial circles he was known as a man of much ability and of 
highest integrity and efficiency, and when he passed away his removal 
was regretted as that of one whose place it would be hard to fill. As 
a citizen he was public spirited and helpful to an unusual degree, 
never withholding his encouragement and support from any measure 
which in his opinion promised to benefit any considerable number 
of his fellow citizens. Since her husband's death Mrs. Goulden has 
lived at her home at 1006 G street. By her first marriage, to Joseph 
Hilton, who died in Truckee, she had two children, G. W. Hilton, 
who is with the Southern Pacific Eailroad, and Henrietta May, now 
Mrs. Easton, of Truckee, Cal. 



GUS LAVENSON 

Indicative of the genuine business ability and purposeful energy 
of Mr. Lavenson is the important commercial concern established by 
his unaided efforts and built up to its present magnitude through 
his sagacious supervision. It was during 1877 that he opened a small 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 943 

shoe store on the corner of Fifth and J streets, Sacramento. He was 
young and without capital, but what he lacked in means he possessed 
in enthusiasm and determination. Even more important than this, he 
had excellent taste in selecting shoes and accurate judgment as to 
the wants and needs of customers, so that from the first he won 
the confidence of his patrons. To assist him at the start he had one 
man, an experienced cobbler, who took charge of repair work and also 
assisted in waiting on the trade. The twenty-three years of his 
occupancy of the same quarters were years of growth and slow but 
steady development, bringing the ultimate necessity of enlarged 
accommodations for customers and for the stock of shoes. Therefore 
in 1900 he removed to the corner of K and Seventh streets, where 
now he has twenty-two assistants to aid him in the management of 
the business. With this large force he is able to care for "customers 
promptly, while the splendid equipment and modern conveniences of 
the new establishment give him one of the finest shoe stores in the 
entire state. 

Born in Germany, December 27, 1852, Mr. Lavenson came to 
the United States with his parents when he was thirteen years old, 
settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended the public and high 
schools until he was sixteen years of age. Mr. Lavenson has made 
Sacramento his home since May of 1869, having been one of the very 
first to come across the continent over the newly completed Central 
Pacific Railroad. Five years before this an older brother had come to 
California, where for a time he engaged in the mercantile business 
at Rocklin, Placer county, but more recently he has made his home in 
Portland, Ore. An uncle, Samuel Lavenson, a prominent pioneer of 
California, for years was a member of the firm of Lock & Lavenson, 
dealers in carpets and manufacturers of mattresses; this business 
was established during 1850 and has a reputation of being one of 
the very oldest in Northern California. 

After his arrival in Sacramento a search for employment brought 
Gus Lavenson to the firm of Peyser & Lyons, on the corner of Seventh 
and J streets, where he secured work as an errand boy. His worth 
was soon proved. By various promotions he won his way to a rank 
among the head men in the store, where he remained for seven years, 
resigning in order to emliark in business for himself. In his specialty 
he is well informed, posted concerning every change in style of shoe 
or leather, courteous among his customers and painstaking in his 
efforts to meet their wishes ; with such qualities as these success comes 
in the nature of things. The conduct of the business, however, does 
not represent the limit of his activities, for during recent years he has 
been treasurer of the Sacramento River Farms Company, an organiz- 
ation incorporated in March of 1908 with the following-named 
officers; Clinton L. White, president; Herman T. Silvius, vice-presi- 



944 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

dent; H. F. G. Wulff, secretary; and Gus Lavenson, treasurer. 
About the time of their incorporation the company acquired con- 
siderable property from Virginia Vanderbilt, a member of the famous 
New York City family of that name. They now own eleven thousand 
acres of rich bottom land in the Sacramento valley and also a part of 
the town site at Knight's Landing. In order to protect their fertile 
land from overflow and render it available for remunerative culti- 
vation, the}' have expended more than $600,000 in improvements 
and have built more than fifteen miles of levee. There is every reason 
to believe that the hopes of the projectors will reach a gratifying- 
fruition. 

The marriage of Mr. Lavenson took place in Sacramento April 10, 
1881, and united him with Miss Flora Goldman, a native of New York 
state, but from girlhood a resident of the capital city, where she 
is now a ]u-ominent member of the Tuesday and Saturday Clubs. Her 
parents, both now deceased, were Simon and Clara (Bien) Goldman, 
the former one of the well-known business men of Sacramento during 
the pioneer period. Mr. and Mrs. Lavenson are the parents of two 
daughters, Claire and Selma Rose. Both are leaders in athletic 
recreations in the capital city and are especially prominent as expert 
swimmers. Nor are they less capable as equestriennes. It is said by 
competent judges that they have in the west few superiors in either 
art. During the summer of 1911 they accompanied a party on a 
twelve days ' trip through the Yosemite valley and during eight days of 
that time they were continuously in saddle, making four hundred 
miles on horseback with ease and speed, and returning home un- 
wearied bv the strenuous nature of the excursion. 



HARRY G. KREBS 

The commercial activities of Sacramento find an able represen- 
tative in Harry G. Krebs, who as a native son of the capital city 
and as a lifelong resident thereof has acquired a breadth of infor- 
mation regarding local resources that is equalled by few and perhaps 
surpassed by none. The business to which he has given the larger 
share of his time and which he has developed from insignificance into 
popularity has a high standing among the establishments of the 
city. A large stock of paints and of wall paper is kept on hand, the 
sale of these being increased by the fact that the owner also takes con- 
tracts for exterior painting and interior decorating. It is the aim of 
the proprietor to kee]) in stock a complete assortment of paints and 
the very latest styles of papers and preparations for interior finishing. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 945 

Tlirough being strictly up-to-date in the stock carried and strictly 
honorable in the methods of conducting business he has won the con- 
fidence of a large circle of patrons. 

A member of an old family of California and himself a native 
of Sacramento, born June 9, 1880, Harry G. Krebs was a son of Charles 
H. and Charlotte Krebs. He received a public-school education in 
this city, and since leaving school he has devoted his attention to 
business pursuits. On March 18, 1909, the business, which had been 
established in 1854 by his father, Charles H. Krebs, and named 
after him, was incorporated as C. H. Krebs & Co., the officers being, 
Mrs. Charlotte Krebs, president, F. H. Krebs, vice-president, Harry 
Gr. Krebs, treasurer, and Mrs. Alice Avery, secretary. Besides the 
paint and wall-paper store he has other interests. At' this writing he 
serves as a director in the Del Paso Heights Land Companv, 
which owns adjacent to the city a large tract acquired for subdivision 
purposes. In addition he is interested in the Camelia Investment 
Company, Incorporated, which buys and sells real estate and 
transacts a large business in the line of its specialty. The officers 
of the company are as follows : A. E. Goddard, president ; Harry G. 
Krebs, vice-president; and Leroy Bray, secretary. 

The marriage of Harry G. Krebs took place January 15, 1908, 
and united him with Miss Lillis Swanston, daughter of George 
Swanston, a wholesale butcher and well-known citizen of Sacramento. 
There is one son, Harry Swanston Krebs, whose birth occurred 
March 24, 1909. The Native Sons of the Golden West have in Mr. 
Krebs an interested worker. In addition he holds membership with 
Union Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., Sacramento Chapter No. 3, E. A. M., 
Sacramento Council No. 1, E. & S. M., Sacramento Commandery No. 
2, K. T., Isaac Davis Lodge of Perfection No. 3, in the capital citv, 
and Islam Temple, N. M. S. in San Francisco. 

Another influential member of the same family is Franklin H., 
brother of Harry G. Krebs. Born August 12, 1865, he received 
a public-school education in Sacramento, where also he attended 
Atkinson's Business College. For a long period he has been engaged 
in business in his native city. His marriage took place in Erie^ Pa., 
November 2, 1897, and united him with Miss Hattie E. Avery, by 
whom he is the father of three children, namely : Charles Ilenrv," born 
July 23, 1902; Charlotte L., August 31, 1904; and Katherine Alice, 
October 20, 1907. For years he has been an active worker in the 
German Lutheran Church, whose every department has felt the 
impetus of his energetic assistance and whose choir particularly has 
enjoyed the benefit of his talented participation. The Republican 
party has received his ballot in all national elections occurring since 
he attained his majority, and he has kept posted concerning national 
issues by a close study of current papers and magazines. Like many 



946 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

other sons of the state, he has found pleasure in active participation 
with the social functions and civic projects under the auspices of the 
local parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. 



FRED T. KITT 

The childhood memories of Mr. Kitt are associated with the 
southeastern part of Nebraska, where he was born December 29, 1876, 
in the village of Arago near the western banks of the Missouri river. 
His parents, Joseph and Selina Kitt, were representatives of the 
sjDlendid pioneer element that entered into the material upbuilding of 
that state, and the family throughout the entire period of their indenti- 
fication with the United States has been characterized by the courage- 
ous, industrious qualities that have transformed the dense forests 
and the vast prairies into fertile farms and prosperous communities. 
The schools of his locality were equal to those of the period in any 
part of the country and afforded him fair advantages, which later 
were increased by an attendance of one year in a business college 
located at Lincoln, Neb. When the time came for him to enter the 
ranks of business men he secured emploA^nent as a traveling salesman 
and in his chosen work he met with considerable success as a rejire- 
sentative of a number of specialty houses out of Chicago and Council 
Blutfs. Meanwhile he had become interested in the study of electricity 
and had mastered the principles of the science. During 1901 he 
removed west as far as Denver, Colo., where he found employment as 
an electrical engineer. 

Upon his arrival in Sacramento during the year 1904 Mr. Kitt 
was given a position with the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway 
Company, in their electrical engineering department, continuing in 
diiferent capacities until his resignation, which occurred March 1, 
1909. His object in resigning had been to specialize on electric vehicles. 
He was first to introduce that type of car into Sacramento, by taking 
the agency for the Columbus electric automobile; later he became 
Sacramento representative of the Detroit Electric vehicles. During 
the three years he has been in business he has placed approximately 
one hundred electric vehicles in the ca])ital city, which indicates his 
success as a salesman as well as the recognized values of his cars. In 
February of 1910 he erected a one-story modern brick garage and 
salesroom, equipped with all facilities for the management of a 
growing business. In order to provide facilities for the cars and 
storage of electric vehicles he erected, during the summer and autumn 
of 1910, a substantial four-storv reinforced concrete addition atfording 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO • COUNTY 947 

abundant space for the needs of the next few years. The office, 
garage and laboratory are located at Nos. 1910-i4 Capitol avenue,' 
or M street, an excellent location for such purposes. In addition to 
the maintenance of a line of electric vehicles, storage batteries for 
all purposes are kept to supply the needs of the trade, and the garage 
is a popular headquarters for all users of electric cars. 

Political questions receive their due consideration from Mr. Kitt, 
who, however, displays no partisan preferences and maintains an 
independent attitude in his personal views. As a citizen he contributes 
to movements for the upbuilding of the community and the develop- 
ment of its business interests. His marriage took place in Los 
Angeles September 1, 1904, and united him with Miss Agnes Donovan, 
of Denver, Colo. They are the parents of two sons, Frederick T., Jr.' 
wjio was born April 18, 1910, and Phillip John,who was born February 
17, 1912. The family are earnest members of the Roman Catholic 
Church and Mr. Kitt is also affiliated with its leading fraternitv, the 
Knights of Columbus. 



WILLIAM EMIL GERBER 

Those who are acquainted with the career and character of 
"William Emil Gerber of Sacramento, merchant, financier and honored 
luiblic functionary, know how active he has been in the building up 
of the city of liis adoption, but of late years he has been forced 
to relinquish the duties which have proved too severe a strain upon 
him and he has disposed of his large holdings in different companies, 
the management of which has proved too great a tax upon him. His 
efforts toward the development of conditions generally in Sacra- 
mento have won him many appreciative friends here and he is known 
as one of the leading public-spirited citizens of the citv. Mr. Gerber 
was born in Buffalo, N. Y., September 8, 1852, a descendant of old 
German families. His parents, Pantalion and Sybilla (Gerber) 
Gerber, came from Germany to the United States in 1844. In 1860 
they came via Panama and arriving in California, established a 
Iiome in Sacramento. Mr. Gerber was a butcher and conducted a 
wholesale trade in his line until in 1878, when he died. He was 
succeeded in business by his three sons, John, Henrv and Louis 
Gerber. 

When he was brought to California by his parents William E. 
Gerber was eight years old. He attended the public schools in 
Sacramento and in 1866 went back to Buffalo to become a student in 
the St. Louis Academy. He studied German eighteen months, was 
later graduated from a business college in Buffalo and in 1869 



948 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

returned to California. For a year and a half afterward he ^vas a 
clerk in a grocery store. In 1870 he bought a half interest in a 
business establishment of that character in Sacramento and continued 
in the grocery trade seven years, building up a large and lucrative 
enterprise which he sold in 1877. 

In the year last mentioned Mr. Gerber was elected County 
Auditor and Recorder of Sacramento county and filled the position 
so creditably that he was re-elected in 1879, 1881 and 1883, filling the 
office four consecutive terms, until June, 1885. In the latter year he 
was elected assistant cashier of the California State Bank and in 1894 
he was elevated to the cashiership, which he resigned in 1901 in order 
to devote himself exclusively to private business enterprises. He was 
elected director and vice-president of the bank, which was converted 
into a national bank under the title of the California National Bank, 
and later he was elected president. He has from time to time concerned 
himself in various commercial and industrial interests in the state, 
having been president of the Earl Fruit Company of California for 
a period of ten years. He has been the secretary and director of the 
Buffalo Brewing Company since its organization in 1889 ; was 
president of the Folsom Development Company, one of the largest 
enterprises of its class in the state for seven years, until it was sold; 
and stockholder and director in numerous other well known concerns. 

December 21, 1881, Mr. Gerber married Hattie A. Lyon, daughter 
of Edward Lyon, who came from Vermont to the Pacific coast in 
1860 and was for many years a leading merchant in Sacramento. 
Fraternally Mr. Gerber is a Mason of the Knights Templar degree 
and a life member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco; he is 
also a member of Capitol Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. He is an active Republican 
and had often served his party as delegate to county and state 
conventions. In 1901 he was appointed state fish commissioner by 
Governor Gage and in 1903 was reappointed by Governor Pardee. 
He has for many years been identified with the upbuilding and 
progress of Sacramento, assisting every good work for the benefit 
of the community and promoting enterprises that have been factors 
in the growth and development of the city. Mrs. Gerber is interested 
in charitable work in Sacramento. Their marriage was blessed by 
five children : Edward H. is a director of the California National Bank, 
and is interested in various enterprises in the state. Annie is the 
wife of W. Leslie Comyn of San Francisco. Irma is Mrs. George A. 
Starkweather of Sacramento. Harriett resides with her parents. 
William E., Jr. is attending school at Lawrenceville, N. J. Mr. Gerber 
is a member of the vSutter Club of Sacramento, the Pacific Union Club 
and the Union League Club of San Francisco. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 949 



JOHN B. HICKS 

The self-made man is in evidence in California as manifestlj- as 
in any part of this country of self-made men. Sacramento has as 
many men of this class as any city in the state, population consid- 
ered, and of the younger ones few are better or more favorably 
known than the one whose name is the title to this brief notice. Mr. 
Hicks was born at Watseka, 111., December 2, 1869, a son of James 
V. Hicks and a grandson of John J. Hicks. His father and his grand- 
father and their families had come to the coast in 1874 and located 
in San Diego county, where they had turned their attention profit- 
ably to sheep-raising, their operations covering extensive tracts of 
land and giving employment to many men in different ways. 

It was in the public schools of San Diego county that the imme- 
diate subject of this sketch gained a practical primary education. 
His more advanced education has been obtained by hard and some- 
times discouraging study and observation in the school of experi- 
ence. His first active participation in the battle for life was as a 
farmer. Later he became identified with the hotel business, and it 
was by a five years' experience as a hotel clerk in San Francisco 
that he gained that knowledge of men and their ways that has stood 
him in such good stead in his subsequent business career. In 1898 
he became connected with the transfer business of John F. Cooper 
and the Walrath Brothers, in which he later became half owner. The 
enterprise of which he is now manager is known as the Capital Sac- 
ramento Transfer, Van and Storage Company, and it is one of the 
largest of its class in Northern California. This companv is dulv 
incorporated under the state law. 

Maud L. King became the wife of Mr. Hicks April 16, 1902, 
and they have a daughter named Ruth, who was born Mav 12, 1903. 
Mrs. Hicks was the daughter of William and Sarah A. King of 
Sacramento. Her father came to California in 1850 and mined 
several years with varying success. For twenty-five years he was 
identified with Yolo county and some of its well known interests. He 
passed away in Sacramento in 1900. In everything pertaining to the 
advancement of his adopted city Mr. Hicks^ has taken an earnest 
and helpful interest. While he has not figured as an active politician 
he has ably done his part in such political work as has appealed to his 
sense of iniblic duty. In 1912 he was prevailed upon by influential 
citizens of the Third ward of Sacramento to accept the nomination 
of his party for the office of trustee. He is a York rite Mason, a 
Shriner, an Odd Fellow, a Woodman of the World, and a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in some of these orders 
he has been raised to important office. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks are com- 



950 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

municants of the Presbyterian cliurcli, active in the work of that 
religious body and generous in support of its varied interests. 

In the matter of investment Mr. Hicks has been as wise as he 
has been enterprising. Firmly believing in the safety as well as profit 
of land investments he has become possessed of real estate, notably 
of a tract of forty acres on the Riverside road, five miles from the 
Sacramento cit)^ line. His public spirit impels him to do all in 
his power to advance the best interests of his community and his 
state, and there are few reasonable demands on his patriotism to 
which he does not respond with cheerful liberality. 



EDWARD GILLESPIE, Sr. 

About one-half century of identification with the material up- 
building of the city and county of Sacramento gave to Mr. Gillespie 
an intimate knowledge of local resources and possibilities and also 
brought to him the warm regard of other pioneers, who, with him- 
self, were truly loyal to the locality of their adoption. In his char- 
acter no phase stood out more prominently than his affectionate de- 
votion to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, in which faith 
he had been reared at the old Irish home. Never for a uioment of 
his long life did he swerve from his allegiance to the religion of his 
choice and for more than forty years he rented a pew in the Sacra- 
mento house of worship. From this place he was seldom absent on 
occasions when services were held and his presence was expected. 
"When finally in July of 1907 his life on earth came to an end he 
was consoled in his last moments by the prayers of the church and 
he entered into everlasting rest with the Christian's bright hope of 
happiness. 

Descended from a long line of Celtic ancestry, humble in sta- 
tion but honorable in character, Edward Gillespie was born in 
county Donegal, Ireland, in 1829, and had such meager schooling 
as was possible in that locality and at that time. Hoping to find 
in the new world greater o})portunities than awaited him in his na- 
tive land, he crossed the ocean at an early age and secured employ- 
ment in the mines of Pennsylvania. Some years after the discov- 
ery of gold he followed the tide of emigration to the Pacific coast 
and secured emplo\aiient as a miner, but later settled in Sacramento 
county and here resided for fifty years or more, until the close of 
his industrious and useful life. For thirty-five years he remained 
in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad and was a trust- 
worthy, intelligent and honored assistant of that company. Fond 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 951 

of his work, his home and his church, the latter part of his life re- 
flected in results the wise training and the sterling principles im- 
planted in his heart during the boyhood days in Ireland. 

During 1895 Edward Gillespie was united in marriage with Mrs 
Margaret (Dugan) Monson, a native of Ireland and the daughter 
of parents who were lifelong residents of the Emerald Isle. When 
still a very young girl she became the wife of John Monson, a native 
of Germany, but a pioneer of California, where he died in San Fran- 
cisco prior to 1890. Surviving him, besides the widow, there were 
two children. The daughter, Viola Monson, is now the wife of Joseph 
Davy and lives in Sacramento. The son, John Monson, Jr., who 
received a thorough education, entered the government service dur- 
ing young manhood and was stationed in China for three years, 
but since 1908 he has been engaged as a vice-consul in India. The only 
child of the second marriage, Edward Gillespie, Jr., born in 1896 
IS now a student in the C^hristian Brothers College at Sacramento^ 
where he is receiving a thorough training for the future responsi- 
bilities of business affairs. 



MRS. ANNA G. GARDNER 

Before the first trans-continental line of railway had been brouo-ht 
to completion and thus welded the west with the east by links of steel 
Mrs. Anna Gardner came to California with her parents and 
settled m Sacramento. Among the pictures on memory's walls none 
IS clearer to her mind than those associated with the long trip from 
the eastern home of the family to the then unknown and sparsely set- 
tled regions of tlie west. The plastic minds of youth readilv absorb and 
long retain incidents of importance, and the young girl who ex- 
perienced a most delightful trip via the Isthmus of Panama has never 
torgotten those interesting events, although she since has passed out 
o± youth into the afternoon of life's busy dav and now has an honored 
place among the elderly matrons of Sacramento, whose growth she has 
witnessed for a period of more than forty vears. Her father, 
Daniel Sloat, for years made his home in New York Citv, where she 
was born; her mother was a native of Kentuckv and descended from 
southern ancestry but New York City was her home from childhood 
Almost immediately after his arrival in Sacramento the father secured 
employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad Companv and con- 
tinued with them for a long period, but eventuallv returned to the 
east and there died. After having been spared to a ripe old age 
the mother passed away in 1901 at Oakland, this state. 

The first grammar-school ever conducted in Sacramento was 



952 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

attended by Mrs. Gardner. In 1871, while she was still a young girl, 
she became the wife of Daniel Gardner, long a resident of Sacramento. 
Four children were born of the union and of these two sons are now 
living. The elder, Benjamin W., is a native of Sacramento and has 
spent his entire life in this city, with the exception of the period of 
his active service in the Spanish- American war ; in his family there are 
four children, born of his union with Miss Clara Schondobie, a young 
lady of Sacramento. The younger son, Elmer E., likewise a native 
of the capital city, has a responsible position as manager of the 
Pacific States Telephone Company at Modesto, and is fraternally very 
active in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also holds honorary 
membership with the Eebekahs. In the latter organization Mrs. 
Gardner for years has been a successful worker and her selection 
as past noble grand, also as the incumbent of other offices of trust and 
honor, indicate the respect entertained for her excutive ability and 
wise leadership by the members of the order in Sacramento. 



JOSEPH F. HUMMEL 

More than one-quarter of a century has brought its transforming 
revolutions into the annals of California since Joseph F. Hummel laid 
aside the burdens of existence and entered into eternal rest, but long 
as has been the period since his departure, his memory lingers green 
and fresh in the minds of the pioneers who knew him and in the 
hearts of his family, among whom his vacant chair nevermore can 
be filled. He belonged to that sturdy class of pioneers to whom we owe 
the early development of the state and whose tireless labors and 
patriotic devotion laid a broad and solid foundation for later sub- 
stantial development. When gold was discovered in California he 
was at the threshold of maturity and well qualified by rugged constitu- 
tion and tireless energy for the arduous tasks incident upon westward 
emigration. Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1819, he inherited 
the forcef.ul qualities associated with Teutonic blood and, while he 
lacked educational advantages, for this deprivation there was a 
recompense in faculties of keen observation and careful reading of 
current literature. Mr. Hummel came to Philadelphia when a young 
man and there remained until 1852, when he came to California via 
Panama. 

Upon his arrival in the west, a stranger unfamiliar with the 
language or customs of the i)eople, Mr. Hummel found San Francisco 
a city of tents, filled with a cosmopolitan throng allured hither by the 
discovery of gold. With characteristic energy he found a place for 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 953 

himself and embarked in business. Finding the conditions encourag- 
ing and the future assured in 1856 he returned to Philadelphia and 
there in June, 1856, occurred his marriage to Miss Louisa D. Wetzel, a 
native of Metzingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, who before her marriage 
was an instructor in the art department at "Luthe" in Philadelphia. 
In 1857 the couple came to California, where Mr. Hummel had a 
comfortable residence in Sutter near Kearney, but he soon located in 
Sacramento and here they found a place suitable for housekeeping, 
thus beginning their long identification with the citizenship of the 
capital city. During 1858 Mr. Hummel opened a shoe store in 
Sacramento, on J street between Third and Fourth streets, after- 
wards locating on Fifth and J streets, where he continued to operate 
until his death, which occurred in 1876. His widow makes her home 
at No. 1619 L street and has many warm friends among the people 
of the city where for more than fifty years she has lived and labored. 
When yet a young girl in the home of her childhood she acquired 
a thorough knowledge of embroidery and afterward she kept up an 
interest in the skilled handiwork of the day, so that slie became 
recognized as one of the most expert needlewomen in Sacramento, 
where for years she gave instructions in embroidery with gratifying 
success. Of her five children three are still living. Agnes is with 
John Breuner Co. and Emma is at the head of the art department 
of Weinstock & Lubin Co., while the son, Herman H., resides in San 
Francisco and is connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company in that city. 



JOHN W. JOHNSTON 

A seeming misfortune in the life of Mr. Johnston, when ill health 
forced him to relinquish a splendid professional practice in a most 
desirable location and seek a change of climate, proved to possess a 
recompense of no small value. The practice of law in Sacramento 
has brought him into prominence throughout the northern part of 
the state and, while enjoying the benefits accruing from restored 
health, he also receives gratifying returns from his practice, so that 
he has no reason to regret the apparent handicap occasioned from 
the removal. Since coming to Sacramento in 1899 he has built up an 
important clientele and during the past seven or more years he has 
been associated with Hon. Grove L. Johnson in professional work. 

Among the thousands of Union soldiers whom Ohio furnished 
to protect the stars and stripes during the Civil war not the least 
conspicuous was Henry Johnston, a volunteer for three months at 
the opening of the Rebellion, then a re-enlisted veteran for the entire 
remainder of the struggle. Eventually he received an honorable 



954 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

discharge after peace had been declared. When he had entered the 
army he left at home a wife and children, among the latter being 
John W., who was born in Pike connty, Ohio, in 1857. The wife, who 
bore the maiden name of Louisa Slaughter, was a native of Ohio of 
southern family and had among her relatives a distinguished general, 
Slaughter, of the Confederate army. During the fall of 1865 the 
family removed to Missouri and settled at Kirksville, Adair county. 
The son, at that time a lad of eight years, received his education 
almost wholly in Kirksville and in 1881 he was admitted to the bar. 
Two years later he was elected city attorney of Kirksville and for a 
period of three consecutive terms he served satisfactorily in that 
capacity. Before the third term had expired he was elected prosecut- 
ing attorney of Adair county and for two terms he filled that office 
with conspicuous zeal and tireless energy. 

When his long period of official service had been completed Mr. 
Johnston removed to Nebraska and opened an office at Omaha, 
where immediately he rose to professional prominence. During 1894 
he was elected to represent Douglas county in the Nebraska state 
legislature and during his term he promoted the interests of his home 
city to the extent of his ability. The legislature of which he was a 
member elected Hon. John M. Thurston to the United States senate. 
The exciting and long continued campaign, however, seriously im- 
paired the health of Mr. Johnston and developed throat troubles that 
did not yield to ordinary treatment. A change of climate was advised 
and he therefore came to California during 1896, settling at Ukiah, 
Mendocino county, where he engaged in the practice of law for three 
years, then removing to the capital city, his present headquarters. 

While still making his home in Missouri Mr. Johnston married 
Miss Juliet M. Hollaway, a native of that state and a descendant 
through her mother of the illustrious Lee family of Virginia. One of 
her cousins at present is serving his second term as a judge of the 
supreme court of Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are the parents 
of five children. The eldest, Thomas D. Johnston, the present 
district attorney of Contra Costa county, represented that county in 
the California state legislature during the sessions of 1905-06, 1908-09 
and 1912-13. Volney C, the second son, resides in Sacramento. The 
three youngest children are Pauline, a graduate of King's Conserva- 
tory of Music in San Jose ; Lucille, a student in a business college ; and 
J. Willard, who remains with his parents at the family home. No. 1010 
F street. The broad and congenial fraternal relations of Mr. Johnston 
have included membership with the Ancient Order of Druids, the 
Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Masonic Order, all of which at various time have benefited by 
his professional knowledge, tactful spirit and unwavering adherence 
to the highest principles of honor. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 955 

GEORGE HOOK 

The life of that once well-known Californian, George Hook, for- 
merly of Contra Costa county, spanned the period of thirty years, from 
1851 to 1880. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was there reared and 
educated and from there came, a young man, to California. It was 
at Placerville and in Contra Costa county that he passed most of his 
active life and in the latter place he died, sincerely mourned by a wide 
circle of acquaintances. 

In 1874 Mr. Hook married Miss Mary Green, a native of San 
Bernardino, Cal., whose father in 1849, when nineteen years of age, 
left Ohio and crossed the plains to California. Mrs. Green, a native 
of England and now a resident of Sacramento, remembers all of the 
details of the eventful journey on the overland trail. Mrs. Hook bore 
her husband a son and a daughter, Henry and Sarah C. Hook. The 
former is married and lives at Roseville, Cal., and Sarah is a member 
of her mother's household. 



JOHN REESE 

As secretary and manager of the Florin Supply Company, 
Florin, Cal., for the past ten years, Mr. Reese has displayed the good 
management and business foresight which have distinguished his 
entire career, the increasing prosperity and firm condition of his 
organization bearing witness to the good judgment of his associates in 
placing him in charge of its affairs. A man of exemplary principles 
and quiet, magnetic personality, he has met life with both optimism 
and power, and retains, in spite of varied opinions on all sides, an 
individual discrimination in all matters which come to his attention. 

A native of Utah, his birth having occurred in Payson, January 
9, 1856, Mr. Reese came to Sacramento, Cal., four years later with 
his ]3arents, John and Elizabeth (Anthony) Reese, natives of Wales. 
During his youth he displayed a power of concentration and studious 
temperament that stood him in good stead, enabling him to advance 
rapidly, and he graduated at the age of eighteen. Choosing an out- 
door life he took up farming, varied by occasional carpentry, and after 
conducting these pursuits with fair success until 1898, he turned 
his attention to a new field, becoming salesman for the Florin Fruit 
Growers' Association, a position which took him through the north- 
west. After two years, during which period he proved many times 
his exceptional worth and firmness of character, he was placed in charge 
of the Sacramento office, resigning in 1902 to become manager of 
the Farmers' Mercantile Company at Florin, and upon the purchase 

54 



956 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

of the latter concern by tlie Florin Supply Company, was unanimously 
chosen secretary and manager. From time to time he added to his 
stock holdings and now owns a large interest in the business. 

Mr. Reese was married November 23, 1873, in Sacramento, to Miss 
Addie Shaler, whose birth occurred in Sacramento and whose parents, 
Thomas and Adelia Shaler, were early settlers of Sacramento county. 
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Reese numbered nine children, as 
follows: Lester, now book-keeper in the othce conducted by his 
father; Mabel, Mrs. Milton Browning of Sacramento; Myrtle, post- 
mistress at Florin; Llewelyn, now a successful stenographer in 
Sacramento; Howard, who died November 7, 1911; David, clerking 
for the Florin Su])i)ly Co.; Winifred, attending the Sacramento 
high school; Mildred, and Melvin, all of whom have in no wise dis- 
appointed the hopes of their parents, who realize that they are partic- 
ularly blessed in their ambitous children. 

As a Republican Mr. Reese is deeply interested in political 
developments and prompt to lend his influence as an elector to 
party candidates. He served as deputy sheriff under his lu'other 
David Reese and is now under the present sheriff. He maintains a 
thorough understanding of all matters relating to the public good and 
as a member of Florin Lodge No. 364, I. 0. 0. F., of which he is Past 
Grand, and as a member of Rebekah Lodge No. 20, is enabled to 
keep in touch with the needs of humanity, his standard of life em- 
bracine- nothing less than the Golden Rule. 



JOSEPH C. HOBRECHT 

The conservative opinion of those whose long experience entitles 
them to an expression of their impartial, accurate judgment indicates 
that Mr. Hobrecht has attained to a position of marked prominence 
among the electrical specialists of California. In identifying himself 
with the electrical business he chose by an apparent accident of fate 
the occupation for which nature admirably had qualified him. His 
success indeed comes from his natural ability in the line of his 
s])ecialty; this ability, supplemented by education and study, has 
been developed until it secures for him recognition among men of his 
occupation throughout the entire west. When he opened his store in 
Sacramento, at No. 1012 Tenth street, on the 20th of Sei-)tember, 1909, 
it was with a thorough knowledge of his own qualifications for the 
management of such a business, which includes the exhibition and sale 
of exclusive designs in lighting fixtures. Not only are these designs 



• HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 957 

original with liiiiiself, but mam' of them are so beautiful as to attract 
wide attention and convince the observer of the artistic skill of the 
designer. 

Born in Germany April 21, 1876, Joseph C. Hobrecht was a very 
small child when brought to the United States by his parents, Lawrence 
and Theresa Hobrecht. After landing in New York City the family 
traveled as far west as Nebraska and settled in Omaha, where the 
father, a skilled mechanic, secured employment at his trade. During 
1903 he joined the other members of the family who had preceded him 
to California and settled in San Francisco, where he still lives, now 
being retired from occupational tasks that engrossed his earlier 
years. In the family there are eight children, all of whom are still 
living. One of the number, Philip J., is associated with his brother, 
Joseph C, in the ownership of the business at Sacramento and has 
si3ent considerable time in this city during recent years. 

An education acquired in the public schools of Omaha and the 
Creighton institution in the same city qualified Mr. Hobrecht for the 
duties of the business world. In early life he assisted his father in a 
machine shop and thus acquired a comprehensive knowledge of such 
work, becoming indeed a skilled mechanic. For eight years he con- 
tinued in that occupation. Going to Montana he started to work as 
an electrician, and continued to operate a plant in that city for some 
time. During the year 1900 he came to Sacramento, where he worked 
in the employ of the Ba}' Counties Power Company for eighteen 
months. On leaving that position he entered the employ of the 
Electrical Suppy Company, with whom he continued for seven years 
or until he had determined to engage in the electrical business for 
himself. In February of 1911 he was united in marriage with Mrs. 
Lillian (McCarthy) Hanford, of Sacramento, daughter of Patrick 
McCarthy, a pioneer of Eldorado county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Plobrecht 
are earnest members of the Roman Catholic church and he is identified 
prominently with the Knights of Columbus, a well-known organization 
under the auspices of that denomination. His fraternal activities are 
further enlarged through membership with the Benevolent Protective 
Order of Elks. 

When the city of Sacramento decided to install ornamental elec- 
troliers in the district bounded by I-J and L-M alleys and Front and 
Twelfth streets, embracing a section three blocks wide and one mile 
long, competition was sought from the leading electrical firms of 
the entire country. Designs were submitted from firms in New York 
City and Canton, Ohio, as well as numerous firms in San Francisco, 
San Jose and Oakland, but it was reserved for Mr. Hobrecht to be the 
successful winner in the great contest. His design was adopted by 
the Retail Merchants' Association of Sacramento, approved by the 
city trustees, and endorsed bv the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, 



958 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

the J Street Improvement Association, the Eealty Board, the Home 
Products' League and the Jobbers' Association. The first contract 
called for four hundred and sixty-four electroliers and these were 
manufactured in Sacramento (the contract is now about completed), 
so that the city may claim with pride that the artistic electroliers are a 
product of home skill, representing the inventive ingenuity of the 
designer and the mechanical skill of the manufacturer. 



ELTON DENNIS SHAEPE 

Genealogical records indicate the identification of the Sharpe 
family with the history of England from a period so remote that 
authentic annals become merged into traditional lore. Some years 
before the opening of the Civil war a young Englishman, Samuel J. 
SharjDe, sought the opportunities which he believed to exist in the 
new world. Among the pioneers of Iowa he became interested in 
general agricultural pursuits and also followed the trade of a 
carpenter. With loyal devotion to the country of his adoption he 
offered his services to the Union immediately after war had been de- 
clared. Being accepted as a volunteer, he went to the front with 
Company G of the Ninth Iowa Infantry. For a period of four years, 
or until the close of the Eebellion, he remained in active service and 
meanwhile took part in thirty-two battles, among them being Gettys- 
burg and other history-making engagements. Notwithstanding his 
active participation in such a large number of fierce contests he was 
injured only once and that proved to be a mere flesh-wound. During 
the progress of the war he had the satisfaction of casting his ballot 
for Abraham Lincoln at the time of the second election of that 
illustrious statesman. 

Upon exchanging the accoutrements of war for the tranquil pur- 
suits of peace Samuel J. Sharpe engaged at his trade of a carpenter 
at Canon City, Colo., besides which he followed general- farming. 
About 1887 he became a pioneer fruit-grower in the Walla Walla 
valley of Washington and later he became interested in agricultural 
and horticultural enterprises near Mabton, Wash., a thriving little 
village in the Yakima valle}^ On his ranch there he passed away in 
1904 and since then his wife has made her home with their son, Elton 
Dennis. The latter was born at Canon City, Colo., January 21, 1871, 
and by dint of his own determination acquired an excellent education. 
From his earliest recollections he was ambitious to acquire knowledge 
and studious in temperament. After he had completed the regular 
high school course he attended an academy at Milton, Ore., and after- 
ward spent several years in Union College at Lincoln, Neb., from 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 959 

wliicli institution lie was graduated in 1895 with a high standing. 
Possessing the bent of mind that finds its highest enjoyment in 
educational activities, it was but natural that Professor Sharpe 
should have entered upon pedagogical labors when the time came for 
him to select his life work. From his earliest identification with the 
profession of educator he was successful and particularly so in the 
instruction of young men and young women. Those who earnestly and 
sincerely are preparing for the responsibilities of the future awaken 
his sympathy and arouse his deepest interest. To aid them in their 
noble endeavors he always has felt to be one of the greatest privileges 
that life can offer the vast army of teachers. Not only does he possess 
the desire, but in addition he possesses the ability to develop the 
mind and bring out the latent energies of the soul. In every sphere 
of mental training his co-operation proves beneficial to the student 
earnestly seeking to solve some of life's great mysteries. 

As an illustration of the splendid leadership of which Professor 
Sharpe is capable it may be stated that at Lodi, Cal., he founded a 
normal school and built up an institution having an attendance of 
two hundred and fifty. However, the task proved too much for his 
health and nervous prostration resulted, which obliged him to resign 
the presidency of the school in the spring of 1910. Afterwards he 
spent one year with a brother at Mabton, Wash., and meanwhile en- 
joyed a gradual restoration to complete health. Upon his return to 
California, Professor Sharpe opened the Westsonian Normal College 
of Arts and Sciences during February, 1912, this being a training 
school for those who wish to secure training in arts and sciences. 
The school has ten departments operating, all of which have experi- 
enced success. It occupies one floor of the new Siller building on 
Ninth street between K and L streets, and has been elegantly fitted 
and substantially prepared for its specific use. Mrs. Sharpe, who 
prior to her marriage December 25, 1898, was Miss Sylvia Compton 
of Boise, Idaho, has proved a most able assistant to her husband and 
the two co-operate to secure the most gratifying results in the in- 
struction of each student. Music and art have their special depart- 
ments. There will also be afforded training for mechanical trades. 
It is the aim to develop professional and technical departments, also 
a research department for the study of astronomy and archaeology, 
and already the Professor has made arrangements with the Astro- 
nomical Association of Great Britain for co-operation in the securing 
of literature and in other movements for the upbuilding of the science. 
It is also his intention to conduct, under the auspices of the school, a 
series of illustrated lectures throughout the state, and indeed into 
every part of the west as far as practicable, showing the material 
resources and the commercial and educational advantages offered by 
the great Sacramento vallev. 



960 PIISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



SAMUEL BROOKS SLIGHT 

More tliau one-Lalf century of identification with the history of 
Sacramento county, covering the period between his birth October 19, 
1858, and demise January 27, 1910, gave Mr. Slight a broad and com- 
])re]iensive knowledge of this portion of the west, while extensive 
travels into other regions made him conversant with the magnitude 
of the undeveloped resources of our commonwealth. He was proud of 
the fact that he could claim California as his native state and proud 
also that his parents were among the goodly tlirong of emigrants to 
whose dauntle-ss courage was due the original American occupancy 
of ancient Spanish and Indian ]ia1)itations. No fortune ever rewarded 
the eiforts of the industrious pioneer couple, but they gained that 
whicli is more to be desired, the esteem of all associates and the 
deepest affection of their family. Without any financial aid from 
them and without even the advantages of a good education, their 
son whose name introduces this article won his way to a substantial 
degree of success and in the span of life's brief but busy day 
accumulated a neat competency for his wife and children. His start 
in the earning of a livelihood was made through an apprenticeship 
to the trade of a carriage-maker, which later he followed as a 
journeyman and finally became a salesman in the same line of 
business. 

'I'he marriage of Samuel Brooks Slight, in Sacramento in 1888, 
united him with Miss Josie Wittenlirock, a native of Sacramento 
county, and the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Wittenbrock, of 
Germany, who came to tlie west during the eventful era of the '50s, 
establishiug a liome in Sacramento county and remaining there until 
death. Mr. and Mrs. Slight became the parents of three children. 
Their only daughter is now the wife of J. A. Holland and resides in 
Sacramento. The sons are Henry Cyril and Bertram, the elder of 
whom, while still making his home with his mother in the comfortable 
city residence, devotes much of his time to the care of her ranch. The 
ranch is on a part of the Haggin grant about four miles east of the 
city. This consists of forty-five acres devoted to hop culture, a 
business with which Mr. Slight became familiar and in which he was 
considered an authority. Notwithstanding the demands of business 
affairs, he found leisure for the oversight of the ranch and by his per- 
sonal efforts made the ])lace profitable as an investment. Certain 
of the fraternal organizations received his especial aid, among them 
being the Elks and the Eagles, and for years he also took a warm 
interest in the Nati\e Sons of the Golden West, his membership being 
with the parlor in the capital city. In public affairs he took little part, 
yet he was a loyal citizen, progressive in principle and favoring all 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 961 

improvements of permanent value to tlie city. Official honors did not 
appeal to liim, for his tastes led him to find his highest happiness in 
his home and among his personal friends, rather than in the turmoil 
of partisan polities. By his own unaided efforts he accumulated a 
competency and left to his family an estate representing years of 
thoughtful, intelligent and arduous a]^plication to business affairs. 



HARRY AY. ADAMS 

One of the most prominent men in the commercial world along 
the Pacific coast and one who has devoted careful study of freight 
rates throughout the United States to the extent that he lias procured 
many improvements in conditions in that department, is Harry AV. 
Adams, who fills the important position of traffic manager of the 
Pioneer Fruit Co., at Sacramento, Cal. The life of Mr. Adams 
has been a reverse of the usual order of procedure of the active 
California citizen, for he was born on the Pacific coast and went 
East as a child, instead of being born in the East and coming to 
the West. His father, who was a major in the United States army, 
devoted practically his whole life to military service and passed 
away some years ago. 

Plarry ^\. Adams first saw the light of day in San Francisco, 
on July 10, 1861. but after a few years in the East, he finally re- 
turned to the coast and his native city. He attended the ])u])lic 
schools and upon leaving his studies liecame variously employed 
for a few years, then going to Salt Lake City, to become clerk in 
the Union Pacific Railroad office there, and he soon advanced to 
the position of assistant general freight agent, which he held for 
a number of years. After that he was connected with the freight 
departments of the Union Pacific, Oregon Railway and Navigation 
Co. and Texas Pacific Railway Co., and came to be known as one 
of the best informed freight and traffic agents in the entire West. 
Eventually he was induced by Mr. Bills to come to Sacramento, 
and acce])t the position of traffic manager of the Pioneer Fruit 
Co., which he is holding at the present time with that efficiency 
and trustworthiness for which he is known among the business 
people in that line of work. By careful observation and studying 
the freight rates throughout the country he was instrumental in 
reducing the rate to the Atlantic seaboard from $1.45 to $1.15, and 
a corres|)onding reduction to points west, and this accomplishment 
has been the means of saving for the farmer many hard-earned 
dollars. Mr. Adams' company ships fruit all over the United States, 
and from time to time sends large consignments to foreign ]iorts. 



962 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

which necessitates clever manipulation of the shipments and a thor- 
ough knowledge of the best arrangement and order of shipping, 

Mr. Adams is a member of the San Francisco Transportation 
Club and the Sntter Clnb of Sacramento. He affiliates fraternally 
with the Masons, having attained to the thirty-second degree, Scot- 
tish Eite, and is also identified with the Order of the Eastern Star. 
In 1890 he married Miss Lula Hollada}^ a native of Illinois, who is 
a lady of culture, interested in charitable work and a member of 
the Tuesday Club of Sacramento. She is identified with the Order 
of Eastern Star and is one of the Past Grand officers of the Grand 
Chapter of California. 



ALPHONSE AENOLD 

In the German province of Alsace-Lorraine, Alphonse Arnold 
was born December 11, 1858, a descendant of many generations of 
European ancestors of high character and worthy achievement. 
He was educated in public schools in his native land and in 1884 came 
across the Atlantic to America, landing in New York in August. 
From the eastern metropolis he went to the Southwest, locating at 
San Antonio, Texas, where he remained till in 1887, working as a 
cooper, he having acquired a knowledge of that trade in the old 
country. From San Antonio he came west to San Francisco, where 
he was employed in a cooperage about fifteen months, and thence 
he came to Napa county, in June, 1888. There he worked for 
wages till, eventually, he established a cooper's shop at St. Helena, 
which he managed with success during the ensuing eight years. 
Disposing of the St. Helena interests of A. Arnold & Company, he 
came to Sacramento and took charge of the cooperage shop oper- 
ated by John Ochsner. In April, 1903, he bought the shop, then 
located at No. 816 Second street. May 1, 1904, he moved the en- 
terprise to the site at No. 320 E street, which it has since occupied 
and where he has made one of the latter-day business successes of 
that part of the city. 

While he was living in Texas, Mr. Arnold married, January 17, 
1885, Pelagia Burgunder, wlio died April 25, 1905, leaving a son, 
Louis, born March 25, 1892, who is now acquiring a knowledge of 
the cooper's trade imder his father's careful instruction. Self- 
made in the best sense of the term, Mr. Arnold is in all things thor- 
oughly up to date. His cooperage establishment is perhaps the best 
plant of its kind in Northern California. He is a member of the 
Druids, helpful to all the interests of the order, and is a devoted 
and generous adherent to the Catholic church. In many ways he 
has demonstrated his characteristic public spirit. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 963 



HAEEISON BENNETT 

Long and honorable service in the Civil War gives distinction 
to the life history of Mr. Bennett and entitles him to the gratitude 
of all trne patriots. When he was a yonng man, with his education 
uncompleted and his life plans only vaguely outlined, the hidden 
depth of his patriotic spirit was revealed by his instant desire to 
offer his services to the Union at the outbreak of the Eebellion. It 
was thought at the time that the trouble could be quelled in a very 
brief period, therefore he was accepted for three months beginning 
May 1, 1861. His original service was as a private in Company B, 
First Michigan Infantry. Later he re-enlisted as sergeant in Com- 
pany G of the same regiment which was assigned to the army of 
the Potomac, where one year later he was promoted to hospital 
steward. Among his engagements were the first battle of Bull 
Eun, the Peninsular campaign, the battle of Gettysburg, the second 
contest at Bull Eun, Fredericksburg and the Wilderness. From 
time to time he was promoted and held the commission of first lieu- 
tenant when he was discharged at Louisville, Ky., July 9, 1865, 
after his third enlistment, being mustered out of the service by rea- 
son of the close of the war. 

The Bennett family is of old eastern ancestry. Isaac B., a native 
of Wayne county, N. Y., grew to manhood in that part of the state 
and there married Sibyl La Due, who was of French and German 
parentage. The young couple left their friends and relatives and 
sought the cheap lands of the northwest with the intention of cre- 
ating a home on the frontier. For some time they lived in Lena- 
wee county, Mich., where their son, Harrison, was born August 1, 
1841. From the land in Lenawee county the father cleared off the 
heavy timber; he then built a cabin home, placed the virgin soil 
under cultivation, and eventually became prosperous. He sold 
this place and l^ought a farm in Jackson township, Jackson county, 
and there spent the remaining years of his useful existence. His 
wife survived him, dying at the advanced age of eighty-six. WJien 
an aged woman, but well preserved physically and mentally, she 
came to Sacramento and enjoyed a visit with her son, Harrison, 
returning to Michigan to pass her closing years. 

After the close of his long army service and a subsequent visit 
among relatives in Michigan, Mr. Bennett went to Poughkeepsie, 
N. Y., where he took a course of study in the Eastman Business Col- 
lege. Immediately after his graduation he took passage on a ship 
for Panama, thence crossed to the Pacific side and traveled by steam- 
er to San Francisco, where he remained for three years. In 1868 
he came to Sacramento, where he has since resided. For one vear 



964 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

he clerked in a drug-store and later lie was retained as bookkeeper 
for R. Stone & Co. During 1875 he entered the Sacramento Sav- 
ings Bank as teller and continued with that institution until 1910, 
when he resigned and retired on a pension. His identification with 
the bank covered a long period of years and reflected great credit 
upon his fidelity, trustworthiness, intelligence and wise judgment. 

The first marriage of Mr. Bennett was solemnized at Sacra- 
mento in 1875 and united him with Miss Emma Allen, who was born 
in New York City and received her education in the schools of that 
metropolis. Very shortly after her marriage she died at the family 
residence in Sacramento. During 1877 Mr. Bennett was united 
with Mrs. Lizzie Lardner, the widow of Frank Lardner. His only 
son, Willie, died at the age of two years. The only daughter, 
Sibyl, is the wife of Presley Johnson and the mother of two chil- 
dren, Beth and Edloe. The Grand Array of the Republic always 
has received the interested co-operation of Mr. Bennett, who, since 
1873 has served as quartermaster of Sumner Post No. 3, at Sacra- 
mento, and also was honored by election as its commander. In 
1910 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General of the Department 
of California and Nevada, serving one term. He is also a member 
of the California Commandery Military order of the Loyal Legion. 
The old comfortable family home at No. 714 Seventh Street, Sacra- 
mento, was erected from plans and specifications designed by Mr. 
Bennett, who also aided in the work of construction and decoration, 
being handy with tools and a natural mechanic. Many of his leisure 
hours during business associations were devoted to the improve- 
ment of the grounds and the care of the home, and since his re- 
tirement from the bank he has no task more enjoyalile than the 
oversight of the place and the cultivation of the trees and flowers 
that adorn the grounds. Since then he has purchased a home at 
530 Twenty-first Street, where he now resides. During his long 
residence in the city he has proved the value of his citizenship and 
his worth as a man of most exemplary habits, of tried integrity and 
the highest principles of honor. 



PETER BOHL 

At a period when the vast regions west of the Mississip]n val- 
ley were yet very sparsely settled and the lands near the Pacific 
coast were held in large grants by representatives of the Spanish 
nobility, the Bohl family lived upon a small farm near Georgetown, 
Ohio, and the father, George Bohl, frequently hauled tanbark to 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 965 

tlie tannery owned by liis intimate personal friend, the father of 
Ulysses S. Grant. There were five sons and three daughters in the 
parental family and three of the eight are still living, namely: 
Frederick, who at the age of more tlian ninety years makes his home 
near Peoria, 111. ; Mrs. Sarah Ludwig, of Moweaqua, Shelby county, 
III.; and Peter, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 23, 1830, 
and whose advantages were so meagre that he maj' be called a self- 
educated and self-made man. 

AVhen news came concerning the discovery of gold in California 
the older brother, Frederick, made an immediate resolution to seek 
his fortune in the west. Accompanied by his young wife he started 
across the plains with a party of emigrants. Scarcely more than 
one-half of the long journey had been accomplished when Indians 
attacked the emigrants and stole the horses belonging to Mr. Bohl. 
Fortunately his wife had some jewelry and silverware with her and 
these she sold in order to raise enough for the purchase of another 
team. It had been their intention to go direct to California, but 
circumstances forced them to alter their plans and they went to 
Oregon first, arriving tliere with nothing but a gun and a dog. Fish- 
ing and hunting not only afforded them a scanty ^ subsistence, but 
enabled them to earn a little money and with this Mr. Bohl went 
on to California, leaving his wife in Portland, Ore. Upon his ar- 
rival in Sacramento he started a small bakery. With the first 
money earned he sent for his wife. In the meantime his younger 
brother, Peter, had taken the gold fever and had come to Califor- 
nia. By way of Panama he came to San Francisco from Peoria, 
111., where he had been working for two and one half years, in the 
meantime saving all the money he could to pay for the expensive 
trip. 

Starting for the coast in January of 1853 Peter Bohl arrived 
in Sacramento not long after the subsidence of the disastrous fire 
and flood of that year, without a dime and in debt $150, but with 
plenty of pluck and a courage and determination to succeed. Imme- 
diately he began to work in his brother's bakery. The trade was 
phenomenal. It was impossible to count the money they received 
and so they put it in sacks, which they weighed and concealed under 
the counter. The front door had no lock and it was kept closed by 
means of a large squash. Notwithstanding the great risk thus taken, 
the proprietors of the liakery never lost anything except one-half a 
cake, whicli was taken by a man who pushed the door oi)en and en- 
tered when no one was in the shop. After he had worked in the 
bakery for some time Mr. Bohl attracted the attention of Mr. Wright, 
who operated the Central hay and feed yard, and he gave him a lease 
of the business without any capital. Six months and twelve days 
later, when the emigrants began to arrive, he was paid $2000 for 



966 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

the lease by a Mr. Cone. Although he had been in the state for 
comparatively a very short time, the young business man now had 
$3000 and with it he bought one-half interest in a building on Tenth 
and J streets. For a time his brother owned the other half interest, 
but this he also acquired later and he still owns this now valuable 
corner. During 1856 he bought his brother's interest in the 
bakery, which he conducted for eight years. Afterward with Will- 
iam Hedrick he conducted a grocery and grain business for five 
years, this being at the time when Ben Crocker was buying grain 
for the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

Upon a return from visiting in the east Mr. Bohl in 1871 be- 
came identified with William P. Coleman in the real estate busi- 
ness, and their pleasant and profitable association continued until 
the death of Mr. Coleman thirty years later. At this writing Mr. 
Bohl holds office as vice-president and is a director of the J. C. 
Carly Company, a large real-estate and insurance firm. In ad- 
dition he acts as director of the Sacramento Building and Loan As- 
sociation, also as a director of the California State Bank. He still 
gives personal attention to the management of his valuable prop- 
erty interests and to the development of the city along the lines of 
commercial, social and educational progress. Particularly has his 
interest in education been constant and deep. Appreciating the ad- 
vantage of an education through his own deprivation thereof, he has 
done all within his power to promote the schools of the state and has 
been especially helpful in his identification with the University of 
the Pacific at San Jose, which he served as a trustee for twenty years 
with the greatest caiDability. In politics he supports the best man 
regardless of politics, although in national issues he favors the Re- 
publican platform of principles. For forty-five years he has been 
identified with the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Sacra- 
mento and meanwhile he has promoted many church enterprises, 
among them the building of the splendid edifice now occupied by 
the congregation. During 1855 he married Miss Julia Hauck and 
after her death he was again married, being united in 1907 with 
Mrs. Agnes M. Juergenson of Sacramento. His first wife was a na- 
tive of Germany and received an unusually thorough education, 
becoming a woman of culture and refinement. Her father was a 
man of prominence and held the princijial nnmicipal office in the 
city where he lived. During his occu]iancy of his high position he 
entertained officers of the emperor and distinguished men from 
every part of Germany, as well as from other parts of Europe, so 
that his daughter from her earliest recollections enjoyed advan- 
tages of an unusual order in social contact with people of distinc- 
tion. Of her marriage there were three children born, but one died 
at an earlv as-e. The two survivors are daughters, Amelia C. (a 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 967 

musician of prominence), and Laura (wife of Edward Plucker, of 
Sacramento). The family has a wide acquaintance in Sacramento 
and enjoys the friendship of people of culture and influence. 



ALFRED J. BROWN 

What lies within the power of a resolute purpose to accomplish 
for itself appears in a record of the activities of Alfred J. Brown, 
one of Sacramento's successful business men, a citizen who has 
risen steadily in material affairs notwithstanding the handicap of 
adversity that orphanage threw over the years of his youth. Born 
November 26, 1866, he is a son of the late Thomas Brown, for years 
a valued employe of the Waltham Watch Company, but later con- 
nected with the Cornell Watch Company at Grand Crossing, a sub- 
urb of Chicago, 111. When the latter corporation established a 
branch factory at San Francisco, he was sent west to superintend 
the new plant and remained in charge of the same until the death 
of Mr. Ralston, which was followed by the failure of the company. 
When forty-five years of age he died in San Francisco, having for 
some time survived his wife, who passed away when only thirty- 
four years of age. 

The schools of Vacaville, Solano county, and of San Joaquin 
county gave to Alfred J. Brown the benefits of a primary educa- 
tion, but the necessity of self-support obliged him at the age of 
ten years to earn his own livelihood. For a time he worked for 
board and clothes as an assistant on a ranch near Ripon, San Joa- 
quin county. Later he received wages as his work increased in 
value. When he had saved a small sum beyond his ordinary needs 
he came to Sacramento and took a course of study in the business 
college, after which he secured employment with the Capital Pack- 
ing Company. Leaving that firm at the expiration of one year, he 
entered the employ of W. S. Kendall & Co., money brokers, of Sac- 
ramento. His next position was that of bookkeeper with L. L. 
Lewis & Co., owners of the pioneer hardware store in Sacramento. 
Eventually he associated himself with the John Brenner Company, 
one of the largest firms in Northern California. Beginning as a 
bookkeeper he soon proved his worth as an assistant and secured 
several promotions from time to time, until in the year 1902 he was 
chosen financial manager and for many years was secretary of the 
large establishment. 

Mr. Brown owns an attractive residence on Sutter Terrace 
which has been beautified through his own tasteful efforts, supple- 
mented by the artistic co-operation of his capable wife, formerly 



968 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Miss Ella Ruth Brown, who prior to their marriage was a leader 
among* the young- people of the capital city, as she has since been 
prominent with the older estalilished social circles of the place. In 
fraternal matters Mr. Brown for years has been an active worker 
in the blue lodge of Masonry, while he has further enlarged his 
fraternal relationships through co-operation witli the Woodmen of 
the World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Brown 
owes much of his success in business to the high standard he has 
adopted in all his business relations, all his dealings being guided 
by honesty and integrity of purpose. When it is recalled that he 
received no extraneous aid in struggling against adverse circum- 
stances and that he fought his own way forward to success, it is 
realized that great credit is due him for the tenacity of purpose 
that inspired his actions and the determination of will that enabled 
him to wrest victory from what with some others so often results 
in defeat. The city with whose success his own is associated re- 
ceives his loyal support in all measures for its permanent upbuild- 
ing and owes its rising progress to the patriotic devotion of its 
large corps of citizens who, like Mr. Brown, cherish for its insti- 
tutions the deepest affection and most profound respect. 



MOSES S. WAHRHAFTIG 

The subject of the sketch was born about 1860 in the town of 
Kovel, government of Volhynia, Russia. His father was the chief 
rabbi of the town and died before Moses was ten years old. For 
some time it was the ambition of his mother and others who cared 
for his education that he should ultimately occupy his father's 
position. Fate, however, decreed otherwise. One of his guardians 
was a regularly admitted legal practitioner and prepared him for 
the practice of law. 

In 1882 M. S. Wahrhaftig came to the United States, and after 
a few weeks' stay in New York arrived in California, where he has 
resided ever since with the exception of about a year spent in Ore- 
gon. Ignorant of the English language, and without means, he was 
obliged for some time to eke out an existence by manual labor, 
especially on farms, for which he acquired quite a taste. We thus 
find him in his early career riding a hay-mower or rake, as well as 
walking behind a plow. Among his other occu])ations were as- 
saying and printing. To the latter art he contributed most of his 
first ten years' residence in the metropolis of California. He was 
initiated into the San Francisco T\q30gTa|)hical T^nion in 1890, but 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



969 



mvas.o„ of locusts in 1891 caused eousiderabir aire to hh W 
•auch, aud It l,eca.ne necessary for him to fall back on the prnfer's 
case for earmug a livelihood for himself and the folks on the i^„h 

officT'of (•an'X"'"' 'rrr ^"^-^ "^^ -'*-' in the prSi 
omees ot Caiiaghen and Anderson, State Printing Office A T 

Johnstons pnntmg office aud others until about IsM wLen ' tlfe 
S.ea railroad stnke took place. He then conceived th; Wea that 
Zt'^T^:' "''"; '°"" '" l"'"^^^^^' i" Sacramento, and The 

S rur,i,t:d\,raX"t^:tovLb^!. sr ^^r^-^ 

Z:r^j'l^ ^ ^^'-«; California HS\"^piotr"a:rrn 

LLwp':i;:sit:Ttih; ':j^. t rs^t^n/r- 

Co.H ofT\T' f'^ Wahrhaftig was admitted b\tIe°Su;Teme 
cZts of tt ;.' °^ California to the practice of law in a^ e 
court^s of the state and later on in the federal courts. Judo'e T 

law omees. It did not take long before he acquired a lucrative nrac 
ice and ever increasing clientele. He has Lver left Sacramento" 
where he ,s now located in the Nicolaus Buildino- Hi ilfes^i; 
has not rendered him exclusive. From time to hue he cont lutes 

wihtwi^vsrrr .^"^'^^-""- ->- ^i-rt stcrde s 

an ot winch he takes a very active interest 

In October, 1908, Mr. 1\'ahrliaftig married Mis=! Trnia R T . 
then a teacher in the puWic schools of'sacrai^e'to "ount^vrand-p w' 
E E L V T'V- "' ^'*"""' '"'''''■ She is the dau.ht i of 

has^e^;H;s:ens:\:ri'Tn:.:Ligr"- ""'' -™^--"« -- 



LINCOLN P. WILLIAMS 

P AraUams'com'itr,,!*.-;'- "f/"™-^' (T^-"'""^) Williams, Lincoln 
Frac CO A'3d 7 18,?? 17^ Sacramento county, was born in San 

eancat: f^ t '^^.^i;:':^ ^^^^- ^l:^ /— 

the bookbinder's trade and in isfts .0 ^ S -^ leaiuecl 

iiaae and m 1888 came to Sacramento and liad 



970 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

charge as foreman of the state bindery, which is connected with the 
State Printer's Office, continuing in this capacity until January, 
1903, when he assumed the duties of his present office. The first 
ballot Mr. Williams cast was for Republican candidates and he has 
been an active worker for the success of the Republican party ever 
since. In recognition not only of his qualifications for the oflice, 
but also of his services as a stanch supporter of his party in its 
measures and principles, he was in 1902 nominated in the county 
convention for the office of county auditor and was duly elected in 
the fall of that year to serve for a term of four years, 1903-07. At 
the close of this term he was renominated and re-elected for a sec- 
ond term of four years, 1907-11, when he was renominated and re- 
elected as his own successor once more. His official conduct has 
elicited tributes to his efficiency, fidelity and promptness, and aside 
from being a faithful public servant he is also a genial, companion- 
able gentleman and a dependable friend. 

To the honor of being a native born citizen of California Mr. 
Williams adds the distinction of being an able and popular official 
and one of the best-known men in Sacramento county, where, ex- 
cept for a few brief absences, he has lived his active years thus far. 
While he has not won great wealth or fame, he has won honor in his 
own country. Quietly, contentedly and usefully he has pursued his 
daily walk as an efficient and honorable public official and as a citi- 
zen of the highest principles. As county auditor he has labored in- 
defatigably in the performance of his duties, with an earnest desire 
to win not only the commendation of his own party, but that of his 
jDolitical opponents of whatever belief. 

The marriage of Mr. Williams, in San Francisco April 21, 1891, 
united him with Miss Ollie C. Smith, of Sacramento, the recipient 
of excellent educational advantages and a lady of the highest cul- 
ture. The family which she represents is of pioneer stock, her 
father being Leonard C. Smith, who was one of the early business 
men of Sacramento. 



WILLIS A. MACKINDER 

This popular insurance man, auctioneer, ex-editor and publisher, 
who is known throughout Northern California, is a native of l^oung 
America, Washington county, Wis., and was born March 18, 1861. 
In 1869, when he was about eight years old, his parents located in 
Sonoma county, Cal., and later they moved to St. Helena, Napa 
county. For five years Mr. Mackinder was editor and publisher of 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 971 

the St. Helena Star, selling the paper to engage in the real-estate 
business, in which he prospered until November 1, 1909, when he 
left St. Helena and came to Sacramento, where he has been inter- 
ested in the same line up to the present time and has turned some 
notable deals. 

For some years Mr. Mackinder has given attention to general 
auctioneering, selling merchandise, personal property and real es- 
tate, and is one of the most successful in his line in Northern Cali- 
fornia. His office is with the Fred J. Johns Co., No. 1023 Ninth 
Street. As a citizen he is public spirited to an unusual degree, hav- 
ing at heart the advancement of his city and county and assisting 
to the extent of his ability every movement which in his opinion 
promises to benefit the general public. 



HUGH M. STRACHAN 

The changing experiences that have come into his existence in a 
larger measure than into the lives of many have given to Mr. Strachan 
a knowledge of different parts of the world and, being a man of keen 
mind and careful observation, he has accumulated a broad and valuable 
fund of general information. Although scarcely eight years of age 
when he left his native Scotland, where he was born September 2, 
1875, he recalls vividly many events associated with that country and 
remembers the scenes of picturesque and rugged beauty in the 
vicinity of the old home. After he came to the new world he had the 
advantages of the schools of Pullman, 111., and Detroit, Mich., and 
while acquiring a thorough education he also was learning much con- 
cerning the great middle-west region of America. Subsequent expe- 
riences in California filled him with a deep affection for this great 
state, the chosen home of his maturity. In addition he has enjoyed 
varied experiences as a traveler on the Pacific ocean and an employe 
of the United States government on the Philippine Islands, with 
whose material and political condition he has become thoroughly con- 
versant. 

Immediately after the immigration of the family to America in 
1883 the father, Hugh Strachan, entered the employ of the Pullman 
Palace Car Company in a suburb of Chicago. For three years he 
continued with the same firm, after which he removed to Detroit, Mich, 
to enter their shops at that point. The year 1895 found him a new- 
comer in Sacramento, where he entered the motive power department 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad, having continued with them ever 
since. Meanwhile the son, Hugh M., had finished his education in 



972 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Detroit, Midi., and had entered the service of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad as clerk in the motive power department, where he remained 
until 1898. This position with its fair prospects for the. future he re- 
linquished in order that he might volunteer for the war with Spain, 
enlisting- in the Eighteenth Company, U. S. V. Signal Corps. Ordered 
to the Philippine Islands early in 1898 he remained there from July 
of that year to October of the following year, also participating i,n the 
stirring events leading up to the capture of the second largest island 
in the group. Upon his return to the United States in October of 1899 
he continued in the government employ, but was transferred to the 
position of ganger, continuing as such from 1899 to 1906. During the 
following year he served as dei)uty collector of internal revenue for 
the state of Nevada. The head ofifices were in Sacramento and the 
office in this city was given jurisdiction over the Nevada office in Reno. 
October 15, 1910, he was promoted to the position of cashier of the 
internal revenue office and since then has been stationed at Sacramento, 
where he makes his home with his parents. His association with the 
government service has reflected great credit upon himself and has 
evidenced the possession of tact, education and precision of judgment 
in the many details over which he has control. While never exhibiting 
any partisanship in his views, he upholds Republican principles and 
never fails to cast a ballot for the party nominees in all elective con- 
tests. The Sutter Club of Sacramento has his name enrolled among 
its active members and he also takes an interested part in the activ- 
ities of the Episcopal Church of his home city. 



FRANK C. MILLER 

The thorough educational preparation afforded by an eastern 
university and the invaluable experience gained by identification with 
construction work with eastern railroads admirably qualified Mr. 
Miller for successful prosecution of the tasks connected with engineer- 
ing and surveying when in 1902 he became a citizen of Sacramento and 
thus began a congenial association with the west. The office of 
county surveyor which he now fills does not represent the limit of his 
capable contribution to local advancement, for in addition he has been 
a helpful factor in railway construction work and by successful labors 
here has added to the prestige of an eastern reputation previously 
established. Since he was elected surveyor and entered upon official 
duties, in January of 1911, lie has devoted his attention to the work 
of the office, where he has introduced modern conveniences along sur- 
veying lines as well as in systematic routine of accounting. 

A member of a family established in the central west during 
the era of frontier development and himself a native of Romney, Ind., 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 973 

Frank C. Miller received an excellent education in the public and 
Mgli schools of Franklin county, after which he engaged in teaching 
in that county for two years. With the earnings of this period of 
leaching he was able to attend the Ohio State University at Columbus, 
where he took the regular course in civil engineering and in 1893 was 
graduated with a high standing. The first position secured after 
graduation was that of rodman with the Big Four Railroad Company, 
in whose employ he remained for one year. Next he engaged for six 
months on construction work for the Cleveland, Loraine & Wheeling 
Railroad Company. From that position he went to the Columbus, 
Sandusky & Hocking Railroad, where he worked as assistant chief 
engineer until December of 1899. From that time until he came to 
California in 1902 he was connected with the Chicago & Alton Rail- 
road as engineer in the maintenance of way department. 

Upon coming to California and establishing headquarters at Sac- 
ramento, Mr. Miller for five years held the position of resident engi- 
neer for the Sacramento division of the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company, having charge of the department of maintenance and con- 
struction. Then for a time he engaged in work independently. He 
later filled with characteristic ability the position of chief engineer 
with the Central Traction Company, had charge of the construction 
work of that road, and is still holding that position with the company. 
While thus engaged he was elected county surveyor in November, 
1910, during his service also having charge of the construction of the 
Sacramento Terminal Railway and the Vallejo Northern Railway in 
Sacramento. He is now in charge of the construction of the Oakland, 
Antioch & Eastern Railroad, running from Sacramento to Suisun Bay. 

The wife of Mr. Miller was before her marriage Miss Julia 
Throckmorton, of Lafayette, Ind. Two daughters have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Helen and Frances. Though in sympathy with all 
religious movements, Mr. Miller is identified with the Congregational 
church. With intense devotion to the work of his choice, he has had 
little leisure for participation in public affairs, and takes no part in 
politics aside from voting the Republican ticket at all elections. He 
was made a Mason in Tehama Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M., and is also 
a member of the Order of Moose. 



CRADDOC MEREDITH 

An organization well known in the commercial circles of Sacra- 
mento, the American Fish Company has developed and now manages 
a business extending into every part of the United States and even 
across the Atlantic ocean into Germany. The success of the enter- 



974 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

prise is due to the energy and capability of the manager, Mr. Meredith, 
who assisted in the promotion of the concern, was largely instrumental 
in effecting its organization, acquired a one-half interest with Mr. Mor- 
gan as his partner, and eventually acquired the holdings of the other 
member of the firm, thereafter forming a stock company and incorporat- 
ing under the laws of the state of California. The original officers of the 
company are as follows: Walter Mack, of San Francisco, president; 
Craddoc Meredith, of Sacramento, vice-president ; D. Cushman, of San 
Francisco, secretary; and B. L. Sisson, of Sacramento, treasurer. One 
hundred and twenty-five fishermen are employed by the company 
on the rivers of the west and the entire outfit of fishing boats is 
owned by the concern itself, so that large sums have been invested in 
the equipment, but the results have fully justified the magnitude 
of the original expense. 

The manager of this prosperous business enterprise has been 
connected with fish interests for twenty years and therefore possesses 
the broad experience indispensable to the successful supervision of 
such a concern. He is a native of Iowa and was born in Des Moines 
January 20, 1871, being a son of Zoro B. Meredith, one of the first 
as well as one of the leading coal operators of that state during early 
days. It was he who shipped the first carload of coal that ever left 
Des Moines, the destination of the shipment being Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. Under the auspices of the Union Pacific Railroad Company 
he opened coal mines at Rock Springs, Wyom., and there he continued 
to manage large interests until 1893, when he was accidentally killed 
in the mines. All of his ten children are still living and they are 
widely scattered, some being as far south as Mexico, while others have 
been interested in the mines of Alaska. The wife and mother, now a 
resident of Port Angeles, Wash., was among the first women in the 
United States privileged to cast a presidential ballot, for she made her 
home in Wyoming at the time that equal suffrage laws were given to 
that state and it is now nearly forty years since she first enjoyed the 
franchise privilege. 

For twenty-one years the family had their home in Rock Springs, 
Wyom., and there Craddoc Meredith received such educational advan- 
tages as fell to his lot. He was only three years old when the family 
became residents of Wyoming and at the age of twelve it was his choice 
to start working in the mines. He continued this until he was fifteen 
years old, and from then until he was nineteen he rode the range, 
gaining valuable experience thereby. He then went as far east as 
Chicago, where he entered the employ of Booth & Co., fish merchants. 
After he had learned the details of the business as carried on there, 
he resigned at the end of a year and removed to the Puget Sound 
country. For a time he worked in Seattle, where he acquired a 
knowledge of the fish business as there conducted. The vear 1894 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 975 

found liim in San Francisco, where for four years lie was employed by 
the American Union Fish Company. Coming to Sacramento in 
December of 1899, he has since been identified with the business inter- 
ests of the capital city. Besides his business in this city he is inter- 
ested in many different fish companies all over the Pacific Coast, 
many of which he assisted in organizing. In 1911 he conceived the 
idea of and organized the Pacific National Fire Insurance Company 
with a capital of $1,000,000, he being a director and treasurer. Being 
founded and run on broad business principles the business of the 
company has had a rapid progress and is already on a firm financial 
basis. In addition to the interests enumerated he is serving as 
president of the Home Products League and is a member of the 
executive board of the Merchants' Association. He has been active 
in the Sacramento Athletic Association, while fraternally he holds 
membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Knights of Pythias. During 1893 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Mabel Allen, of Rock Springs, Wyom., a woman of culture and a 
leading member of the Rebekahs lodge in Sacramento, as well as a 
contributor to the movements for the general advancement of the 
city. The Meredith family consists of two children, of whom Lolo 
was born in 1894 and Venus B. in 1897, and both are being given the 
best advantages which the schools of Sacramento afford. 



GEORGE A. BURNS 

The business interests of Sacramento have an efficient representa- 
tive in the person of George A. Burns, who has the distinction of 
being a native-born son of the city as well as one of its influential and 
progressive men of commerce. Identified with the community through- 
out all of his life, he received his excellent education in the local 
schools, gained his first knowledge of business in local work and for 
years has been numbered among its men of business, having at a 
very early age entered into the retail wood and coal business at No. 
2231 N street. For a long period he continued at the same location, 
but eventually he disposed of the yards, after which he embarked in 
the wholesale coal and wood business, which he now conducts with 
systematic supervision and intelligent oversight. The general com- 
mercial activities of the city have been fostered by his loyal support 
and his reputation is that of a progressive and honorable citizen, 
patriotic in thought and capable in action. 

While himself a native of Sacramento, where he was born January 
18, 1876, George A. Burns descends from a long line of Celtic ancestry 
and is a son of Joseph and Sarah Burns, the former born and reared 
on the old Emerald Isle. The conditions in Ireland were such as to 



976 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

preclude any hope of successful effort and Joseph Burns therefore 
was led to cast in his destinies with those of the new world, particularly 
with those of the vast undeveloped west. When he crossed the Atlantic 
in 1853 he came on via Panama to California, landing from a vessel 
in the harbor of San Francisco, from which point he proceeded to the 
mines, then the center of great activity. At the time of the great 
excitement concerning gold discoveries on the Fraser river he went 
to that section of the country, where he prospected until 1854. Later 
he went to Nevada and became interested in mining near Warsaw. 
As early as 1856 he became a resident of Sacramento and began to take 
contracts for putting in sewers, grading streets and building street 
railways. From that time until his death in 1893 he ranked among the 
most influential and prominent contractors in the city. 

When about fourteen years of age George A. Burns left school 
and became self-supporting, since which time he has made his own way 
in the world. For a time he was employed to assist his father in 
street and railroad construction work and soon he gained a thorough 
knowledge of that line of business, so that while yet a mere youth he 
did considerable work on his own responsibility. During November 
of 1897 he opened a wood and coal yard on N street and this he 
conducted for almost fourteen years, fmally selling in May of 1911. 
Since then he has engaged in a wholesale business along the same 
lines, having his place of business at Thirtieth and R streets, where he 
keeps on hand large quantities of fuel for sale to retailers at reason- 
able prices. In the midst of many business cares he has found leisure 
for participation in the local activities of the Democratic party and in 
the fraternal enterprises of the Elks and the Native Sons of the 
(rolden West, in both of which he has been quite prominent. April 14, 
1894, he married Miss Sadie Bradshaw, of Sacramento. One child 
blesses their union, a daughter, Josephine, now a pupil in the Sisters' 
convent. The family are earnest members of the Roman Catholic 
Church. 



HON. FREDERICK COX 

Any narrative of the pioneer experiences of Mr. Cox in California 
would present a recapitulation more or less complete of the hardships 
and privations endured b.v all early settlers who, like himself, had 
been allured to the west through visions of its unknown opportunities. 
In contrast with the majority of the emigrants, he did not seek the 
gold mines. Fascinating as seemed the occupation, he did not blind 
his judgment to the fact that of the thousands who sought the hidden 
wealth of the country few found what they longed for with such keen 
anticipation. To hiui there seemed more of safety although less of 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 977 

allurement to the old business regime and he therefore sought em- 
ployment in town. While at first there seemed little material return 
from his efforts, eventually he gained a competency. Retiring from 
commercial activities he gave his time to the enjoyment of social inter- 
course with his family and friends and to the maintenance of an intelli- 
gent interest in all public affairs. When in 1906 death terminated his 
earthly labors, there was brought to an honorable end an association of 
considerably more than fifty years with the great state of California 
and an intimate identification with many movements for the perma- 
nent welfare of the people. A strong, helpful character passed into 
eternity, a character that had irradiated a beneficial influence upon 
the community and had proved the governing element of a long career. 

Descended from an honorable Anglo-Saxon ancestry, Frederick 
Cox was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1828, and during boyhood 
accompanied members of the family to the United States.- After six 
months in New York City, removal was made to Milwaukee, Wis., 
where the father secured work as a buyer and bookkeeper for a whole- 
sale and retail meat firm. As soon as he heard of the discovery of 
gold in California the young man desired to start for the west, but 
lack of funds deterred him until the spring of 1850. Meanwhile he 
had worked regularly and saved his earnings, so that he had ample 
for the expenses of the trip. With a party of six he started across the 
plains and crossed the Missouri river at the present site of Omaha, 
then called Winter Quarters because the Mormons had spent a winter 
there during their removal to Utah. The little expedition had the 
good fortune to secure a guide-book published by the Mormons, which 
contained full particulars concerning the route. It was thus possible 
for them to reach Salt Lake without any delay or difficulty, but they 
were less fortunate from that place to their destination. The guide- 
book for that part of the journey was inaccurate and unreliable. How- 
ever, they were able to reach Eldorado county in the autumn of the 
year and at Ringgold they separated, first pitching their tent in the 
middle of the street and investing their entire capital, $7, in a banquet 
of beefsteak, molasses and bread. The members of the party with the 
exception of Mr. (\:>x had practically exhausted their funds by the 
time they left Salt Lake, so he had been forced to pay the expenses of 
all for a time, but at the banquet, when called upon for a talk, he de- 
livered the first oration of his life when he tersely told his comrades 
it was now ''Everyone for himself and the devil for the hindmost." 

It being the desire of all but Mr. Cox to engage in mining the 
six men betook themselves to the store of Sargent Bros., and being 
granted a limited credit procured the necessary tools and started out 
in search of gold. Not caring to accompany them, Mr. Cox hired out 
to a butcher in Ringgold at $250 per month. After two months he 
bought the business, which he conducted for nine months. Upon 
selling out he proceeded to the Carson river in Nevada and with a 



978 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

partner engaged in buying horses and cattle from immigrants. These 
were tlien fattened and bronght over the mountains to California, 
where they were sold at a fair profit. During the fall of 1851 Mr. Cox 
started a meat market at Salmon Falls, Eldorado county, which at the 
time was one of the liveliest mining camps in the state. With Charles 
Bonstell as a jiartuer he remained tliere until the spring of 1852, when 
he moved to Shingle Springs, in the same county. At first he con- 
ducted a meat market alone, but later he sold an interest to C. W. 
Clarke, and they carried on the business for two years, selling out at a 
fair profit. Afterward they spent six months in the east buying stock 
and on their return in the fall of 1854 they opened a meat market at 
Grass Valley, Nevada county. Later they sold the business in order 
to give their entire attention to the handling of stock. As their herds 
increased and lands became scarce in the vicinity of Sacramento they 
found themselves obliged to seek ranges elsewhere. By successive 
purchases they acquired vast tracts in the counties of Sutter, Yuba, 
Tulare, Kern and San Luis Obispo, and over those broad acres the 
cattle roamed in large herds. 

While gaining prominence in business and acquiring a reputation 
for never having failed in any enterprise, Mr. Cox also wielded a wide 
influence in the Democratic ])arty. As the nominee of his party he was 
elected state senator in 1882 and served through two regular and 
two special sessions, after which he declined further nomination, 
although he was the choice of the Democrats of the district. On three 
different occasions he was appointed a member of the state board of 
agriculture and in that capacity he proved efficient, intelligent and 
patriotic, working strenuously and incessantly for the promotion of 
the farming interests of the state. During November of 1857 he mar- 
ried Miss Jennie A. Iloldridge, of Eldorado county, who was born in 
Cortland county, N. Y., and who survives him, remaining at the family 
residence. No. 2020 T street, which he had erected after his retirement 
from l)usiness. They were the ])arents of two sons and three daughters, 
of whom one son and a daughter died in childhood, while the other son, 
Crawford, was killed by the explosion of a gas engine. The surviving 
members of the family are Mrs. Jennie Peltier and Mrs. John E. 
Short, l)oth residents of Sacramento. 



OTTO RAIFF 

As a whole the immigrants coming to the United States have 
made good, and, with few exceptions compared to the whole mass, 
the offspring of these inunigrants have made exceedingly good. Otto 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 979 

Raiff was born in Germany in 1862 and was educated in the public 
schools there. When he was fourteen years old he was apprenticed 
to the sheet metal worker's trade, which he mastered and followed 
there until he was twenty-one years old. Then, in company with 
his brother, August, he came to the United States and located in 
Dayton, Ohio. There he remained about five years, when, in 1887, 
he came west to Sacramento. Soon after his arrival he found em- 
ployment at his trade with H. G. Hayes, with whom he remained about 
a year. In 1888 he transferred his services to Carlow and Miller, for 
whom he worked diligently until 1904, giving sixteen years of faithful 
devotion to their business. In the year last mentioned he took an 
interest in the concern with H. J. Miller and 0. J. Edlar and has since 
been identified with them in an enterprise which has grown to be one 
of the largest of its kind in the northern part of the state, having 
filled many important contracts for plumbing and sheet metal work 
and having others of equal importance which Mr. Raiff and his asso- 
ciates plan to undertake in the near future. 

February 28. 1891, Mr. Raiff married, at Sacramento, Miss Annie 
Debrunner, a native of Switzerland, and they have one child, Varna, 
born December 8, 1901. Fraternally Mr. Raiff affiliates with the Owls 
and with the Turners' societies. 



JAMES T. CHRISTIAN, M. D. 

Greater than all other fields of labor in its opportunities for the 
exposition of the finer qualities of the human soul, the medical 
world has proven the crucible for many a wavering character, further 
refining and strengthening those who are by nature of worthy 
principles and lofty ideals. Of a thoughtful and humane temperament, 
patient and sympathetic to a marked degree, is Dr. Christian, who 
has practiced in Gait and vicinity four years. He has demonstrated 
thoroughly his innate power in his work, his magnetic personality 
playing no inconsiderable part in his success. Born November 17, 
1878, in Lockeford, San Joaquin county, Cal., he was the son of 
James L. and Martha (Givens) Christian, natives of Kentucky. 
The father came to California in 1852 via the Nicaragua route, and 
was a pioneer in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. 

Upon completing his public school course, James T. Cliristian 
attended AVoodbridge College for four years, and in 1899 entered 
Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, never, throughout his 
years of study, relinquishing the great purpose which guided him. 
Shortly after receiving his degree in 1902, he was appointed house 



980 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

physician for the Southern Pacific Hospital in San Francisco, and 
after three years of faithful service resigned his jDosition to take 
np his profession in Tuolumne county, Cal., where he remained 
until his removal to Gait. 

Dr. Christian was married in Goldfield, Nev., December 21, 1906, 
to Miss Edith Leeshurg-, of Whiting, Kans., and to their union 
were born James L. and Samuel H., both of whom are splendid, 
sturdy children. In 1911 was completed the new residence of the 
family, which is one of the most modern in this vicinity. 

A member of both the California State and American Medical 
Associations, Dr. Christian is recognized by his colleagues as a 
man whose future success is assured, owing to his keen judgment and 
untiring energy, combined with absolute integrity and regard for 
others. Fraternally, he is allied with Gait Lodge, F. & A. M., Pine 
Tree Lodge, No. 131, I. 0. 0. F., of Tuolumne, and Gait Parlor, 
N. S. G. W., and he maintains also a deep interest in all civic mat- 
ters worthv of consideration. 



ARCHIBALD M. CAMERON 

Among Sacramento's prominent business men is A. M. Cameron, 
who is best known as president of the Sacramento Laundry. Born 
in Dundee, Scotland, October 13, 1876, he is the son of William and 
Belle (Low) Cameron, the former of whom was a railroad man and 
passed away in Dundee. The mother is now Mrs. A. J. Holcombe, 
M. D., of Los Angeles. When a young boy Mr. Cameron came to 
America, located near Winnemucca, Nev., and lived with his grand- 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Scott, on a cattle ranch. In 1884 they 
removed to Sacramento, Cal., where for several years he attended the 
public schools and then a business college. At the age of fifteen he 
went to work for the Sunset Telephone Co. as a messenger and 
afterward served that company as night operater. Subsequently for 
several years he was employed by A. Walker, a produce and grocery 
merchant, serving as clerk, and then for three years was a driver for 
the Union Laundry. In 1903 Mr. Cameron with several others 
organized the Sacramento Laundry, located at the corner of Front 
and streets, and the venture has been successful from the start. 
Mr. Cameron is president of the company. During the first year 
they ran three wagons and each year have added to their delivering 
facilities until they are now the owners of twelve wagons. In 1909, 
in connection with their laundry, they started the Sacramento 
Sanitary Cleaners branch. Throughout the vicinity, within a radius 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 981 

of a hundred miles from the city, they have twelve laundry agencies, 
and their business is constantly growing. 

On December 10, 1896, Mr. Cameron was married in Sacramento 
to Miss Abbie S. A. Conrad, a native of Washington, Yolo county, 
Cal., and the daughter of George H. Conrad, the latter an old settler 
of the state. Mr. Cameron is a member of the Presbyterian church, 
and fraternally unites with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and the Knio-hts of Maccabees. 



VACTOR T. CHAMBERS 

A comparatively brief period has been sufficient to prove that 
in placing a branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company, No, 917 
Sixth street, in Sacramento it has met a decided need in the material 
progress of the capital city. As a general rubber store, carrying 
almost anything that is made of rubber, it is the first of its kind. 
While it is essentially a factory branch and dealing almost entirely 
with dealers and jobbers, it yet has a retail end which includes auto 
tires and auto sundries. 

This branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company keeps 
a comparatively large stock of rubber hose, belting, both rubber and 
leather, and packings for factories, railroad shops and agricultural 
purposes, in fact, anything in the mechanical line of rubber goods 
for which there is a common call. It carries also drug sundries, oil 
clothing, rainproof overcoats and cravenettes, rubber boots and shoes. 
A complete vulcanizing and tire repair plant is also maintained 
and operated by William M. Rigdon, an expert in this line who has 
had a large experience in tire factories. 

The manager of this branch, Vactor T. Chambers, of whom a 
slight biography will follow, is a descendant from an old Southern 
family and himself the inheritor of qualities that gave the race 
prominence in the original development of Kentucky. He was born 
at Covington, that state, April 1, 1886, and had the good fortune to 
enjoy the excellent educational advantages offered by that cultured 
southern city. The information thus acquired was supplemented by 
study in the Cincinnati University. The educational training gained 
in that institution has been broadened through habits of careful 
reading and close observation, so that he is the possessor of a com- 
prehensive knowledge valuable in business, in society and in public 
aifairs. Upon leaving the university he was connected with a 
brokerage business, but after eighteen months he turned his attention 
to other activities. For one vear as manager and for a similar 



982 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

period as receiver, he was connected with the Harrison Water and 
Light Company, of Harrison, Ohio, from wliich city in 1907 he 
came to California. A connection of several months with the 
advertising- department of the Sacramento Bee formed the first 
business associations of Mr. Chambers in the west and later for one 
year he served as assistant secretary of the Sacramento Chamber 
of Commerce under the secretary, A. L. Crane, After severing his 
connections with that de]:>artment he became identified with the 
growth of the Sacramento Builders' Supply Company, a recent but 
valuable acquisition to the important industries of the city, of which 
he was assistant manager until April, 1912, when he resigned to 
establish the Sacramento branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber 
Company. 

While giving liis attention to the business with intelligent and 
unflagging devotion Mr, Chambers has not held aloof from the social 
opportunities which the capital city affords. On the other hand he 
is both prominent and popular in the most select social circles and 
occupies a leading place in the activities of the University, Sutter 
and Sacramento Country Clubs, while his skill in tennis has brought 
him into leadership among the members of the East Side and the 
McKinley Park Tennis Clubs. In addition he retains membership 
with the Sigma Chi Fraternitv of the Cincinnati ITniversitv. 



CHARLES J. ELLIS 

The staple productions of the Sacramento valley are of a nature 
so diversified and an aggregate so enormous tliat to properly handle 
and shi]^ the output demands freight facilities the equal of those 
furnished by the railroads to any other portion of the great west. 
No less is it incumbent ui^on railroad officials to place the manage- 
ment of the work in this section with an agent thoroughly familiar 
with every detail. The appointment of Charles J. Ellis as freight 
agent at Sacramento was, therefore, a recognition of his abilities on 
the part of officials of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with which he 
had been long and honorably associated in other capacities. Natural 
ability supplemented by fine educational advantages, qualifies him 
for important responsibilities and enables him to ])rotect the interests 
of the shippers, while at the same time advancing the general business 
of the railroad. 

Into the home of Charles and Emma Ellis at Burlington, Iowa, 
Charles J. Ellis was born in May of 1850. His early recollections 
cluster around Burlington, then an important river to^vn with large 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 983 

shipping interests. After he had received his primary schooling 
there he was sent to England in 1862 and entered the " Mechanics ' 
Institute at Leeds, where he carried on the regular course of study 
for two years. Later he was a student in a business college at Leeds 
for six months. Upon his return to America he secured a clerkship 
in the office of an architect at Burlington and there he continued for 
six years, meanwhile mastering the details of architecture and 
fitting himself for the profession. However, the work was not wholly 
to his liking and he did not select it as a permanent occupation in 
life. After a year as a clerk in the office of the Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy Railroad he spent a similar period as cashier for the Empire 
fast freight line. 

Upon coming to California in 1874 and identif^dng himself with 
the interests of the state Mr. Ellis secured employment as draftsman 
m the office of an architect in San Francisco, but six months later he 
resigned the position in order to enter upon railroad activities with 
the Southern Pacific Company. Indicative of his fitness for such 
work is the fact that he was retained as cashier for eleven years and 
then, in recognition of his able service in the interests of the railroad, 
was in 1889 promoted to be freight agent at Sacramento, a position 
that he has since filled with tact, discretion and intelligence. In 
the midst of his diversified duties as agent he has found leisure for 
active co-operation with the blue lodge of Masonry and for participa- 
tion in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as for 
association with the genial memberslii]^ of the Sutter Club. The 
Republican party has received his earnest support in all elections and 
he has kept well-posted concerning movements affecting the national 
prosperity. After he came to the west he was married at San Fran- 
cisco in May of 1881 to Miss Mary Bradford, bv whom he is the 
father of two sons. The elder, Charles C, holds "a clerkship in the 
California National Bank; and the younger son, Chester Bradford, 
is a student in the Universitv of California. 



CHARLES M. DERBY 

Several successive generations of the Derby family lived and 
labored in the east. The first of the name to seek a permanent 
home on the Pacific coast was Daniel B. Derby, a native of New York 
state and for a number of years engaged in business in Pennsvlvania. 
Accompanied by his wife, Ella (Hammon) Derby, and their three 
children he left Pennsylvania for California early in the '80s and 
settled at Oakland. With characteristic energv he devoted himself 



984 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

to the nurser}" business with such ardor, zeal and intelligence that he 
became widely known for the quality of the stock in his fields. From 
the main office at Oakland he shipped young stock to every part of 
the state, as well as to Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Skill and 
integrity enabled him to build up an enviable reputation as a 
nurseryman. The secret of his success was the scrupulous exactness 
with which he superintended every detail. Later however he turned 
to other pursuits, removed to Vacaville, Solano county, and bought 
land which he developed into fine fruit orchards. To some extent 
he has drifted back to his former work. Many of his early patrons 
still depend upon him to furnish them with young trees for their 
orchards and ranches. Notwithstanding his long and active business 
career he is still busily occupied with the care of his orchard business 
and shows no trace of weariness of body or mind. 

During the residence of the family at Greenville, Pa., Charles 
M. Derby was born September 8, 1878, moving to California with his 
parents in the early '80s. The memories of early childhood clustered 
around Oakland and Vacaville, Solano count}", where in turn he 
graduated from grammar, high school and business college, in addition 
to completing a course in engineering. Upon starting out upon a 
career, he chose to identify himself with the gold dredging industry, 
which was then in its infancy and accepted employment in that 
occupation at Oroville, Butte county, Cal. He soon acquired practical 
knowledge of that business and later served a number of years as 
superintendent and manager of various companies operating in Butte, 
Yuba, Calaveras, and Sacramento counties. In January, 1909, he 
became a stockholder in Natomas Consolidated of California, a 
$25,000,000 corporation engaged principally in gold dredging and 
land development, and since that time has been manager of the 
company's business at Natoma, Sacramento county, where he has 
active charge of its extensive gold dredging operations, employing a 
total of several hundred men. The officials of the company recognize 
in him a careful business man and efficient executive. 

In 1910 Mr. Derby assisted in the organization of the Bank of 
Folsom, at Folsom, Sacramento county, becoming a director of the 
bank at the time of its opening for business in November of that year 
and continuing to the present in that capacity. 

On November 18, 1903, Charles M. Derbyand Miss Ethel V. Elder 
of Marysville, Yuba county, were united in marriage at Sacramento. 
Two years later a son was born to them in Calaveras county, and after 
living to be nearly three and one half years old was suddenly taken 
away in a most unfortunate accident on November 15, 1908, while the 
family were residing at Natoma. A daughter was born to them on 
August 7, 1910, and at this time is the only child of the household. 

While giving his time and attention almost exclusively to the 
duties of his position, Mr. Derby has found time to identify himself 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 985 

with other local enterprises and is prosperous and public spirited. He 
is a member of the Scottish Rite Masons of Sacramento, rising to 
membership in Islam Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., at San Francisco, 
and is actively identified with the philanthropies of Masonry as his 
principal lodge affiliation. 



FRANCIS GIBSON 

Upon the occasion of the jubilee parade in commemoration of 
the annexation to Sacramento of the growing suburb of Oak Park a 
gray-haired gentleman of about seventy-five years was observed in 
the line of march, easily and tirelessly pushing a decorated wheel- 
barrow loaded down with flowers and vegetables taken from his own 
garden in Oak Park and raised by his own personal work. At the 
various stops along the line of the parade he regaled the onlookers 
with impromptu speeches, exhibiting his display of home-grown 
products as the result of the labor of a man advanced in years as a 
forcible illustration of the possibilities lying before men young in 
years but his equal in determination, industry and painstaking 
application. To one and all he declared that a long residence had 
convinced him of the greatness of Sacramento and its possibilities for 
future growth. The celebration occurred October 21, 1911, and on the 
15th of November the annexation jubilee committee awarded him a 
handsome silver loving cup, appropriately engraved, as a permanent 
testimonial to the originality and success of his entry. 

This California pioneer of 1858 is a native of England, born 
January 17, 1837, and at the age of twelve years came to America 
with his parents, who made a brief sojourn at Fultonville in the Mohawk 
valley of New York and then removed to the province of Ontario, 
Canada, settling at Ingersoll not far from the shore of Lake Erie. 
At the age of twenty-one years the young man left home to make his 
own way in the world and proceeded via Panama to California, where 
he settled in Sutter county near the Sacramento river. The years 
that followed were filled with agricultural activities as well as the 
management of a warehouse business and a cheese factory. To him, 
in partnership with Mr, Baldwin, belongs the distinction of having 
made the first cheese in Sutter county. As a dair;^mian he was pro- 
gressive, resourceful and sagacious, and the returns from his dairy 
investments were well merited. In addition he made a specialty of 
the poultry industry and for years had from one to two thousand 
turkeys on his ranch. Movements for the agricultural upbuilding 
of the region received his judicious support. No pioneer was more 
progressive than he and none more industrious. Through his own 



986 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

unaided efforts he acquired the title to about thirteen hunderd acres 
of ranch land in Sutter county. Over these broad acres roamed his 
large herds of stock and his fine milch cows. Until advancing years 
taught him the need of lessened activities he was one of the foremost 
farmers of the entire county, always busy and usually successful in 
his ventures. As he studied the country and became more familiar 
with its possibilities his own devotion to the country increased and he 
has formed the oi)inion, as a result of long experience, that no 
commonwealth surpasses our own in the vastness of its resources and 
the magnitude of its opportunities. 

During 1867 Mr. Gibson married Mrs. Esther Bennett, who was 
born in England and died in California in 1883. The two children 
of the union have also passed away, Fred dying at the age of eleven 
years and George when a child of five. After the death of his first 
wife he married her sister, Mrs. Zelina Prosser, of Sacramento, whose 
death occurred in 1904, leaving him alone and without any relatives 
(except by marriage) in the United States. Twice he has returned 
to Canada to renew the friendships of youth and to visit his two 
brothers, one of whom, Hon. Joseph Gibson, has become a man of 
prominence, frequently addressing the Canadian parliament and 
otherwise identifying himself with public issues. Retiring from agri- 
cultural pursuits in 1900 Mr. Gibson came to Sacramento and has 
since bought and sold considerable property at Oak Park, where he 
now resides at No. 3219 Fourth avenue. After becoming a citizen of 
the United States he gave his allegiance to the Republican party. 
Twice he had the privilege of voting for Abraham Lincoln for presi- 
dent and he still continues to cast his vote in favor of the men and 
measures advocated by his party. 



CHARLES WILLIAM GODARD 

The distinction of being a pioneer does not belong to Mr. Godard, 
yet when it is stated that he has been identified with the development 
and business history of Sacramento for more than thirty years it 
will be realized at once that he is no recent acquisition to the city's 
ranks nor unfamiliar with the commercial development of the past. 
The family of which he is a member claims old southern ancestry and 
became established in Missouri during the period of frontier environ- 
ment. His oivn early recollections belong to that state, for he was 
born in Clinton county in January of 1862 and is a son of H. L. and 
Frances Godard. As soon as old enough he was sent to school and 
there studied the common branches until he had completed the course 



HISTOBY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 987 

stipulated for the grammar grade, after which he entered the high 
school. At the age of fourteen years he left school and thereafter 
he earned his own way in the world. In the midst of many hardships 
and privations he developed self-reliance and became accustomed to 
depend upon his own native resources through the most trying dis- 
couragements. 

The trade which attracted the early attention of Mr. Grodard as 
offering a means of livelihood was the occupation of a blacksmith, 
and he served an apprenticeship that began when he was fourteen! 
As soon as he had served his time he began to work as a journe^nnan 
and soon acquired a local reputation for skill as a horse-shoer. How- 
ever, he was still a mere lad not yet out of his teens when he left 
Missouri and sought the opportunities of California, settling at Sacra- 
mento, where for one year he was employed by Wheeler & Nixon in 
their horse-shoeing shop. Then he opened up a shop of his own and 
this he continued to manage until 1900, when he sold to other parties. 
Meanwhile he has proved himself to be skilled in all departments of 
blacksmithing and especially proficient in the shoeing of horses. 

The business with which Mr. Godard became identified in October 
of 1903 and which has engaged his attention from that time to the 
present, forms one of the well-known amusement ventures for which 
the city has gained a wide reputation. As proprietor and owner of 
three theaters, known as the Liberty, Majestic and Acme Theaters, 
he has developed the use of moving pictures for entertainment, amuse- 
ment and education. Some of the films exhibited in his theaters are ex- 
ceptionally fine and have attracted admiring comment from critics, 
while all have been selected with experienced judgment and artistic 
appreciation. In politics Mr. Godard votes with the Republican party. 
Fraternally he holds membership with the Elks, Eagles, Knights of 
Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For a long period 
after his location in Sacramento he remained a bachelor, but eventually 
he established domestic ties, his marriage December 5, 1906, uniting 
him with Miss May Burges, of Sacramento. They are the parents of 
one daughter, Margaret. 



CHAELES H. GRAHAM 

For many years a favorable and well-known baseball plaver on the 
Atlantic as well, as the Pacific coast, Charles H. Graham' won the 
friendship of many followers of that athletic sport, but owing to pres- 
sure of his personal affairs relinquished that professional field to 
devote his time to his business in Sacramento. He was born in Santa 
Clara, Cal.,- April 24, 1878, his parents being P. J. and Catharine 



988 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Graham. Attending- the public schools until he was fifteen, he then 
entered Santa Clara College, and g^radnated in 1898 with the degree 
of A. B. lie then taught in the institution for two 3'ears. Being fond 
of athletic sports he became a skillful baseball player and his first 
work as a professional was in 1900, when he played with the Pueblo 
team of the western league. During the season of 1901 he was with the 
San Francisco team as catcher, and for the seasons of 1902 and 1903 
was catcher and manager of the Sacramento club. During 1904 and 
1905 he was catcher with the Tacoma aggregation, and for 1906- was 
catcher with the Boston club, in 1907 returning to Sacramento as pro- 
prietor of the Sacramento club. Since this time he has continued as 
manager of this club, having played as catcher until 1910, when he 
retired as a player. 

In 1910 Mr. Graham became engaged in the automobile business 
under the firm name of Graham-Lamus Co., exclusive dealers in 
Baker electric automobiles. He built a garage at No. 1217 Seventh 
street, it being an L with an outlet on L street; this garage is solely 
for the care and charging of electric cars. On November 25, 1903, he 
married Miss Clara Black of Sacramento, and they have three chil- 
dren, Clara, Charles and Robert. Fraternally he holds membership 
with the Elks, Knights of Columbus, and the Fort Sutter Parlor, 
N. S. G. W. He is a member of the Catholic church, and in politics 
his affiliations are with the Democratic party. 



GEORGE GREEN 

Modern civilization with its complexities of public service and its 
intricacies of commercial enterprises gives an important place to the 
duties of special agent. Comparatively few have the mental equipment 
and the i^hysical endurance qualifying ■ them for tasks so difficult and 
responsibilities so weighty as those connected with such work, and 
it affords abundant evidence as to the ability of Mr. Green when the 
statement is made that he ranks as the peer of any of the western 
representatives of his chosen occupation. In logical reasoning, quick- 
ness of comprehension, keenness in securing evidence and patience 
in ])roving the same, he possesses qualifications for efficient detective 
service and long experience along the line of his specialty has 
developed his native gifts in such a manner as to indicate that his 
choice of an occu]^ation was wisely made. 

Through a residence in Sacramento covering a ]ieriod of twenty- 
five or more years Mr. Green has won and retained the esteem of a 
large circle of acquaintances, all of whom bear testimonv concern- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 989 

ing his capable services in special police and detective work. A son 
of William and Sarali Green, he was born in the city of New York 
March 24, 1863, but at a very early* age accompanied the family 
to California, settling in San Francisco, where he attended the 
grammar and high schools nntil fourteen years of age. After that 
he took np the task of self-support. Independent and resolute by 
nature, he found it no difficult task to earn a livelihood. Having 
always been fond of horses and able to manage even the most fiery 
of animals, he secured employment as a trainer and traveled through- 
out various parts of the state in that capacity. 

Upon establishing his headquarters in Sacramento during the 
year 1887 Mr. Green entered the police service as an officer. A year 
later he was chosen to engage in special police work and in "that 
line he continued as a city employe until 1906, when he became 
an assistant special agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad and 
during 1909 received promotion to his present position as special 
agent for the same road. The difficult and delicate nature of his 
business causes him to refrain from political activity and he takes 
no part in politics aside from voting the Republican "ticket, although 
he is well qualified for public service and official responsibilities. 
Nor has he, aside from membership with the Eagles, any association 
with fraternal organizations. During July of 1888 he was united 
in marriage with Miss Louise Gonnet, a native of Sacramento, and 
they have resided here ever since and now own and occupv a 
comfortable home at No. 3504 Seventh avenue. Oak Park, this citv. 



M. W. GRIFFIN 

Among the^ stanch-hearted ones who made the perilous water 
journey to California, crossing the isthmus in canoes pushed by 
native boatmen and concluding their journey mule-back toward the 
landing of the steamer Isthmus, Captain Harris commanding, which 
was to be the means of transportation in the last stage of an ad- 
venturesome journey, were Mr. and Mrs. M. W. Griffin, descendants 
of old families in their native Ireland. While at college Mr. Griffin 
had become interested in America and had suddenly changed his 
life plans and set sail for New Orleans, where he identified himself 
with the coffee and cotton business. His marriage to his childhood 
playmate followed soon after her arrival in New Orleans. Mrs. 
Griffin was a member of the famous Fitzgerald and McDonnell fam- 
ilies, the latter one of the most ancient in the west of Ireland. 
Though their life was care free and happy, they heard and responded 



990 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

to the call of the Golden West. With them were twelve young 
Kentuckians who were their companions on the dangerous Chagres 
river trip, with its yelling and fighting native boatmen. Becoming 
faint-hearted as thej' approached the steamer, tossing on the bosom 
of the Pacific, they besought the Griffins to return with them to 
home and friends. But this was in vain, for Marshall's great dis- 
covery, coupled with tales of the sunny land where flowers never 
die, made them ignore the dangers of the deep. So, with a tear 
for their friends and a smile for the future, they embarked on the 
Isthmus. For a time all went well, but suddenly the ship sprung 
a leak and twenty-four hours of peril followed; but this was soon 
forgotten under the lure of the land of the Golden West, and the 
steamer sailed through the Golden Gate April 16, 1853. 

After a year's residence in San Francisco the Griffins stopped 
at what of Sacramento then existed and then pushed on to the gold 
mines, where all had faith that 

"Gold was got in pan and pot. 

Soup-tureen or ladle, 
Basket, bird-cage or what not, 

Even to a cradle." 

In the spring of 1869 they located permanently in Sacramento, which 
then contained few imposing buildings. A stately capitol charmed the 
eye, but the glory of its park was wanting. Historic Sutter Fort, a 
ruin, was then far out in the country; today, a spot both interesting 
and sacred, it is surrounded by beautiful homes. Instead of the 
majestic Cathedral with its cross-tipped spire, was old St. Rose, 
several feet below the grade, and in admiring the splendid govern- 
ment building which occupies the old St. Rose location, the little low 
postoffice at Fourth and K streets seems but a dream. 

Mining interests both in California and Nevada always held Mr. 
Griffin's attention^ for he was a true pioneer, but he engaged for 
some years in the hotel business in Placer and Eldorado counties 
and became a prominent and public-spirited citizen of that section. 
On settling in Sacramento, he gave up his hotel interests and identi- 
fied himself with the shipping department of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad Company. His two elder sons, John F. and Edward Emmett 
Griffin, rarely gifted young men, employed in the San Francisco 
offices of the same company, died in young manhood, and their 
passing proved his own death blow. Though he was in the midst 
of his labors and of his usefulness, he was unable to rally from the 
shock that he had received, and his life went out on a February 
day in 1894. Surviving him are Mrs. M. (Fitzgerald) Griffin, an 
honored mother, her son Franklin A. Griffin, a well known lawyer, 
accomplished musician, executive secretary to Governor Hiram W. 
Johnson and past president of Stanford Parlor, N. S. G. W. ; Miss 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 991 

Mary G. Griffin, teacher and talented musician; and Miss Lizzie 
M. Griffin, vice-principal of the Mary J. Watson grammar school, 
composer, and organist of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. 
One grandson, Gerald Griffin, notary public for San Francisco and 
prominent in real estate circles, lives in that city. 



JOSEPH WILLIAM AxNFGRAVE 

For more than a quarter of a century agricultural enterprises in 
Sacramento county have engaged the intelligent attention of Joseph 
William Angrave, who is regarded as one of the most experienced 
farmers and capable stock-raisers in the vicinity of Gait. A lifelong 
identification with this county proved helpful to him when he started 
out to earn his own way in the world. While during the early years 
of his business activity he had different interests successively in 
town and country, eventually he settled upon his present place and 
here he has been content to remain, receiving from his resourceful 
industries a goodly income each year. The tilling of the soil, con- 
ducted skillfully and wisely, has been a leading element in his pros- 
perity, but he has also found the stock industry profitable and 
through specializing in cattle he has established a wide reputation 
for skill and success. 

The earliest recollections of Joseph William Angrave cluster 
around a house that stood on the corner of Tenth and J streets 
in the city of Sacramento. There his birth occurred June 21, 1861. 
His ])arents, Joseph and Jane (Davis) Angrave, were natives of 
Lancashire, England, the former born in 1827 and the latter in 
1829. Married in their native shire during the year 1856. they came 
to the United States three years later and after landing in New 
York City proceeded direct to California, settling in Sacramento. 
In the capital city he opened up a business on J street between 
Ninth and Tenth and there he continued in business up to the time 
of his death in 1872. For many years afterward his widow remained 
at^ the old home, where her closing days were made happy by the 
friendship of a large circle of old acquaintances and by the affection- 
ate ministrations of her children. July 6, 1894, she passed from her 
earthly home into the mysteries of eternity. 

Between the years of six and ten Joseph William Angrave at- 
tended the public schools of Sacramento. Afterward he was a pupil 
in the Grant school district, five miles from Gait, and at the age 
of sixteen he entered a business college at Sacramento, where he 
completed the regular commercial course. At the expiration of a 



992 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

year in that institution he returned to the farm. Eventually he 
began for himself in San Joaquin county and bought a ranch near 
Elliott, where he ultimately owned twelve hundred acres. After 
ten years on a farm there he rented it and returned to the vicinity 
of Gait and bought live hundred acres of grain land. This he later 
sold. From 1880 to 1883 he was proprietor of a livery barn, but 
in the year last-named he resumed agricultural pursuits, to which 
he since has devoted his undivided attention. He still owns two 
ranches near Gait, one of three hundred and" sixty and the other 
two hundred and fifty-two acres, devoted to dairying. Political affairs 
have never been allowed to divert his mind from his chosen occu- 
pation, but he keeps posted concerning national questions and gives 
his support to the Republican party. In fraternal relations he holds 
membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. December 
24, 1893, he was united in marriage with Miss Loreua Jeannette 
Wooster, who was born in San Francisco, the daughter of John 
M. and Jeannette (Clough) Wooster, natives of New York state. 
They came to California in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Angrave have three 
children, namely: Verna, William Wooster, and Joseph Marshall. 
The eldest child is now a student in the high school, while the sons 
are pupils in the grammar-schools and all are enjoying the ad- 
vantages of careful preparation for the activities of life. 



HARRY W. BAKER 

It was in Alexandria, Pa., that the well known realty dealer of 
Sacramento whose name is above was born March 2, 1863, and there 
he gained his primary education in the public schools of the town 
and took more advanced courses in Juniata College. He devoted 
five years to theological study, one and a half years in Pennsylvania 
and three and a half years in California, and entered the ministry 
of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pleasanton, Cal., in April, 
1892. He was in regular work for fifteen years, during which time 
he was at Hastings, Pa., and at Biggs, AYilliams, Forest Hill, Oak 
Park and Livermore, Cal. Active as a member of the California 
conference, he still does local ministerial work. Lately he devotes 
his attention to real estate operations in Sacramento and at Oak 
Park, the latter section being the center of his operations chiefly. 
His place of business is located at No. 2825 Thirty-fifth street, 
Sacramento, and he unites with these duties those of notary ])ublic. 

Mr. Baker married in 1894 Belle S. Summers, the wedding 
taking place as San Jose. Their residence is at No. 3515 Cypress 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 993 

avenue, Sacramento. They have had five children, of whom George 
R., Henry Glazier, May E. and Genevieve are attending the public 
schools. Dwight E. died at the age of eleven years. Mr. Baker 
has taken much interest in social and beneficial societies and he is 
chancellor commander of Confidence Lodge No. 78, K. P. of Sacra- 
mento, a member of Livermore Lodge No. 219, I. 0. 0. F., and the 
Mount Diablo Encampment I. 0. 0. F., of Pleasanton. He is 
actively interested in commercial and civic welfare and is a member 
of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce as well as the Oak Park 
Business Men's Association, of which latter he serves as treasurer. 
A man of public spirit he takes an active part in all movements 
for the good of the citizens of Sacramento and which in his belief 
promise to benefit the people at large. 



SPENCER BARFOOT 

Destiny brought to Mr. Barfoot an identification with and a knowl- 
edge of three centuries. Concerning these he has only vague and 
indistinct memories of the first, England, where he was born in 
1834 and whence he was taken to Canada at an age ere he had been 
trained to habits of close observation. When seven years old he 
began his sojourn in Canada and there he passed the years of boyhood 
and youth, there he married Miss Ellen Jordan, and there he took 
upon himself the responsibilities incident to the maintenance of a 
family. The third and last country of his residence and the land of 
his permanent citizenship was the United States, where he engaged 
in farming near Whitewater, Wis., and devoted the years of his 
strengih and activity to the securing of a competency. During 
his residence there he accomplished much for the benefit of the 
community, for in his citizenship he avoided selfishness but labored 
for the general welfare of all. By experience he became thoroughly 
conversant with the best methods of conducting a farm. Intelligent 
oversight was res]^onsible for the uniformly excellent crops that he 
secured from the cultivation of the soil. Eventually, desiring to 
enter upon an old age of comfort and relaxation from farm cares, 
he disposed of Iiis property in Wisconsin and with his wife removed 
to Sacramento in 1903, joining some of their family in this city, 
where six years later he was deeply bereaved by the death of his 
wife, the devoted counselor of his days of labor and the beloved 
companion of his later years of tranquil retirement. 

There were nine children in the family of Spencer and Ellen 
Barfoot and all are living except a son, Frederick. They are named 



994 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

as follows: John, Frank, Will, Ebenezer, Earl R., Morley, Archie 
and Grace. Fair common-school educations were given to the 
sons and daughter in their childhood and they have become substan- 
tial citizens of their chosen communities. All are married with the 
exception of Earl R. and Archie and they reside with their father 
at No. 3716 Magnolia street. The latter son is employed by the 
Southern Pacific Company, while Earl R., who came to California 
during 1895 and for four years remained in the employ of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, after a subsequent visit at the 
old Wisconsin home, returned to embark in the hardware business 
in Sacramento. About 1911 he became interested in the poultry 
business and since then he has become a specialist with pure-bred 
chickens. While he favors Republican principles in national issues, 
he gives his support in local campaigns to the men whom he considers 
best qualified for the offices in question. With his father and brother 
he contributes toward the maintenance of worthy civic enterprises and 
exhibits a public spirit that never has been questioned. It is to the 
citizenship of such patriotic and progressive men that Sacramento is 
indebted for her past progress and present standing. 



HON. CHARLES B. BILLS 

From the huml)le tasks that fall to the lot of the boy raised on 
a New York state farm, to the weighty responsibilities associated 
with the management of a large commercial enterprise, the develop- 
ment of the personal interests of Mr. Bills has resulted from his 
unceasing industry, unwearied perseverance and untiring energy, 
qualities that almost invariably bring to their fortunate possessor 
a certain degree of material success. As boy and youth he learned 
the difficult task of saving the small wages possible to unskilled 
labor; as a man he was ready to invest these small savings in a 
manner suggested by his own discriminating foresight, so that he laid 
the foundation of his own ultimate prosperity by personal efforts 
and sagacious judgment. Since the autumn of 1894 he has been 
a resident of C^alifornia and has engaged in the buying and selling 
of fruit, an industry in wliich he has had long experience and 
thorough training. 

Into the home of D. F. and Marietta Bills at Ithaca, N. Y., 
Charles B. Bills was born May 5, 1863. At the age of six he was 
sent to the public school and by regular promotions he rose to the 
grammar department, which he completed at the age of thirteen. 
Not having the means necessarv to carrv on high-school studies he 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 995 

began to work on farms by the day and continued in the employ 
of strangers until 1884, when at the age of twenty-one years he 
rented his father's farm. Upon the death of his father in 1891 
and the settlement of the estate, he closed ont his interests in the 
east and settled in Chicago, where he found employment with a 
fruit commission house, that of Porter Bros. Co., with whom he 
continued as a laborer until the spring of 1893, when he was promoted 
to be a traveling salesman. In the interests of the company he came 
to California in the fall of 1894 and assumed charge of the branch 
of the business at San Jose, continuing there until 1901, when he 
was transferred to San Francisco and given charge of the coast 
branches owned by the company. The failure of the firm in 1905 
ended his long connection with their interests. 

Upon his arrival in Sacramento in 1905 Mr. Bills entered en- 
thusiastically into the work of organizing the Pioneer Fruit Com- 
pany and since then he has served as the president of the concern. 
During the first year of the company's existence seven hundred cars 
of fruit were shipped, but so rapid has been its growth that in 1910 
forty-two hundred cars were shipped to the general markets of the 
world. To manage these large and growing interests a keen intelli- 
gence is necessary, nor are determination, energy and industry less 
essential, and we find that Mr. Bills possesses all of these qualities 
in large measure. To their exercise may be attributed his high 
degree of success. 

While living in Chicago Mr. Bills formed the acquaintance of 
Miss Ella C. Carman, a resident of that city. After their marriage, 
March 19, 1895, they established a home in San Jose, later in San 
Francisco and eventually became citizens of Sacramento, where 
they own a beautiful home at No. 2609 M street. They are the 
parents of two children. The daughter, Florence, has received ex- 
cellent educational advantages in a private school. The son, Robert 
C, is a pupil in the high school of Sacramento. The family holds 
membership with the Protestant Episcopal church and Mr. Bills has 
been honored with the office of trustee of the northern diocese of 
that denomination. For some years he has been an active member 
in the local camp of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. 
Politically he votes with the Repul)lican party in both general and 
local elections. Recognizing his qualifications for the public service, 
his party chose him as nominee for state senator a few years after 
his removal to Sacramento and he was duly elected in the fall of 
1908, serving the regular sessions of 1909-11 and the special session 
of 1911. During his term he was Chairman of the Agricultural, 
Horticultural and Trees and Vines and member of the Finance, 
Public Buildings, Good Roads and Hospitals and Asylums. At 
the expiration of his term he had won a high reputation not 



996 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

only among members of the legislature, but also among the peo- 
ple of the district and though his renomination was asked for, not 
only by his own party but by business men from the other party, 
he refused to be a candidate for renomination. This clearly indicates 
his diligence as an official, his trustworthiness- as a representative 
and his prominence as a citizen. 



GEORGE II. CUTTER 

The president of the California Fruit Exchange ranks among 
the most experienced and progressive fruit-growers in the valley of 
the Sacramento and in his official capacity he is giving to other horti- 
culturists the benefit of his practical experience with deciduous fruits. 
For a period of twelve years, beginning in 1898 and continuing until 
1910, he held the office of horticultural commissioner. His efficient 
discharge of official duties was a matter of general comment and 
prepared the way for later association with kindred activities. With 
keen patriotic devotion he devotes himself to the horticultural up- 
building of his native commonwealth. It has been his steadfast 
endeavor to promote the fruit industry in the state, to secure better 
conditions, to correct evils and to raise the kind of fruit adapted to 
a particular locality. Any progress made in the industry is a cause 
of gratification not only to him, but to all interested in the business. 

Descended from remote English ancestry and from Revolutionary 
stock, George H. Cutter was born in San Francisco November 22, 
1863, and is a son of R. S. and Jennie E. Cutter, the former a native 
of Jefferson county, N. H., and the latter born in Belfast, Me. As 
early as 1853 the father accompanied an expedition of Argonauts to 
California, where for some time he engaged in mining with indif- 
ferent success. Coming to Sacramento county in 1869 he took up 
land and began to develop a farm, but his death four years later 
prevented the carrying out of his plans for agricultural success. 
His widow still survives. Of their five children the third, George 
H., i-eceived his education in public schools and at Atkinson's Busi- 
ness College. Upon leaving school he engaged in farming and 
always has been more or less interested in that occupation or 
allied activities. In Sacramento, December 28, 1892, he married Miss 
Carrie M. Curtis, a native of Sacramento and a daughter of William 
Curtis, one of the earliest settlers in the Sacramento valley. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cutter have one son, Curtis Harold. 

At the time when his father-in-law, William Curtis, held the 
office of county supervisor, Mr. Cutter was ajipointed road master 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 997 

and for eigiit years had charge of the building of roads, meanwhile 
constructing the first macadam road in the entire county. During 
the years 1894-95 he served as deputy assessor and from 1898 to 
1910, as previously stated, he filled the office of horticultural com- 
missioner with great efficiency. Upon the organization of the Cali- 
fornia Fruit Exchange he became a stockholder and director and 
now fills the office of president, discharging the manifold duties of the 
position with executive ability and unflagging zeal. Together with 
his brother he has added acreage to the old homestead and acquired 
large interests in other properties in the state. Mr. Cutter is also 
a public spirited citizen aiding those measures having for their object 
the permanent upbuilding not only of the city, but the whole of the 
Sacramento Vallev. 



W. WALTER BASSETT 

Those who have known and observed with interest the career of 
the native sons of California are impressed with their intelligence, 
their marked ability and increased prominence in both business and 
public affairs. The opportunities atforded by the Great West brought 
them a degree of individual prestige, and the localities identified with 
their labors have benefited thereby. 

W. Walter Bassett was born in the city of Sacramento; its 
schools gave him exceptional educational advantages. His first 
business position was that of assistant to the city surveyor. Later he 
found employment with the old-established firm of Adams-McNeill 
Company, and he continued in their service for several years, finally 
resigning the position as traveling salesman for that company. He 
then became associated with Sparrow Smith, and the Capital Bank- 
ing & Trust Company was organized, of which he became cashier, 
and one of its directors. In 1911 the commercial department of the 
bank was nationalized under the name of The Capital National Bank; 
he is now cashier of this bank also. He is also one of the re-organizers 
and a director of the Citizens Bank of Oak Park. 

While devoting his time ta^banking business Mr. Bassett has 
shown his interest in municipal affairs, serving as a director of the 
Chamber of Commerce, and he was at the same time, from 1906 to 
1911, its treasurer. For some time he has been interested in the 
Consumers Ice & Cold Storage Company, and is its vice-president. 
Fraternal associations enlist his interest and assistance. He is 
treasurer of the local Aerie of Eagles, and has been honored by 
election as their state treasurer. Mr. Bassett is a member of the 
Masonic order, to whose principles he zealously adheres, and by his 



998 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

contribution aids philanthropic movements. He is a Republican and 
gives loyal allegiance to that party. Though not personally identi- 
fied with any religious denomination, he is ready to contribute to 
movements that insure the religious advancement of the city. 



WARREN E. DOAN 

The discovery of gold was the immediate cause of the identifica- 
tion of the Doan family with California, the year 1853 having wit- 
nessed the arrival in the west of Riley R. Doan, a native of Lyman, 
Ohio, and a mechanic by trade. While still very young he had 
gained considerable experience as a millwright and after he settled at 
Shingle Springs, Cal., he followed that occupation, but after removing 
to other parts of the state he followed various other means of liveli- 
hood, as opportunity was offered. From 1864 until 1868 he engaged 
in mining at and near Austin, Nev. Upon his return to California 
in 1868 he became interested in mining at Colfax, Placer county, 
but two years later he transferred his headquarters to Eldorado 
county and secured employment in the Baltic mill. During the period 
of his connection with that mill he invented and patented a steam 
wagon and upon his removal to Sacramento in 1874 he began to 
manufacture these wagons, in which line of business he remained 
actively engaged until 1885. From that year until 1898 he engaged 
in mining with J. H. Roberts at Harrison Gulch, Shasta county, 
this state, but his ventures brought him little material success and 
in the year last-named he decided to relinquish his mining interests 
for the more sure but less fascinating occupation of ranching. Re- 
moving to Elmira, Solano county, he bought a tract of land, developed 
a farm and gave his attention to the management of the property 
until his death, which occurred in August of 1903, fifty years after 
his arrival in the state. During that long period it had been his 
privilege to witness a remarkable change in the aspect of the country. 
No longer was a cosmopolitan throng of miners the principal sight 
to be seen upon the streets of the little frontier towns. Instead, 
there was a cultured class of citizens whose prosperity gave evidence 
of the advantages afforded by residence in the western cities. The 
country had many thrifty villages and well-improved farms, in 
striking contrast to its appearance at the time of his arrival in the 
pioneer era of western history. 

Among the children of Riley R. and Sarah C. Doan there was a 
son, Warren E., born at Portland, Ore., March 8, 1862, and educated 
in the public schools of Sacramento. Leaving school in 1878 he 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



999 



te?es?J in W .' ownhvehhood, but meanwhile he had become in- 
he a aui ed ev,wr' Cu ''Z^^'f^''' '" ^^''^ ^^ ^'"^^tant practice 
o^uried n 188 w, , '" ^'''* ^^l'^"™^^ i" '^""rt reporting 

sZer or court of FM V"" aPP«"ited to report on a case in the 
supeuoi court of Eldorado county. The success of the transcrint 

ms lite woik Returning- to Sacramento he secured a position as 
deputy official reporter of the superior court under Mr Davis 
In the spring of 1883 he resigned from court service to acceMa 
cZpanyld":r;rr" ""' ^r" Huntington-Hopkins mZll 
HoXr in 18S-, t ^^^Tf ^ P"^' ^^ S^^-' general satisfaction, 
^owevei, m l88o he accepted an opportunity to engage with Mr 
Davis m general court reporting, after which he carried on a 
stenographic office until 1889. Prom that year until Janua^v of 189? 
he served by appointment as official court reporter of Placer county 
When he resigned and returned to Sacramento, it was for the pur' 

oTt of'sif "'■ '1 ^>'P°"r-t - °ffi"al reporter of the su^e^io" 
comt of Sacramento county, in which trustworthv post he has 
given umversal satisfaction, having indeed won a reputat on as one 
of the most expert reporters in the entire state. The most inSca^e 

he hrsTxh-f-f ,'^'"V'%'"^ '^*'" '""' *° -P--' -tisfactorUv and 
he has exiub ted in his typewritten reports an absolute accuracv 

quick comprehension and keen intelligence that, comired with lis 

unusual speed as a stenographer, gives him an enviaWe reputation 

among the jurists and attorneys of the district. Fraternalh he ^^ 

S' Odd' F°e,/'" ^*^J^"'g'^t^ of Pythi- and Independnt Order 
of Odd Fellows. In Yolo county, this state, October 17 1883 oc 

:rrn\'rcZrNo° '''"/"*'•' ^- ^°™-^' ^'^«>' -.e'tL'Sens 
ot an only chic], Norman E., a young man of ability, who since 

tl7^^ T'r/' '"'^ • "' '''"'=^*'°" ^* *•>« Leland Stanforf UmversUv 



LOUIS ELKUS 
Without considering whether or not thev are fitted for a hio-ber 

: rittter'in'^h:"' T'"' '^.^ '"'''' ^°*™^*^<j *° *"- --' pS 

aWlitv ! denunciation of fate, feeling assured of their 

un ustlv denild « '°'™ T}^''''^\ ^^'^^'^ -'^i'^" "-^ fancy has been 
wi dom of b m wb?{ '"^ f°'-?«th'^? tl^e old adage concerning the 
descri" iLrJel . ?r °" ^proving himself, whether or no he 
aescnes upon life s ladder a higher position which may, if he be 
prepared, belong to him. Fully cognizant of the importan;e of mak! 



1000 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

ing himself familiar with the line of work in which he chose to cast 
his efforts, and minclfnl also of the necessity of daring in the presence 
of confidence in his own powers, was Mr. Elkus, who passed away 
at his home in San Francisco, after a successful and honorable 
career as a leading manufacturer and retail clothier of that city. 
Of Teutonic origin, his birth occurred in Berlin, Germany, where, 
also, were born his parents. Leaving school at the age of thirteen 
he immigrated to America and engaged as a cap manufacturer in 
the east. In 1850, after an eventful trip by way of Cape Horn, he 
arrived in Sacramento, where he established a clothing store, later 
opening a factory devoted to the manufacture of furnishing goods 
and clothing, and he successfully conducted both ventures until his 
death. 

Mr. Elkus was married to Miss Cordelia deYoung, and they 
were the parents of ten children, of whom seven are living. Albert, 
the eldest, began early in life to interest himself in his father's 
business. Born in Sacramento, August 17, 1857, he received his 
education in the schools of his home section, graduating from high 
school when but sixteen. Shortly thereafter he accepted a position 
as typesetter in the service of the Sacramento Bee, resigning after 
two years to become his father's bookkeeper. In this capacity he 
learned the business thoroughly and became proficient in the man- 
agement of every detail of the business, much to his father's satis- 
faction. Many times has Albert Elkus demonstrated his capability 
and adaptation for the various situations he is required to meet and 
the offices of honor which he is called upon to fill and, as his father's 
successor, he has maintained most progressive measures, being also 
widely known for his just measures toward those who are subordi- 
nate to him. 

A man of exemplary principles and high regard for others, in- 
dustrious and ambitious to a high degree, the life of Louis Elkus 
was well spent and no shadow of unfair advantage in his dealings 
remains to sullv the name borne bv his son. 



UBURTO L. DIKE 

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 7, 1865, Uburto L. Dike was 
the son of Latimer M. and Lucinda J. Dike, prominent residents of 
that place. In 1873 they moved to Cawker City, Mitchell county, 
Kans., where he attended school until sixteen years of age, coming 
then to California and locating in Los Angeles, where he was 
graduated from the high school at the age of twentv. One vear in 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1001 

a business college fitted him for employment and lie went to work in 
the office of the Bear Valley Irrigation Company at Redlands, first 
as stenographer and later as bookkeeper of the concern. Remaining 
in this capacity until 1891, he then bought out the Redlands Abstract 
and Title Co., which he conducted for about seven years, also doing 
a large real estate business. In 1902 he removed to Los Angeles and 
organized the U. L. Dike Investment Co., but in 1906 located perma- 
nently in Sacramento, where he found a fertile field for real estate 
investment. He subsequently organized the California Colonization 
Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer. As its name 
implies this company was organized for colonization purposes. It 
has agencies all over the east and their object is to interest people 
in this coast country for location on lands which the company 
controls. 

Mr. Dike was married in Los Angeles to Miss Elva Dunstan, 
who passed away five years later. 



REV. JOHN H. ELLIS 

There is perhaps no more distinguished and revered personage 
in Sacramento and vicinity and throughout northern California than 
is Rev. John H. Ellis, who has been stationed since November, 1902, 
in various sections of the west and demonstrated his splendid power 
in his calling. He is ranked as a leader among those cultured, elo- 
quent and scholarly men who are devoting their lives to the spiritual 
upbuilding of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the west. 
Endowed liberally by nature with the qualities that contribute to 
useful and successful service in the cause of suffering humanity, 
he was yet very young when he gave evidence of exceptional mental 
attributes and it was therefore determined to prepare him for the 
priesthood. His education was primarily acquired in Westmeath, 
Ireland, where he was born February 18, 1876, in the home of James 
and Ann Ellis. It was during 1894 that he completed the course 
of study which had engaged his attention at St. Mary's Christian 
Brothers College, Mullingar, Westmeath, where he carried forward 
the study of mathematics and literature. On December 24, 1899, he 
was ordained by Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, in the Chapel of 
Holy Cross College, Clonliffe. He was graduated in 1900 with an 
exceptionally high standing, having made his ]ihilosophical and theo- 
logical degi'ees at All Hallows' College, Dublin, and he was admirably 
qualified by culture and training for the important sphere of activity 
into which he entered. Coming to the United States in 1900, he 



1002 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

proceeded directly to California and was assigned to assist the late 
Very Rev. C. M. Lynch, V. G., of Grass Valley. From that place in 
November of 1902 he was transferred temporarily to Nevada City, 
Nev,, as assistant, but at the expiration of six months he was re- 
assigned to Grass Valley. At tliis time he began his long and dis- 
tinguished connection with the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament 
in Sacramento, where he served as assistant until 1906, and then 
he officiated as rector until 1912, when, having demonstrated his 
ability and unquestioned loyalty to the work, he was sent by Bishop 
Grace, at his return from Europe, to Jackson, CaL, where he took 
charge of the work of forwarding the Roman Catholic Church there. 
He also attends to the spiritual needs of the boys of the Preston 
School of Industr^y, where there are nearly two hundred Catholic 
boys. Since undertaking that work the Catholic boys have been 
exempt from attendance at Protestant Divine services and arrange- 
ments have been made for securing positions for the young men as 
they leave and for rendering them other religious and social aid. 
Father Ellis has bent all his energy to fulfilling the duties laid down 
to him with the utmost care and fidelity in order to procure the 
most splendid results, and already the response to his efforts has 
proven them not in vain and he has shown himself to be the worthy 
man for the situation. 



WILLIAM YULE 

Among the nationalities which have contributed to American citi- 
zenship none is more notable for those qualities which make for 
worthy success in life than the Scotchman. Wherever his lot may be 
cast he is a worker, a saver and a planner, and he is patriotic and 
progressive. Such a man was the subject of this brief notice, who 
came to California in 1849, and died in Sacramento, July 17, 1878. 

From his native Scotland, Mr. Yule came to the United States 
and eventually he settled at St. Joseph, Mo., which was an important 
station on the old overland trail. March 10, 1849, he left for Cali- 
fornia, crossing the plains with ox-teams, and arrived at Yreka, CaL, 
October 20 following. From Yreka he came to Sacramento, where 
he identified himself with leading interests, commercial and financial 
in their character. It is probable that he gave as much attention to 
operations in real estate as to any other business, but he at one time 
owned various newspapers in Sacramento. 

September 30, 1865, Mr. Yule became a member of the Cali- 
fornia Pioneers' Association, by authority of which the following tri- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1003 

biite was published in the Sacramento newspapers soon after his 
death: "Resolved, That while we bow with humble submission to 
the will of the Most High, we are reminded that our ranks are being- 
thinned, and in the death of Brother Yule we have lost a faithful 
member of our society and the community an upright and energetic 
citizen. Resolved, That we tender our "heartfelt sympathv to'' his 
bereaved companion in her affliction. Resolved, That these resolutions 
be spread upon the records of our society and a copy be presented 
to the widow of our deceased brother. ' ' These resolutions were dated 
July 27, 1878, and signed by a committee of four, and four of the 
pallbearers who bore Mr. Yule to his grave were representatives of 
the society. His widow, Mrs. Anna Yule, resides in Sacramento. 



CHARLES E. KLEINSORGE 

The first identification of the Kleinsorge family with the devel- 
opment of the west occurred during the mining era, Charles Klein- 
sorge, Sr., having crossed the plains in the summer of 1852 from 
the city of St. Louis, where he had settled immediatelv after his ar- 
rival from his native Germany. When he first landed ^in Sacramento 
he found a village of cosmopolitan attractions, the temporarv head- 
quarters of miners from all sections of the world. Like other new- 
comers he tried his luck in the mines and followed other occupations 
that offered a livelihood, but eventually he returned to his old home 
m St. Louis and there he married Miss Marv Luebbering, a native 
of Germany, but like himself a resident of St. Louis from earlv vears 
The young couple crossed the plains in 1862 and experienced all the 
hardships and dangers incident to the memorable flood of that year 
The home of the family was established in Sacramento, where the 
son, Charles E., was born August 23, 1865. At one time the father 
owned extensive tracts of land and engaged in the growing of hoDS 
During the early days he also furnished supplies and outfits for 
mmmg camps. As a member of the firm of Kleinsorge & Bellmer 
he conducted the Old Plaza grocery, one of the leading establish- 
nients of Sacramento during the pioneer period. Now, '"at the ao-e 
of eighty years he is living retired from Inisiness cares and is en- 
joying the comforts earned by long and arduous labors. 

With a view to acquiring versatility in the use of the German 
language Charles E. Kleinsorge attended the German schools of 
Sacramento m boyhood and at the age of fourteen vears he was 
confirmed m the German Lutheran Church. In addition he attended 
the public schools of Sacramento and was a classmate of Governor 
Johnson m the school occupjdng the present site of Hale Brothers' 
department store. After having graduated from the high school he 



1004 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

entered tlie bank owned by D. 0. Mills and in wliicli an older brother 
was employed nntil his death. For some time after the death of 
the brother he remained in the bank. Through the influence of 
Frank Miller he secured a position as night clerk with the Wells- 
Fargo Express Company, remaining two years. 

A fortunate entrance into real estate activities began when Mr. 
Kleinsorge secured emplo^anent as bookkeeper and cashier for 
W. P. Coleman, at that time the largest realty agent in Sacra- 
mento. The position gave Mr. Kleinsorge an opportunity to famil- 
iarize himself with valuations, titles and other matters necessary to 
successful work in real estate. Eighteen years after he had entered 
upon the work Mr. Coleman died and thereupon Mr. Kleinsorge 
utilized his splendid experience and wide realty knowledge through 
his ]iartnership with Otto L. Heilbron, thus founding a firm that has 
conducted a large business in handling property since 1904. The 
firm owns several tracts of land adjoining Sacramento and it is 
the intention of the two partners to subdivide the property into 
city lots at an early day, thereby affording home-seekers an ex- 
cellent opportunity to acquire building sites at a reasonable cost. 

The marriage of Mr. Kleinsorge occurred May 7, 1896, and 
united him with Miss Minnie Landis, who received a superior 
education in the Sacramento schools and is an earnest member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their only child, Lydia, was 
born October 22, 1898, and is now a student in the public schools. 
Mrs. Kleinsorge is a daughter of Joseph and Lydia (Castleman) 
Landis, the former for a long period an associate in the railroad 
business with A. J. Stevens, a skilled master mechanic for years 
connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. By virtue 
of his birth in California Mr. Kleinsorge is eligible to membership 
in the Native Sons of the Golden West and we find him an active 
worker in Sacramento Parlor No. 3. In addition he has been 
connected with Washington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., also Col 
umbia Lodge No. 42, K. P., besides which he is actively associated 
with the Sacramento Turn Verein. 



HERBERT J. READ 

The subject of this sketch was born February 1, 1882, in New 
York City, and came to this coast in 1884 with his parents. His 
father was a newspaper man and for years was identified with 
the Oakland Ivqiiirer. Herbert attended school in San Francisco 
and at an early age became connected with the great hardware and 
machinery firm of Baker & Hamilton, a connection that was to last 
fifteen years, eight in San Francisco and seven in Sacramento. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1005 

The house was first established in Sacramento during 1853, and the 
branches in San Francisco and Los Angeles followed, with a dis- 
tributing warehouse at Fresno and a factory in Benicia. Naturally 
the plant and office at San Francisco became the main point in 
the firm's territory. 

Mr. Read's association with this pioneer firm of the Pacific 
Coast — this agricultural establishment whose name is a household 
word west of the Rocky Mountains — fitted him for business among 
the farming people of this state. Consequently his present con- 
nection and work with the Mercantile Terminal Company with 
offices at Nos. 109 and 115 J street, Sacramento, is somewhat in the 
line of his duties with the former firm. The Mercantile Terminal 
Co. have extensive tracts of land between Sacramento and Marys- 
ville, some of which has been subdivided and sold in twenty to 
forty acre lots. This company was incorporated in 1905, with 
president, Herbert J. Read; vice-j^resident, H. A. Lewis; and 
secretary and treasurer, J. L. Mayden. 

H. J. Read was married July 17, 1907, to Miss Emma E. Wil- 
kins of Oakland. Her father was a well-known citizen and promi- 
nent politician in that city, and served for years on its municipal 
council as an architect. Mr. Read's social and fraternal circle cov- 
ers considerable territory. He is a Mason, Knight Templar, Shriner, 
an Elk and belongs to the Sutter Club and the Country Club. The 
family are members of the Episcopal Church. 



EUGENE WACHHORST 

The district attorney of Sacramento county is a native son of 
Sacramento and a member of a pioneer family whose identification 
with the west began during the memorable mining era. The first 
representative of the name in the west and indeed in the new 
world was Herman Wachhorst, a native of Hanover, Germany, born 
in May of 1827. For three successive generations the heads of the 
family had been expert dealers in precious stones and renowned watch- 
makers. When he crossed the ocean in 1843 he already had acquired 
a thorough knowledge of the manufacture of watches and the value 
of jewels. In the new world his first task was the acquisition of 
fluency in the use of the English language. For five j^ears he remained 
in the employ of Hyde & Goodrich, one of the most famous jewelry 
firms in the United States. While with them he became an expert in 
judging precious stones and devoted much attention to that branch 
of the trade. 

The discovery of gold in California attracted the young jeweler 
from congenial surroundings which he had expected to make perma- 



1006 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

nent. With tlie quickness of decision that was one of his charac- 
teristics he resigned from his business connections, proceeded to New 
York City and took passage on the ship, Mary Waterman, under Capt. 
James Higgins. The voyage proved to be one of the roughest known 
in lii story and the one hundred and seventy-five passengers endured 
every hardship and danger ere the final destination was reached. The 
heaviest storms fell upon them as they were rounding the Horn. The 
ship cast anchor at Rio Janeiro on the eastern coast and Valparaiso 
on the western coast, these stops being necessary for repairs and 
supplies. After the final stop at San Francisco the young gold-seeker 
proceeded to Sacramento and thence to the mines at Mormon Island. 
Not finding the occupation of mining congenial or profitable he re- 
turned to Sacramento in December of 1850 and rented, at $500 per 
month payable in advance, a shop about eight feet wide on J street 
between Front and Second. During the next three years he made 
money with startling rapidity and when he sold out in 1854 he had 
accumulated a capital sufficient to give him an income of $800 per 
month. A life of cultured leisure in San Francisco thus became pos- 
sible to him and enabled him to devote considerable attention to the 
study of vocal and instrumental music, also rendered possible ex 
tensive continental travels for a period of two years. 

Upon his return to California in 1859 Mr. Wachhorst purchased 
the business of Heller & Andrews in San Francisco and after the 
disastrous floods of 1861 he opened a jewelry establishment at Sacra- 
mento, where he gained an enviable reputation as an expert in dia- 
monds and precious stones. His stock of jewelry was said to be 
one of the finest in the entire country and until his retirement from 
business he held a high position among the leading men of his chosen 
occu]iation. When he passed away in the year 1899 it was recognized 
that the state had lost one of its most interesting pioneers and Sacra- 
mento one of its most famous business men of early days. The 
honors of Masonry were bestowed upon him in his interment and over 
the body were sung some of the songs which he himself had often 
rendered to delighted audiences with rare sweetness and beauty of 
technique. 

In the family of Herman and Frances Wachhorst there was a 
son, Eugene, whose birth occurred at the family homestead in Sacra- 
mento May 11, 1866, and whose education was begun in the schools 
of the capital city. Later he attended the California Military Academy 
for two years and afterward he was a student at Berkeley, where he 
was graduated in 1884. Upon starting out for himself he went to 
Solano county, where for two years he assisted with the work on 
a large cattle and grain ranch. Upon returning to Sacramento he 
became porter in the wholesale grocery of the Adams, McNeil Com- 
pany. Two years later he was promoted to be buyer and shipping 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1007 

clerk. When he retired from the employ of the grocery house he 
became connected with his father in the jewelry business, but at the 
expiration of two years he began to work as a deputy in Judge 
Catlin's court. Two years afterward he was chosen chief deputy under 
William B. Hamilton. In 181)9 he was appointed assistant district 
attorney and while serving as such he gave his leisure hours to the 
study of law under Judge Catlin. When he had completed his course 
of reading he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court at San 
Francisco and October 27, 1907, he was admitted to the United States 
supreme court at Washington. Meanwhile in 1906 he had been chosen 
district attorney of Sacramento county and in 1910 he was again 
elected to the office, which position he has filled with characteristic 
intelligence and energy. 

The Republican party has had in Mr. Wachhorst a faithful and 
sagacious exponent of its principles. Among the organizations to 
which he belongs may be mentioned the Sutter Club, Eagles, Elks 
and the Masonic order in Washington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M. ; 
Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. ; Sacramento Council No. 1, and 
Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T. Upon removing to Solano 
county he there formed the acquaintance of Miss Mollie B. Johnson 
and they were united in marriage May 2, 1887. They are the parents 
of three children. The eldest son, Donald Eugene, is a well-educated 
young man, having had excellent advantages in the University of 
California. The younger sons. Jack B. and Thomas H., are students 
in the Sacramento public schools. 



HERBERT C. SWITZER 

At Barrie, Ontario, Canada, Herbert C. Switzer was born in 
1869. He attended public schools near his boyhood home until he was 
fifteen years of age, then familiarized himself with the work of the 
telegraph operator and went to Toronto, where he was employed some 
years and advanced himself in railroad work until he became an 
efficient transportation man. In 1889 he made his way to Washington 
and located at Winona, where he was a railroad agent, telegraph 
operator, general merchant and postmaster. It was through his efforts 
that the postoffice was established there and he was in charge of it 
six years. He was for fourteen years connected with the freight 
and passenger departments of the 0. R. & N. R. R. and was with 
the Great Northern railroad two years, with headquarters first at 
Spokane and then at Seattle. From Seattle he came to Sacramento 
in 1908. 



1008 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

It was to assume the ownership and management of the freight 
and passenger steamer Sentinel, which plies between Sacramento and 
Colusa, that Mr. Switzer cast his lot with the people of Sacramento. 
The boat is new and up-to-date, and is owned by Herbert C. Switzer 
& C^ompany. The boat, which has one hundred tons capacity, is en- 
gaged in a general transportation business from all places between 
Sacramento and Colusa, making tri-weekly trips. 

In September, 1908, Mr. Switzer married Mary Conroy, a native 
of San Jose and the daughter of John Conroy, who was a pioneer 
gold-seeker in California of 1850 and is now a member of the house- 
hold of his son-in-law. Mr. Switzer is a man of enterprise and pub- 
lic spirit, who believes that his prosperity will depend very much 
on that of the city, and there is no local interest conducive to the 
welfare of the people that he does not helpfully promote to the 
extent of his abilitv- 



DONALD McDOUGALL 

The present city treasurer and until 1912 a successful merchant 
tailor of Sacramento, Donald McDougall, was born in Inverness 
county. Nova Scotia, in June, 1858, of parents of Scottish birth. His 
father died in 1904, aged ninety-one years, his mother in 1911, at the 
still more advanced age of ninety-four years. To the country schools 
near his boyhood home young McDougall went for his early education, 
and those who know him are well assured that he gave close and per- 
sistent attention to his studies. As a boy he was apprenticed to the 
tailor's trade, which he mastered by the most absorbing application 
to the exacting and painstaking work involved. After working for 
some years in shops in Boston and in New York he came to Sacra- 
mento in April, 1884, and opened a merchant tailoring establishment 
which he has made one of the representative institutions of its kind 
in the town. 

Since coming to California Mr. McDougall has not been indif- 
ferent to the demands of enlightenment and patriotic citizenship, and 
as a Democrat he has been active and influential in public affairs. 
In 1906 he was elected county public administrator, an office in which he 
served faithfully and with great efficiency four years. In 1911 he 
was a successful candidate for city treasurer, and in that responsible 
place he has patriotically met all demands upon him, giving satis- 
faction to rich and poor, and to his fellow citizens of every shade 
of political belief. He is an Elk, devoted to the social and charitable 
interests of that benevolent order. He has taken great interest in 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1009 

the raising of fine horses and has grown some of the best in Sacra- 
mento in his time. He married Miss Lilian Johnston,- of Sacramento, 
whose father, William E. Johnston, was a prominent rancher, well 
known and respected to the end of his busy and useful life, and 
whose mother, a California pioneer, is living at an advanced age. 
Mrs. McDougall has borne her husband children as follows: Mar- 
guerite, born August 12, 1900 ; Archibald, June 29, 1904, and Lilian Mav, 
May 22, 1910. 



EDWARD J. McEWEN 

Two generations bearing the name of McEwen have been inti- 
mately identified with the commercial history of Sacramento and have 
engaged extensively in business affairs bringing them into direct and 
congenial relations with a large number of customers. Prior to his 
removal to California in 1876 and his settlement in Sacramento, the 
father, Edward McEwen, had made his home in New York state, where 
he was born at Brockport, Monroe county, February 18, 1855, and 
where he had received an excellent education ending with a course of 
study in the State Normal School. At the age of twenty-one years, 
having started out to earn his own way in the world, he came to 
California and secured employment as a moulder in the shops of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Sacramento. Later he decided 
that business affairs offered greater opportunities, than the work of 
a mechanic, so he opened a retail grocery in partnership with John 
McMurray. At the expiration of two years he purchased the interest 
of his partner and continued the grocery alone, building up a perma- 
nent class of customers that gave him an important and extensive 
family trade. The long and successful commercial association of this 
business man with Sacramento did not end until his demise, which 
occurred October 13, 1906, and which brought to an honorable close 
a long period of constant identification with the grocery trade in the 
capital city. 

The city of Sacramento is the native place of Edward J. McEwen, 
who was born January 5, 1885, and is next to the eldest of the three 
children of Edward and Maggie E. McEwen. Primarily educated in 
the grammar schools, he later took a course in the city high school 
and at the age of seventeen years he spent six months in the Atkin- 
son Business College. The first position which he held, that of clerk, 
brought him into the city offices of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany and already he was gaining an accurate knowledge of the various 
duties of that place when the death of his father rendered it expedient 



1010 HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

for him to assume the management of the grocery in the interests of 
the estate nntil it was closed ont, since which time he has been book- 
keeper for the Union Oil Company. 

The marriage of Mr. McEwen occurred in Sacramento August 7, 
1907, and united him vnih Miss Esther Borel, who was horn in Marys- 
ville, and )jy whom he has a daughter, Eleanor. The family are mem- 
bers of the Catholic Church. 



ALBERT LEONARD 

When the news concerning the discovery of gold in California 
reached the eastern states a multitude of aspiring Argonauts at once 
sought of destiny the fortunes to which very few ever attained; or 
which, when acquired, were found to emanate from other sources than 
those anticipated in the first alluring visions of the mines. Among 
the young men to whom the news changed all of their future activities 
was Albert Leonard, who was born in Massachusetts in 1826 and who 
at the time of the great discovery at Sutter's Camp worked in an 
humble capacity in New York, having lived there from boyhood. Im- 
mediately he began to plan a trip to the Pacific coast. Joining with 
a party of one hundred picked young men who chartered a large 
ship in New York and outfitted with provisions sufficient for three 
years, he sailed around the Horn during 1849 under the leadership 
of a captain especially engaged by the expedition. The company 
entered San Francisco through the Golden Gate and proceeded to Sac- 
ramento, where a division was made into squads of ten and in that 
way they pushed forward to the mines. 

Not finding any encouragement in his attempts to mine, Albert 
Leonard secured employment as mail carrier for other miners and 
for some months he continued in that position, by no means an easy 
task at that time and in that place. Soon afterward he decided that 
the taking up of land would offer a more congenial field of labor 
and accordingly he bought a tract, which he connnenced to develop 
and im]:>rove. During 1851 he was united in marriage with Miss Cor- 
delia Merrill, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Isaac Merrill, an 
honored pioneer of California. It was during the eventful year of 
1849 that the Merrill family crossed the plains to the gold mines. 
The trip occupied seven months and was filled with dangers and 
hardships, but found a safe termination in little more than the time 
ordinarily required for such an arduous enterprise. For years Mr. 
Merrill made his home in Sacramento countv and at his death in 1870 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1011 

many tributes of praise were bestowed upon his memorv bv the pio- 
neers who long had labored at his side in the upbuilding of the com- 
munity and commonwealth. 

Eventually giving up ranching pursuits and disposing of some 
of his landed estate, Mr. Leonard embarked in the real estate and 
insurance business, which enterprises took up his time and attention 
throughout the remainder of his useful career and until his death in 
1892. Meanwhile he also had been a local leader in the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and a participant of the meetings of the Associa- 
tion of California Pioneers at Sacramento. No movement for the ad- 
vancement of the county failed of his support. It was one of his chief 
joys in life to witness the steady and permanent growth of the state 
to which he had come prior to its admission into the Union, which 
always had received his unfailing loyal devotion and in which he had 
risen from poverty to independence, from obscurity into local promi- 
nence. There were fifteen children born of his marriage, but five of 
these died at an early age. The ten own living are as follows : Mrs. 
Alice Scott, of Fresno ; Carrie, who resides in Philadelphia ; Benjamin 
and Charles, both of whom are industrious and capable citizens of 
Sacramento; Jessie, who is married and makes her home in the capi- 
tal city; Irene, Joseph, Albert, John A. and Harry W. Until her 
demise, January 6, 1912, the widowed mother made her home at the 
family residence. No. 3520 Seventh avenue, where she was surrounded 
by the comforts accumulated by the wise management and frugality 
of earlier years and where she enjoyed the affectionate ministrations 
of her children and the warm esteem of old acquaintances. 



L. HENRY 



The gentleman mentioned above, a lawyer and a theatrical mana- 
ger, who has had wide experience in business life, was born in Dela- 
ware City, Del., attended the public schools of Washington, D. C, 
graduating at seventeen, and then entered the Columbia Law Uni' 
versify, from which he was graduated in his twenty-first year with 
the degree of A. B. 

It was at Leadville, Colo., that Mr. Henry began his active life, 
and it was as chief clerk in the United States land office there that 
he made his initial bow to the world of business. Besides attending 
to the duties of his office he practiced land law at Leadville until 
1884. Then began the activity in the field of theatricals that has 
made his name known in certain circles from coast to coast. Coming 
to Sacramento, he became treasurer of the Metropolitan theater. In 



1012 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1893, when it was destroyed by fire, he went to San Francisco, where 
he was called as assistant to C. P. Hall of the Bush Street Theater. 
Later he entered into a partnership with Mr, Giesea as lessee of five 
theaters located respectively in San Jose, Stockton, Sacramento, Oak- 
land and San Francisco, all of which the firm is operating success- 
fully at this time. Mr. Henry spends most of his time in Sacramento 
as manager of the Clunie theater. , 

The wide acquaintance which has come to Mr. Henry in the trans- 
action of his business has been augmented and its friendships have 
been cemented by his membership in the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, he being a charter brother in San Jose Lodge No. 522. 
Politically he has always voted with and exerted his influence in 
behalf of the Republican party. 



FRANK 0. HUTTON 

A native son of the state, Mr. Hutton was born in Solano county 
November 11, 1874, and there his boyhood and youth were passed. 
The achievements of maturity bring him into touch with Sacramento 
county, for it was here that he began to learn the light and power 
business, here he began at the very bottom of the ladder of success 
and here he gradually acquired such a thorough comprehension of 
electricity and such a practical experience with its uses that he rose 
to a position of influence and responsibility in the specialty' now in- 
dispensable to the permanent progress of every city and village. 

The discovery of gold in California proved the lode-star that 
attracted Frederick Hutton hither from his native town of Perry, 
Wyoming county, N. Y., where he had received a common-school edu- 
cation and had already entered upon the task of earning a livelihood. 
During the summer of 1852 he crossed the plains with a company of 
Argonauts whose powers of endurance were as great as their hopes 
were high. Upon arriving in the state he began to mine at Dutch 
Flat and also engaged in general merchandising. For a considerable 
period he remained unmarried, but after a time he was united with 
Miss Charlotte dinger, who was born and reared in Wisconsin. They 
were residents of Vacaville for many years and there his death oc- 
curred in 1898. Later the widow removed to Dixon, where in 1904 
her useful existence came to an end. Their son, Frank 0., had been 
educated in the Vacaville schools and had been trained to habits of 
self-reliance, industry and intelligent energ^^, which formed almost his 
sole capital in the world of affairs. 

Upon coming to Sacramento in 1896 Mr. Hutton secured employ- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1013 

ment as a helper at the plant of the Electric Light and Power Com- 
pany. From the lowliest position in the concern he worked his way 
forward to a post of trust. During 1906 he came to Folsom as fore- 
man of the Folsom power house of the Pacific Gas and Electric 
Company, which owns adequate water power for the operation of the 
heavy machinery. Since coming to Folsom he has assisted in the 
organization of the Folsom Bank, becoming one of the original sub- 
scribers. The growth of the bank has proved a helpful factor in 
the material development of the place. 

The marriage of Frank 0. Hutton took place at Vacaville, Cal., 
October 25, 1895, and united him with Miss Myrtle Collins, who was 
born, reared and educated at that place, being a daughter of W. L. 
Collins, now a resident of Sacramento. Four children were born of 
the union, but the eldest, Kenneth, was taken from the home by 
death when he was only three years of age. The surviving children 
are Charlotte, William and Jacques. Mr. Hutton has maintained an 
independence of thought and ballot throughout his maturity and has 
voted for the men whom he considers best qualified to represent the 
people, irrespective of their views upon national problems. For some 
years he has been actively associated with the Fraternal Brotherhood. 
Movements for the material development of Folsom receive his stanch 
support and the town has in him and his wife honored residents whose 
presence promotes the moral, educational and material upbuilding of 
the communitv. 



CHARI.es HORACE ELDRED 

Although he had no recollection of any home except in California, 
having lived in this state from the age of six months until his death, 
Mr. Eldred was a native of Michigan, born during the year 1855. 
After he had completed a course of study in a business college he 
became an assistant to his father, Horace Eldred, in the hotel busi- 
ness. For years he actively promoted the success of the State House 
Hotel, a popular hostelry of the capital city. In addition he was 
connected with the state railroad commission's office for a time. Poli- 
tics received a due share of his attention and he voted the Republican 
ticket, but he never sought official honors or participated in partisan 
contests. Aside from his identification with the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen he had no connection with fraternities, preferring 
to occupy his leisure hours with domestic enjoyment, personal recrea- 
tion and social intercourse. 

The marriage of Mr. Eldred in 1882 united him with Miss Edith 



]014 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Connell, a native of Sacramento county, now residing at No. 1317" 
Seventli street. With her are her two children, Ahna and Horace, 
Jr., the latter an electrician by occn]nition. Mi's. Eldred is a member 
of an old and lionoralile family of Sacramento. To this city in the 
pioneer era came her ])arents, William and Katherine (Dailey) Con- 
nell, natives respectixely of Scotland and Ireland, and a couple pos- 
sessing true worth of character as well as patriotic devotion to the 
land of their adoption. It was the sad lot of Mrs. Eldred to lose 
her father, mother and husband about the same time, leaving to her 
and her children the memory of their sincere lives, unwavering integ- 
rity, honorable ]irinciples and fixedness of ]mri>ose in industry and 
well-doing. 



HON. JOSEPH ADAMS FILCHER 

Ten years or more before the trans-continental railroad had 
brought the east and west into direct connection an Iowa family 
made the tedious journey across the plains with a "prairie schooner" 
drawn by ox-teams. Accompanying the expedition was a lad of about 
twelve years, Joseph A. Filcher, who was born in Burlington, Iowa, 
August 3, 1846, and to whom the trip presented less of hardship 
than of opportunity. AVith all the enthusiasm of early life he hel]:>ed 
to drive stock the entire distance. Whether enduring the heat of 
the desert summer or threading a narrow pass through the moun- 
tains, he was alike hopeful with the optimism which blesses youth 
and energetic with the i)atient industry of those who have been 
trained to endurance of hard work. When he first saw Sacramento 
in 1859 the city was in the infancy of its history and presented the 
crudities inseparable from frontier civilization. Shortly after coming 
west he settled with his ])arents on a farm near Marysville and there 
he worked for some years to bring the land under cultivation and 
develop a productive farm. Meanwhile it had not been possible for 
him to secure an education and he was ambitious to advance in the 
world. As soon as he could be spared from the ])arental home he 
started out to earn his own way and to secure an education. Nor 
were his efforts in ymn, for he worked his way through the State 
Normal and became a man of wide information. 

The acquisition of a thorough education qualified Mr. Filcher 
for the work of a school-teacher and this profession he followed dur- 
ing early manhood, after which for twenty years he was owner and 
publisher of the Placer Herald at Auburn, Placer county. It is said 
that this is the oldest newspaper in existence in the entire state. 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1015 

The press which he used was the first ever brought into the state, 
Samuel Brannan having brought it from New York to San Francisco 
on a vessel around the Horn. When its days of usefulness were 
ended it was placed in the Golden Gate mission in Golden Gate park, 
where it now is on exhibition. 

The marriage of Mr. Filcher in 1873 united him with Miss Clara 
Tinkham, a native of Maine. They are the parents of three children 
now living. George W., who resides in San Francisco, is connected 
with the railway mail service. Ralph E., of Chicago, is extensively 
interested in the real estate business and in colonization work. 
Irma married Pierre Meyers and lives in Sacramento. For years Mr. 
Filcher has been well known among the Democrats of the state. At 
the time of Cleveland's second election as president he was chosen 
a presidential elector. When the electoral college held its meeting he 
was selected as a messenger to carry the returns to Washington. 
During 1878-79 he served as a memlier of the state constitutional 
convention. Beginning in 1883 he held the office of state senator 
for four years and meantime gave to his district the most con- 
scientious of service. A candidate in 1888 for state railroad com- 
missioner, he was defeated by only a very small majority. 

Upon the election of Mr. Hendricks as secretary of state of 
California Mr. Filcher was selected to complete his unexpired term 
as state prison director and in that responsible post gave faithful 
service as well as universal satisfaction. For eleven years he was 
manager of the state board of trade. Later for five or more years 
he held a position as secretary of the State Agricultural Society, from 
which post he was promoted to his present office as manager of 
exhibits. Fraternally he has been very prominent in the Improved 
Order of Red Men and has held every state office within the power 
of that organization to confer, including that of representative to 
the national convention for two terms. Largely through his tact- 
ful efforts as a leader in the California Editorial Association, of 
which he served two terms as president, the national convention of 
1903 was brought to San Francisco and the success of that gathering- 
is a matter of state history. 

Perhaps in none of his manifold activities has Mr. Filcher 
been more successful than in his labors as representative of Cali- 
fornia as commissioner to national and international expositions. 
He was appointed sole commissioner by Governor Budd to the Cotton 
States Exposition held at Atlanta, Ga., in 1895, and to this he gave 
intelligent service in the interests of California. Two years later 
he represented the state at the International Horticultural Exposi- 
tion in Hamburg, Germany. In 1900 he was commissioner to the 
World's Exposition held in Paris and the following year he acted 
in the same capacity at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, N. 



1016 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Y. During 1904 lie gave his attention as state commissioner to the 
California section at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in 
St. Louis. He was president of the Commissioners Association at 
Portland and at Seattle and was vice-president of Commissioners 
Association at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. The remarkable 
success attending his work caused him to be chosen state commis- 
sioner to the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland in 1905 and 
the Alaska- Yukon Exposition at Seattle in 1909. In 1911 he began to 
work actively in behalf of the Panama Canal Exposition to be held 
at San Francisco in 1915 and made a tour of the state in order to 
secure the participation of all the counties to the fullest extent 
possible. Skilled in detail, comprehensive in information, widely ac- 
quainted with business leaders of the United States and Europe, 
more experienced possibly than any exposition worker in the entire 
country, he is admirably qualified to bring such movements to a 
successful issue and to till with honor any position conferred upon 
him in connection with their management. In April, 1912, while 
actively engaged in the above enterprise, he was nominated, without 
solicitation on his part, for candidate as city commissioner under 
Sacramento's new charter, being one of ten nominated from 
thirty-five candidates, and on May 18, 1912, he received the second 
highest vote of the ten, the honor bringing with it a four-year term, 
and subsequently he was assigned by his associates to the position 
of commissioner of finance. Resigning his position with the State 
Agricultural Society and the Panama-Pacific International Expo- 
sition, he assumed the duties of his office July 1, 1912. At the age 
of twelve years he reached Sacramento, having ridden horseback 
across the plains, and barefooted he drove his father's herd of 
cattle. He ended his journey on the road running along side of 
the present plaza, in front of the city hall, September 6, 1859. 
Since that time he has accomplished much for his city and state, 
and now holds the strings of the purse of the city on which he 
first cast his eyes fifty-three years ago. 



JOHN A. GERBER, Jr. 

A native of California, Mr. Gerber was born in Sacramento, 
September 2, 1874, and attended the city public and high schools 
until he was nineteen years old. Then for three years he studied 
materia medica with the Merrill-Washburn drug house, and after 
that till 1901 he read medicine and surgery under the preceptorship 
of Dr. Cartwright. He did not finish his professional studies and 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1017 

engage in the practice of medicine, however, but turned his attention 
to a business career instead. From 1901 to 1903, when he sold out 
that interest, he was proprietor of a meat market, after which he was 
driver for the Cascade Laundr}^ until 1908. 

It was in 1908 that Mr. Gerber established himself in the steam 
dyeing and cleaning business, an undertaking which has proved 
successful, his place of business being at the corner of Tenth and I 
streets, Sacramento. In politics a Democrat, in religion a Lutheran, 
Mr. Gerber is in all things and in all relations of life a helpful and 
generous citizen. He married Miss Edna Coppersmith, of Sacra- 
mento, September 4, 1902, and they have two children, Marion and 
Ruth, who are students in the public schools. 



JAMES H. DONNELLY 

The diversified enterprises engaging the attention of Mr. Don- 
nelly point to breadth of mind and largeness of vision as among his 
leading attributes. When he was elected supervisor from the fourth 
district in Sacramento county in November, 1904, and re-elected in 
1908, the people recognizing his high order of ability and appreciat- 
ing his acceptable service in former local offices, looked with expec- 
tancy to a promising record on the county board. Nor have they 
been disappointed in their hopes, for he has proved sagacious in 
council, public-spirited in devotion to the county, loyal to its de- 
velopment, progressive in plans and prompt in action. Worthily 
filling the office of supervisor, in so doing he has made an enviable 
reputation for himself and at the same time promoted the perma- 
nent welfare of the county. 

That he can claim Sacramento as his native county is a source 
of pride to Mr. Donnelly, who was born at Folsom November 21, 1868, 
and is a son of Henry and Kate Donnelly. From six to thirteen 
years of age he attended school at Folsom, "but the necessity of earn- 
ing a livelihood cut short his schooldays and induced him to work 
in the stables of the Natoma Vineyard Company, where he remained 
about eighteen months. Later he took charge of a livery stable owned 
by his mother and at the same time he became interested in mining, 
but afterward he gave up these occupations to engage in fruit 
raising. The year 1904 found him a newcomer in Sacramento, where 
he organized the firm of Wright & Donnelly and established the 
general livery and boarding business known as the Wilson's Stables 
that has built up an extensive trade in the city. 



1018 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

The constant activities of l)usiness pursuits and tlie duties of 
supervisor do not preclude Mr. Donnelly from further interests, for 
we find in addition that lie holds office as president of the Folsom 
Investment Company that built the Hotel Bismarck in Sacramento. 
In politics he has given stanch allegiance to the Republican party 
and has aided local affairs with his time and influence. For sixteen 
years he served as deputy assessor and constable at Folsom and 
his faithful service there laid the foundation for the larger services 
as a meml)er of the board of supervisors. While living at Folsom 
he was married to Miss Susie Woodward in April of 1894. They 
are the i)arents of four children, namely: Eleanor, Gladys, Susie M. 
and James H., Jr., all of whom are being given the best educational 
advantages afforded by the excellent schools of Sacramento. The 
fraternal connections of Mr. Donnelly bring him into active mem- 
bership with the Eagles, Elks, Woodmen of the World and the 
Native Sons of the Golden AVest. 



EDWARD M. COFFIN 

An identification with the labors of a mechanical engineer dating 
back to the early period of his youth and continuing with several 
interruptions but with increasing importance up to the present time, 
marks Mr. Cofifin as one of those fortunate mortals who made no 
mistake in the choice of an occupation and who reaps the reward of 
long and arduous study in his intelligent mastery of technical prob- 
lems in engineering. It was his fortunate experience to enjoy 
excellent educational advantages in the east. Travel and habits of 
close observation have broadened his sphere of knowledge, until 
now he is considered one of the well-informed men of the city. Nor 
is his information limited to the sphere of occupational activities. 
On the contrary, it is broad and touches upon subjects representing 
every range of thought, bearing also the stamp of the highest culture. 

The early recollections of Mr. Cofifin cluster around Albany, the 
cai^ital city of New York and one of the beautiful residence towns of 
the state. There he was born in January of 1867 and there he became 
the reci]^ient of careful and moderately thorough mental training. 
New York state is noted for the advanced position it has taken in 
educational development and he was able therefore to obtain not 
only high-school advantages, but also specialized learning. At the 
age of sixteen years he went to Syracuse, in the same state, and in 
that city he remained until 1892, meanwhile acquiring a thorough 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1019 

knowledge of mechanical engineering. When he left Syracuse it 
was to remove to the Pacific coast. Attracted by the charm of the 
Santa Clara valley, he chose a location there and established a home, 
whose presiding genius, his bride, had been Miss Carrie Nyce, of 
Lincoln, Neb. They were married in her home city in August of 
1892 and are the parents of two children, Ruth and Frank, both of 
whom are being given the advantages so essential to any thorough 
preparation for the realities of life. 

Five years of close attention to the fruit-growing industry in 
the Santa Clara valley brought their share of financial returns to 
Mr. Coffin, but he found himself eager to return to his chosen task of 
engineering. Accordingly he disposed of his fruit ranch and removed 
to San Francisco, where he engaged in business activities along the 
line of his chosen calling. During 1907 he came to Sacramento to 
act as superintendent of the mechanical department of a Cali- 
fornia corporation. Two years later he was honored by election 
to the office of secretary, which position he now holds. People who 
are conversant with engineering affairs state that he ranks among 
the experts of the profession, while his possession of diversified 
talents is indicated by the fact that he successfully fills executive 
positions and directs the duties of the secretaryship with intelligent 
precision and accurate system. Political affairs interest him as they 
interest all loyal citizens and he favors any movement having for its 
object the permanent advancement of Sacramento. The Republican 
party receives his ballot in both general and local elections. Fratern- 
ally he holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
and contributes to the maintenance of the local lodge. 



GEORGE BOCK 

Born in Vienna, Austria, October 16, 1870, George Bock, the 
popular tailor of Sacramento, was brought by his parents to Phila- 
delphia, Pa. in 1878 and there he passed through the grammar 
school and soon acquired a knowledge of the tailor's trade. In 1889 he 
came to San Francisco. After working at his trade there for about 
nine months he took up his residence in Sacramento, where he was 
employed at his trade five months. Then he went back to Philadelphia, 
but remained a short time only, as in 1891 he returned to Sacramento 
and soon thereafter opened a tailoring establishment at Sixth and 
J streets. He continued at that location until Augaist, 1911, when 
he removed to his present commodious quarters at No. 919 K 



1020 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

street. He is recognized as one of Sacramento's foremost business 
men and one of the most artistic tailors in Northern California. 
At the time of the San Francisco disaster he was chairman of the 
Masonic board of relief. He has been a Mason since 1902 and was 
master of AVashington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., at the time of the 
earthquake and has held various other offices in that body. He 
is also a member of the Royal Ai-ch Chapter and is widely known 
as a thirty-second degree Mason. He also affiliates with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. His family are communicants of the Episcopal 
church. 

April 24, 189-1, Mr. Bock married in Sacramento Miss Lulu 
Yager, daughter of a California ])ioneer who consumed six months 
making the journey across the plains. Mr. Yager died in 1881. It 
is a matter of history that the grandfather, Peter Yager, started the 
first brewery in Sacramento. Mrs. Bock has borne her husband two 
children, Miriam, attending the Sacramento high school, and George, 
a student in public schools. 



WILLIAM BECKMAN 

The increasing financial and business prosperity of Sacramento 
finds a striking illustration in the magnificent structure erected by 
the People's Savings Bank and utilized not only as the headquarters 
of their own large concern, but also in its upper stories for office 
imr])oses. Men who are familiar with all the leading banks of the 
Pacific coast assert that in its interior equipment and elegance of 
ai)i)ointments the new structure has no superiors. Not only is it the 
tallest business building in Sacramento, but in addition it ranks 
as the best in the Sacramento valley, and no one who has studied 
its architecture and design fails to accord to its projectors the heart- 
iest admiration. Much of the credit for the success of the enter- 
prise is given to the president of the bank, William Beckman, who 
not only took a leading part in the organization of the concern more 
than thirty years ago, but in addition has moulded its financial policy, 
sha])ed its conservative course of procedure and so wisely guarded 
its investments that the institution proudly boasts a record of having 
never lost a loan. 

Although by ])arentage and nativity an easterner (for he was 
born in Herkimer county, N. Y., December 19, 1832) Mr. Beckman 
is a typical westerner in his habits of thought, plans of action and 
temperament of mind. This comes somewhat from his business 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1021 

training in Chicago, whither he went at an early age and where 
he earned his livelihood as an employe in a business house until 
he was led to identify himself with the unknown possibilities of 
the Pacific coast. The year 1851 found him a newcomer in Sacra- 
mento, where the following year he embarked in business. During 
1858 he removed to a farm in Sacramento county and for fifteen 
years he engaged in agricultural pursuits at Florin. Attaining promi- 
nence in the county, for six years he efficiently served as a member 
of the board of supervisors. During 1875 he became the Republican 
nominee for state treasurer, but suffered defeat with the balance of 
the ticket. Later his services to his district received recognition in 
his election in 1891 as a member of the state railroad commission, 
where he continued for four years. 

Under the tactful and enterprising leadership of Mr. Beckman, 
who had become well known in many avenues of activity throughout 
the west, the People's Savings Bank was organized and opened for 
business in July of 1879. Long residence in the valley had given him 
a thorough knowledge of the soil, people and conditions, so that he 
possessed exceptional advantages for the banking business. His 
reputation as a successful man of affairs and captain of industry 
won for the bank a general prestige and a confidence which guaranteed 
its success. Associated with him in the founding of the institution 
was John L. Huntoon, now vice-president and a member of the 
board of directors. The cashier, A. G. Folger, has been connected 
with the bank for twenty-one years and entered upon the duties of 
his ]3resent position during 1896, since which time he also has been 
made a member of the board of directors, whose other members are 
the president and vice-president, also George W. Lorenz and J. J. 
Keegan. The monthly report of the bank October 6, 1912, showed 
total resources of $4,513,593.32, with deposits of $3,920,155. The 
capital of the bank is $155,852.90 and the surplus and undivided 
profits $62,450.77. 

About tliirty-two years after the establishment of the bank it 
removed from its early location on the corner of Fourth and J 
to the new building on the corner of Fiighth and J streets, in the 
heart of the city's newer financial and business district, four blocks 
above the old headquarters. The new bank, erected at a cost of 
over $275,000, comprises a building of seven stories witli steel 
frame, enclosed by reinforced concrete walls, which are faced with 
white terra cotta. The architectural design is strikingly handsome, 
with a heavy base of two stories, a rounded front corner and a wide 
projection cornice of artistic terra cotta. The six floors above the 
banking quarters are divided into fifty-four office rooms, handsomely 
finished and equipped in the most modern way, witli artistic lighting 
fixtures, mahogany woodwork and steam lieat. The concrete office 



1022 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

floors are covered with battleshi]) lineoleum and the corridors with 
marble tiling. Two fast elevators serve the npper floors. 

The entire first floor is occupied by the bank. The arrangement 
and equipment of the bank represent the ability of the architect, 
Henry H. Meyers, of San Francisco, in conjunction with the 
officers of the institution. The result is a well-arranged banking 
house. The marble entrance, with its artistic bronze doors at the 
corner, opens into a lobby which occupies most of the length of 
two sides of the room. On one side the lobby terminates at Presi- 
dent Beckman's cosy office and on the other side at a beautifully 
furnished ladies' parlor. Along all four walls runs a wainscoting 
of French variegated marble with harmonious borders. The counter, 
which faces two sides of the room, with a curve opposite the 
entrance, is of variegated marble from Africa, set in panels, with ap- 
propriate base and cornice. The counter screen is of bronze grill 
work in which are set several tellers' wickets. The bronze electric 
lighting fixtures were made according to special designs and add 
to the beauty of the interior. The rich ceiling, designed in octagonal gold- 
decorated plaster panels, adds to the impression of elegance. Along 
the lobby walls are mahognay settees with leather upholstering and 
all of the other furniture is of mahogany. The working space 
behind the counter is designed to afford the maximum of con- 
venient room and is equipped with modern devices for banking. 
There are two large fireproof and burglar-proof vaults, each pro- 
vided with twelve-ton steel doors fitted with time locks. One of 
the vaults is designed for safe deposit boxes, of which fifteen 
hundred already have been installed, with ample accommodations 
for one thousand more. Booths are also provided for patrons 
of the safety deposit department. In fact, every modern banking 
convenience is to be found in this institution, whose directors have 
the gratification of knowing that they have furnished to the capital 
city its finest business block and that for years the}^ have provided 
the entire valley with a banking institution sound in policy and 
sagacious in investments, guarding the interests of its depositors 
with capable foresight and promoting the excellent financial standing 
of the entire locality by its own long and honorable record. 



R. M. BETTENS 

A son of Philip and Clara Bettens, R. M. Bettens was born at 
Vevay, Ind., May 10, 1874, and there he was reared until he was 
about thirteen years old, acquiring his primary education in the 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1023 

public schools. Then lie was brought to California by his parents, 
who settled at Escondido in 1887, and it was in the high school 
there that the succeeding two years were passed. 

In 1889 young Bettens began his business career as a clerk in 
a general merchandise store, where he was employed, with increasing 
responsibilities and increasing earnings, five years. Subsequently, 
with his brother, Albert, as a partner, he took up hotel work at 
Byron Springs. There they remained until 1901, when they leased 
the St. James Hotel at San Jose, Cal., catering to the public suc- 
cessfully, with increasing knowledge of and liking for the business, 
until July, 1909, when they took over under lease the Sacramento 
Hotel, at Sacramento. Since then they have successfully operated 
both hotels. Their management of these two fine public houses has 
been of such a character as to commend them very approvingly 
to the traveling and wheeling people of Northern California, and 
it is probable that no hotel man in this part of the state is more 
widely or more favorably known than is Mr. Bettens. It may be 
added that his acquaintance has been extended and made permanent 
by his helpful membership of the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. 



LAES PETEE ANDEESON 

In 1847 Lars Peter Anderson, now of Sacramento, Cal., was 
born in Skaane, Sweden. His father, a lifelong sailor, became owner 
and captain of a coasting vessel which he commanded to the end 
of his life. Lars Peter was educated in public schools in his native 
land and at an early age learned the painting and decorating trade, 
which he has followed with increasing success until the present time. 
He came to the United States in 1871 and located in Sacramento and 
his first work here was in the painting room of the repair shops of 
the Southern Pacific Eailroad Company. He was soon given charge 
of the department and worked there two years, then was for some 
time employed by various persons and concerns until he went into 
business for himself. For thirty-seven consecutive years he has been 
at the head of his own enterprise. He has filled contracts for the 
painting of the State Capitol, the Hales, Weinstock and Lubin resi- 
dences, the Sutter Club, California National Bank and many other 
large buildings which rank with the best ever completed in Sacra- 
mento. He long has had a partner in his brother, Ludwig Ander- 
son, who arrived in Sacramento from Sweden March 1, 1881, and 
after working for him a time acquired a half interest in the business. 



1024 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

In 1878 Mr. Anderson married Miss Hannah Matson, a native of 
Sweden, who came to America with her uncle in 1870. Her father 
was a large farmer and became active and prominent in politics in 
Sweden, having been several times elected sheriff of Blekinge Ian. 
Mr. and Mrs, Anderson have two children. George, the elder, who 
lives in Sacramento, is prominent in musical circles, having studied 
in Boston, Mass., four years and achieved success as a teacher of 
the piano; he is now in the piano business in Sacramento. He 
married Miss Jeanette Baldwin, of Cleveland, Ohio. Elsie, the younger 
child, lives in Sacramento. Their mother died in September, 1902. Mr. 
Anderson is a member of tlie Master Painters' Association, takes a 
public-spirited interest in the affairs of the city and is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



GEORGE WILLIAM CABLES 

Widely known throughout Sacramento as a man of conscientious 
principles and devotion to his duties as a citizen, Mr. Caples is num- 
bered among the most trusted employees of the Elk Grove Vineyard 
Association, and by virtue of his unswerving honor and kindly man- 
ner fully merits the esteem with which he is regarded by his associates. 

Mr. Caples was the sixth child of Dr. James and Mary J. (Walker) 
Caples, natives of Ohio and Kentucky respectively, who came to 
California in 1849 across the plains with ox-teams. They returned 
east to Illinois via Panama and in 1853 again came across the plains, 
this time with a drove of horses, and since then they have resided 
in Sacramento county, he being now eighty-nine years old, while the 
mother is eighty-five. George W. Caples was born November 16, 
1859, nine miles south of Folsom, Cal., and received his educational 
training in the ]niblic schools of that town. After completing his 
studies he engaged in farming, but upon being appointed postmaster 
of the city of Folsom in 1889, he discontinued personal attention to 
his agi'icultural interests, opening an insurance office in connection 
with his official duties. He capably managed both departments of 
work until 1891, when he resigned the postmastership to accept a posi- 
tion as foreman for the American River Land and Lumber Co., now 
known as the Eldorado Lumber Company. Meantime he journeyed 
to Detroit, Mich., wliere he became a student in Pernin Institute, com- 
pleted a general business course, and returned then to the west. He 
established a shorthand school in Carson City, Nev., which he con- 
ducted for several years, and in 1900 located in Elk Grove, Cal. He 
filled an appointment as farmer at the county hospital for about five 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1025 

years, leaving the service in 1906 to take his jn-esent situation with 
the Elk Grove Vineyard Association. 

June 17, 1885, Mr. Caples was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Crossette, the ceremony taking place in Auburn, Cal., and to their 
union four children were born : William Crossette, now on the battle- 
shi]) Wilmington; Isabelle Virginia, Mary Ethel and James Cecil. 
Mrs. Caples was a native of Folsom, and daughter of William and 
Mary C. (Hodgdon) Crossette, natives of Massachusetts, her father 
being a pioneer of 1849. She received her education in Perry's Semi- 
nary at Sacramento, where owing to her thoughtful attention to her 
studies she won a high place among her classmates. 

Despite many discouragements and trials, Mr. Caples has never 
lost the optimistic spirit which has been one of his chief charac- 
teristics, and although his financial condition does not admit of lux- 
uries, for which indeed the family do not yearn, being fully satisfied 
in their love for each other and the true comfort which they enjoy, 
feels himself rich in his blessings and regards as a priceless treasure 
the honor in which he is held bv his wide circle of friends. 



WILLIAM R. GALLUP 

Above is the name of an honored pioneer and in his day a lead- 
ing business man of Sacramento. Born at Stonington, Conn., May 
19, 1828, William R. Gallup passed most of his active life in Cali- 
fornia and died while busy at his ranch in Yolo county January 8, 
1906. Pie was of old New England ancestry which came of Revolu- 
tionary stock and the names of his forefathers were made prominent 
in the early history of our country and have been handed down as 
those of patriots and soldiers. The originator of the Gallup family 
in America was Capt. John Gallup, who came from Parish of Mastern, 
County of Dorset, England, to Massachusetts in 1630 on the Mary 
and John. Mr. Gallup is also a lineal descendant of Major John 
Mason, born in England about 1600, who was a lieutenant in the Eng- 
lish army and served under Lord Halifax in the Netherlands. lie 
came to America in 1630, served in the early Indian wars of Massa- 
chusetts as a major and finally settled at Dorchester, Mass. It was 
in 1853 that Mr. Galluj) came to California by way of the Isthmus of 
Panama, accomjianied by several persons from and near his former 
home, and all looked forward to the adventure into strange lands and 
new and memorable experiences. In the absence of railroads freight- 
ing was a leading business in the new state, and it was to that that Mr. 



1026 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Gallup gave his attention. In 1863, nearly ten years after his 
arrival, he returned east and on May 3, 1864, he married Miss Eliza 
Morgan, who was born in Ledyard, Conn. She is a lineal descendant 
of Elder William Brewster, a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. 
Eeturning via Panama with his young wife, he settled down in Sacra- 
mento and began acquiring real estate. One of his purchases was 
ground which included the present site of the Sacramento Bee build- 
ing, on which he built and made his home till 1901. Then the exten- 
sion of the business district had made the land too valuable for 
residence purposes and the locality less pleasant as a home neigh- 
borhood than it had been, and Mr. Gallup bought a fine house at No. 
1521 I street, which is still included in his estate. For many years 
from 1862 he was extensively engaged in sheep-raising in Yolo county, 
his two ranches being located near Woodland, but he maintained his 
home at Sacramento, where his numerous important interests cen- 
tered. Since his death Mrs. Gallup has continued the farming and 
stock business started by her husband fifty years ago. 

Two daughters were born to Mr. Gallup and they were named 
Ida M. and Effa M. The latter married J. D. Lord of Sacramento, 
who is manager of the extensive Gallup real estate holdings in 
Yolo county. The wife of this pioneer, mother of the daughters just 
referred to, has been an almost lifelong member of the Baptist Church, 
in the work of which he always took a generously helpful interest. 
In his political affiliations he was a Eepublican, but he was never active 
in political work, preferring the tranquility of his pleasant home to 
any honors that might have come to him in a public career. At the 
same time he was so ])ublic-s]nrited that there were few movements 
looking to the general good that did not command his co-operation 
in one way or another. He was a worthy citizen in every way and 
built up and improved his flocks and farm lands in Yolo county. He 
was literary, well posted and informed on all general topics as well 
as history, and was much appreciated by his old friends and acquaint- 
ances for his conversational ability and his many acts of kindness and 
charitv. 



LUDWIG ANDEESON 

It was in Skaane, Sweden, that Ludwig Anderson was born in 
1861. He came to America, arriving March 1, 1881, made his way 
to Sacrauiento, Cal., and worked for his brother, a contractor of paint- 
ing and decorating, until 1890, having learned his trade in the land 
of his birth. In the year last mentioned he acquired an interest 
in the business, which is now one of the most iuiportant of its kind 



HISTDEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1027 

in Northern California. The firm has put through large contracts on 
the State Capitol, California National Bank, Weinstock, Lubin and 
Hales residences, Sutter Club, and other conspicuous buildings as well 
as fine residences in Sacramento and San Francisco, and its plans for 
the near future contemplate operations more extensive than those of 
any other establishment of its kind in this part of the country. 

In 1885 Mr. Anderson married Hilda Erickson, of Auburn, Placer 
county, Cal., daughter of L. E. and Bertha Erickson. Her father 
was an extensive rancher at Lincoln, Cal., and died in 1881; her 
mother survives, aged seventy-three years, a member of the house- 
iiold of her daughter, Mrs. George C Daniels, of Lincoln. Mrs. Ander- 
son has borne her husband children named Stella C, Hedwig J., 
Evelyn S. (Mrs. Humphrey of San Francisco), Helen L. and Con- 
stance, all of whom, with the exception of Mrs. Humphrey, are mem- 
bers of their parents' household. Mr. Anderson affiliates with the 
Foresters. He and his wife are members of the First Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Sacramento and are active in its work. She 
is past president of the Ladies' Aid Society and has held offices in 
other organizations connected with the church. Two of their chil- 
dren have remarkable music abilitv and will receive musical educations. 



PATRICK HENRY MURPHY 

The pioneer type, with its sturdy fearlessness, its touch of 
romance and its suggestion of conquest, is one to be noted with ad- 
luiration as the visible expression of a national environment that 
never again can be witnessed. Every era brings its men and its 
opportunities, but perhaps no greater men will ever be produced 
than those who bravely faced the dangers of the deserts, penetrated 
the pathless forests and by their dauntless energy pushed the benefits 
of civilization still further toward the setting sun. As the pioneers 
of California one by one enter upon their last long journey across the 
desert of death and set sail upon the shoreless sea of eternity, there 
is called afresh to mind the service which they rendered to their coun- 
try and their commonwealth, and appreciation wells afresh into the 
patriotic heart. 

Not the least conspicuous among the surviving pioneers of Sacra- 
mento county is Patrick Henry Murphy, who first landed in the capital 
city on October 13, 1854. Born in St. Louis, Mo., in June, 1838, 
he there grew up, and in 1854 joined a company of St. Louis men, 
among them Isaac Lankershim and Mike Wiles, and crossed the 
plains with a large expedition with an ox-team train and five hun- 



1028 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

dred cattle. This was a memorable year, for the Indians at tliat time 
were warlike, bnt by exercising the ntmost diplomacy they evaded 
several controversies and ]n'obable massacre, and after a journey of 
six months and two days the train dispersed on the Cosumne river, 
and Mr. Mnrphy came on to Sacramento, where he found employ- 
ment in a hotel. Later he worked in vSan Francisco, but soon returned 
to Sacramento and then secured a position in the Brighton flour 
and grist mill on the American river. For two years he worked in 
the mill at monthly wages. His next venture was the purchase of 
two hundred acres with a crop on the ground and a small house suit- 
able for a frontier home. In an unexpected manner his identification 
with that ranch brought him misfortune. While sleeping in his bed 
one night he was shot by negro robbers, the ball passing through the 
board wall of his cabin. The two thieves made their escape, but 
were afterward cajjtured and sent to the penitentiary for fifteen years. 
He was so seriously wounded in both arms that he was completely 
disabled for one year and, in fact, was left crippled for life. 

Unable to work, the young farmer relinquished his holdings and 
returned to St. Louis, where he visited at the old home for a year 
or more. During 1862, in Fayette county. 111., he was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary A. Gibbs, who was born in Ohio and died 
in California in 1871. Upon his return to the west Mr. Murphy pre- 
empted one hundred and sixty acres in Sacramento county and at 
once commenced the difficult task of clearing the property. Later 
he ]nirchased eighty acres so situated tliat it could be brought into 
the home place as one farm, which gives him two hundred and forty 
acres in this ranch. The land lies within a mile of Perkins and is 
im])r()ved with a substantial residence and convenient farm liuildings. 
A ])um])ing ]:>lant furnishes an abundance of water for irrigation and 
for domestic use. The value of the place is greatly enhanced by the 
vineyard and fruit orchard covering fifty acres, with grapes, cherries, 
prunes, peaches, pears and berries in fine bearing condition. 

Having an o])i)ortunity to increase his holdings in 1885 Mr. 
Murphy bought a i)artly improved tract of four hundred and fifty 
acres on the Cosumne river, this county, of which tract he now has 
over one hundred acres in hops. The balance of the ranch is utilized 
for i)astures, alfalfa meadows and grain. The ranch was occupied and 
managed by the oldest son, Arthur D. Murphy, who with his family 
made his home there until it was leased out. On both places a spe- 
cialty is made of the stock industry and the stock raised and sold 
includes high-grade Shorthorn cattle and ]mre-bred Poland-China hogs. 
Ever since the organization of the California state fair, a period of 
forty-nine years. Mr. Murphy has been an exhibitor of stock, machin- 
ery and fruit, and at the fair of 1911 his exhibits won the same 
admiration and attention thev have received during the entire ]ieriod 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1029 

of his association with the work. There is not another man in the 
state who has been such a steady exhibitor for so many years as 
he, and he has won innumerable prizes and gold medals in different 
lines. Nor is his interest in horticulture less than his identification 
with the stock business and for some years he has been a stockholder 
and director in the Florin Fruit Growers' Association situated at 
Florin. 

Of his first marriage Mr. Murph^v has three children living, 
Arthur D., Clara McDonald and Ralph I. The daughter is a success- 
ful teacher in the Sacramento county schools, Arthur D. is farming 
his own place and the younger son acts as manager of the Cosumne 
ranch. October 7, 1875, Mr. Murphy married Miss Carrie R. Jackman, 
who was born and reared in New Hampshire, removed thence to 
Iowa, and from there came to California during young womanhood. 
Five children are living of this union, namely: William C, employed 
in the Sacramento street-car service; Harry L., who is married and 
resides at the old homestead; Corda L., who holds a responsible posi- 
tion in the mercantile house of C. C. Perkins at Perkins; Elmer H., 
an expert chemist employed in the laboratory of the Union Sugar- 
beet Company; and George A., a farmer near Perkins. 

Although Mr. Murphy cast his first Presidential ballot for 
Stephen A. Douglas, for years he has been identified with the Re- 
publican party. In 1864 he supported Abraham Lincoln and since 
then he has never failed to cast a straight Republican ticket at every 
Presidential election. Frequently he has been selected as delegate 
to county and state conventions. In local elections he supports the 
men whom he considers best qualified to serve the people, irrespec- 
tive of their ])olitical views. For four years he served as a 
justice of the peace and he also has served as school trustee. As 
early as 1869 he became connected with the subordinate lodge of Odd 
Fellows and all but one of his sons also joined the order. No citi- 
zen surpasses him in loyal devotion to his township and county. It 
has been his privilege to witness the steady growth of this locality 
and the awakening appreciation of its soil and climate. Doubtless 
no one takes greater pride than does he in the constant progress 
of the district, the increasing returns from the scientific cultivation 
of its ranches, the growing business of the little towns and the ])atri- 
otic spirit manifested by the entire citizenship. 



THOMAS TINGE Y ("RAVEN GREGORY 

Residence, San Francisco; office, Alaska Commercial Building, 
San Francisco. Born October 4, 1878, in Suisun, California. Son of 
Judge John M. and Evelyn Tingey (Craven) Gregory. Married to Ger- 



1030 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

trucle Martin, April 15, 1903. Graduated from Stanford University 
in 1899 and took post-graduate work until 1901 in the Stanford Law 
School. Admitted to the bar of California in 1901, and commenced 
the practice of his profession, associated with his father in Solano 
county, and was elected district attorney of that county in 1901, con- 
tinuing until 1906. Moved to San Francisco in 1909, and continues 
in the active practice of his profession. President of the Vallejo and 
Northern Railroad Company and the Sacramento and Woodland Rail- 
road Companj^ Member of the Bohemian, Olympic, The Family, Com- 
mercial and Commonwealth Clubs of San Francisco, the Sutter Club 
of Sacramento, the Masonic Fraternity, Beta Theta college fraternity 
and Knights Templar. Democrat. 



EDWARD FRANKLIN PFUND 

An identification with the city of Sacramento beginning at the 
age of sixteen years and continuing up to the present time gives 
to Mr. Pfund a comprehensive knowledge of community resources, 
of natural advantages and of future possibilities; resultant from 
such knowledge we find him to be a firm believer in the riches of 
the valley that boasts the capital city for its center. Destiny dis- 
guised as Chance directed his energies toward pursuits for which he 
was well qualified by nature. His painstaking accuracy and sys- 
tematic management of detail work enabled him to make good as 
an assistant in the office of the county clerk William B. Hamilton, 
where he became an employe the first Monday in January, 1893, and 
where he has continued to the present writing. After he had proved 
his mastery of every detail connected with the records he was ap- 
pointed chief deputy and continued in that capacity until the death 
of the county clerk, March 14, 1911, when he was appointed to 
the office. 

As Mr. Pfund 's name indicates he descends from German an- 
cestry. He claims, however, our own country as his native land, 
having been born December 11, 1859, at Yandalia, 111., where his 
father, John P. Pfund, engaged for some years in the manufacture 
of confectionery and later carried on a lumber business. Prior to 
his immigration to the United States in 1832 the father had lived in 
Germany, where as the youngest in a family of four sons he was 
exempt from service in the German army through the fact that the 
three eldest brothers had given their time to military duties as re- 
quired by the government of their country. When he crossed the 
ocean he was young, active and capable, and his subsequent life was 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1031 

one of industry and persevering, intelligent management. During 
young manhood he married Juliana Vennewitz, who was born and 
reared in Germany, her father, a prosperous business man of that 
country, having furnished horses and supplies to the army without 
compensation. The mother of Edward F. Pfund had a sister, Mrs. 
Lippe, whose husband, a man of large wealth, owned a number of 
merchant ships and engaged extensively in the buying and selling 
of grain in Germany. 

When sixteen years of age Edward F. Pfund came to California 
in company with his parents and settled at Sacramento, where for 
two years he attended the grammar school. The family had com- 
prised seven children, but two of the sons are deceased and the two 
daughters also died in early life, so that three sons are the only 
living representatives of the family. The three reside in Sacramento, 
where William H. is connected with a grocery business, and Bar- 
told G., who formerly engaged in business in Chicago, 111., with I. P. 
Farnham, now has business relations with a prominent Sacramento 
dry-goods house. Edward Franklin, who was fifth in order of 
birth among the seven children, is the second of the three survivors, 
and was married April 30, 1884, to Miss Mattie E. Knisley, born in 
Eldorado, Cal. The only child of the union, Edwina V., born July 
5, 1894, is a graduate of the Sacramento high-school, class of 1912. 

After having clerked for twelve years in a clothing store owned 
by Charles Robin and having risen meantime to an important posi- 
tion in the establishment, Edward F. Pfund was obliged to dis- 
continue all work on account of ill health. For several years he 
was unable to attend to business duties, but as soon as he had 
regained his health he began his identification with the county 
clerk's office and since then has been able to work steadily and 
constantly without detriment to his physical condition. In political 
views he votes with the Republican party. Fraternally he belongs 
to Washington Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M., also Eureka Lodge No. 4, 
I. 0. 0. F., and Sacramento Court No, 12, Foresters of America. 
As a citizen he is public-spirited, as an official trustworthy, as a 
friend sincere, furnishing indeed the type of character needed in 
the citizenship of the community and in the official business of the 
county. 



SIMON PROUTY 

Destiny gave to Simon Prouty an identification with the early 
upbuilding of the two great states of Iowa and California. Born in 
Southern Ohio, he was a small lad when in 1847 the family removed to 



1032 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Iowa and settled among the pioneers of Jasper county. The entire 
journey was made in the tedious and primitive manner common to the 
period, for not only was there not even one railroad in the whole state 
of Iowa, but very few had been built in any portion of the country. 
Arriving near the site of the present flourishing city of Iowa City, 
which then had only six log houses, the father, Anson Prouty, took up 
a quarter section of government land, the present site of Newton, and 
a part of this he subsequently sold to the supervisors of Jasper county 
as the site of the village that became the county seat. Not long after 
his settlement in Iowa he took the contract to carry the first mail 
between Fort Des Moines and Iowa City. Simon, then thirteen years 
of age, was selected for the work. The task was indeed one of the 
greatest difficulty and it speaks volumes for the resolution and courage 
of the lad that he was willing to undertake the long journeys in the 
midst of such dangers and hardships. The nearest houses were 
eighteen miles apart. There were few trees and across the open 
prairies howled the bitter wind and snow as if fighting against man's 
advance from the older settlements of the east. Forty miles a day on 
horseback for three days in succession along the lonely road three 
feet deep in snow, then three days on the return trip, with Sunday 
spent at home. It was seldom that he met any other traveler in those 
stormy rides. Twice he was taken from his horse unconscious with 
cold and with ears, hands and feet frozen stiff. Notwithstanding these 
arduous experiences he continued the trips until there was no longer 
any further need of his services. 

When eighteen years of age Simon Prouty married Miss Jane 
Newton, member of a prominent Iowa family in whose honor the city 
of Newton was named. Immediately after his marriage he and his 
young wife started for California, in company with his father and 
mother and the other members of his family. As early as February 
of 1851, with three wagons loaded with supplies of all kinds necessary 
for such a trip, and with a goodly sum of money, the party began its 
journey across the plains. It had been their fear that they would 
sutTer attacks from the Indians, but in some way they gained the good- 
will of the savages, who allowed them to pass without molestation. 
They crossed the river at the present site of Omaha, then void of any 
settlement whatever. Shortly afterward cholera broke out among the 
emigrants and Anson Prouty fell a victim of the dread disease. His 
body was wrapped in a sheet and laid in the ground by his three 
sons, Simon, Will and Columbus. With all the loneliness of a deep 
bereavement the family proceeded on their journey and un.der the 
guardianship of the eldest son, Simon, they arrived safely at Stock- 
ton, Cal., about the 1st of September. For a time after their arrival 
they continued to cam]) in their wagons. 

It was the good fortune of Simon Prouty to hnve a mother who 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1033 

was a woman of education and remarkable intelligence. Although he 
attended school only six months during all the years of his boyhood, 
he became well informed, for she taught him reading and writing 
and instructed him in the making of accounts and in all arithmetical 
problems connected with ordinary business affairs. The younger ■ 
children, sheltered by his protecting oversight, were given some 
schooling, but they too found the counsel and instruction of their 
mother most vital to their intellectual advancement. Not only was 
Mrs. Prouty a woman of education, but she also had a large endow- 
ment of common sense, so that she grasped the necessities of their 
environment in the west and proved equal to every emergency. Wild 
berries were plentiful, so she made pies from the fruit gathered by the 
children. In addition she made vinegar and with this concocted a 
mock lemon pie that proved- popular among the incoming emigrants. 
All of the pies were sold at $1 each, while biscuits she sold at twenty- 
five cents a dozen and bread at twenty-five cents a loaf. The income 
was increased by the washing of shirts at twenty-five cents each. With 
the income from her tireless labor and with the aid of her son, Simon, 
she was able to keep the children together until they were grown 
and meanwhile she took up a tract of government land. 

About this time Simon Prouty became ambitious to rent land, 
out he had no seed and no horses, nor any money with which to buy 
the necessary equipment. Determining to buy a team on credit if 
possible, he took some lunch in a water bucket and walked twenty 
miles to a horse dealer, who refused to sell on credit. The dealer's 
wife, seeing that the young man was weary from the walk, invited him 
to eat and sleep at their home, an invitation which he most gratefully 
accepted. Meanwhile she talked privately with the dealer and per- 
suaded him to encourage the would-be farmer. In the morning the 
dealer told him, ''I will furnish you one horse if the horse-trader 
ten miles away will furnish you with another." So the young man 
walked the ten miles and found the second dealer, who exclaimed 
after hearing his story: "AVell, by Gosh! Walked thirty miles! Got 
a wife already, eh? And a mother and five brothers and sisters to 
support. Well, by Gosh! Yes, Siree, you can have a horse and I'll 
give you a set of harness. Now eat some dinner and then you just 
ride back to that fellow down the road and tell him to give you the 
horse he agreed to, or, by Gosh, I'll lick the d— 1 out of him." The 
first dealer did not refuse to hold to his bargain, so the young man, 
with a team and some land, was able to buy seed on credit, also to 
borrow tools. Crops lu'ouglit a high |3rice that vear and he cleared 
$3,000. 

Throughout all tliis ]:>eriod of pioneer effort the entire family 
had occu|)ied the same small cabin, but now Simon Prouty and his 
young wife decided tliat thev wanted a home of their own. Again 



1034 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

his limeli was packed in the water bucket, hut this time he walked ten 
miles to a cottonwood grove and chopped down saplings. Finding a 
long, hollow log, he ran a burning bush into each end to see if there 
was a snake inside, built a brush fire at one end to scare away the 
bears, crept into the log feet first and slept there three nights. As his 
brothers were using the family wagon in a job of hauling, he bor- 
rowed a vehicle in town and with his wife drove back to the cotton- 
wood grove, where the young couple loaded the trees and returned 
with the materials for their little house. This day they ever afterward 
recalled as one of the happiest of their lives. It was a genuine delight 
to work for a new home, even if it was to be but the crudest of cabins. 
When the building had been put up and tliey moved in, they cooked 
at the chimney of stone, built their own bedsteads with poles driven 
into the ground, sat on boxes and ate from boards resting on poles 
driven into the ground. To a young couple of the twentieth century 
this would seem privation and hardship most trying, but they were 
supremely happy, for they had learned that happiness comes from 
within, not from without. Popular among the young people, they 
were invited to every dance for thirty miles around and when one of 
these grand events was announced Simon Prouty always bought a 
new jDair of overalls, so that he might appear as well dressed as 
the other young men of the period. 

In this primitive home two children were born. The two youngest 
children were born in the later and more comfortable home of the 
family. The elder daughter, Hattie, is the widow of Andrew Whitaker 
and lives at Gait, Sacramento county. W. H. is a resident of Sacra- 
mento. The younger daughter is the widow of Joseph Connor of 
Gait, and Edgar M. is living in Lodi, this state. Mr. Prouty was 
always exceedingly kind and helpful to those in need and one of his 
kindnesses proved to be bread cast upon the waters which did not 
return unto him void. While he was still struggling against debt and 
bravely trying to get ahead financially, a sick Chinaman rode up late 
one afternoon and asked for water. Mr. Prouty took him off the 
horse and doctored him with such remedies as the cabin contained, 
while Mrs. Prouty cared for him as though he were a friend. For 
some time he was very ill, but with their care and attention in two 
weeks he recovered. Sitting by the chimney light one evening he re- 
marked : "I think so we all be partner. Be very good ; make money. 
I think so you good lady, good man. I like stay your house long time. 
You no got money. I catch plenty cash. We make partner. Buy 
hog, sell plenty hog for Chinamen up mountains and lady be all same 
partner." Thereupon he drew a belt from under his clothes, emptied 
it on the table, counted out $6,000 in gold, pushed it over to Mrs. 
Prouty and said, "You takee cash. We all be partner. Buy plenty 
hog. Makee money." The Chinaman built himself a hut and stayed 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1035 

with them six years. Meanwhile they controlled the hog trade of 
Sacramento and the mines for a hundred miles in every direction, 
eventually clearing $10,000 for each of the partners. The family 
grieved as for a relative when the Chinaman, rich and prosperous, 
returned to his native land. For years the little children would cry 
for him to come back, for he had nursed and cared for them with the 
deepest aifection. It was a frequent remark of Mr. Prouty after- 
wards that the Chinaman was the only honest partner he ever had, 
and he dates his subsequent prosperity from the odd chance tha>t 
brought him needed money and help at the crucial period of his 
agricultural operations. 

The development of a tine farm of six hundred acres, the raising 
of fine stock and the building of first-class residence and barns kept 
Mr. Prouty very busy for years, and when finally j^rosperity had come, 
he lost his wife, who had so long and bravely shared his hardships 
and discouragements. Three years afterward in 1891 he married 
Miss Carol Crouse, of San Francisco, a lady of excellent education 
and cultured refinement. Subsequent to his retirement from farming 
he engaged in the wholesale commission business in San Francisco, 
but there his well-known generosity was taken advantage of and the 
business did not prove successful. Aften ten years in San Francisco 
he returned to Sacramento to live, later his wife spent two years in 
travel, visiting his old homes in Ohio and Iowa, and enjoying a tour 
throughout the east. Upon returning to California he was visiting at 
Gait when he ran to catch a train and the over-exertion brought on 
heart trouble, from which he died. Since his demise Mrs. Prouty has 
continued to reside at the family home, No. 918 Twenty- second street, 
Sacramento. During early years he had been an active worker in 
the Blue Lodge of Masons. The Unitarian Church of Sacramento had 
in him a frequent attendant at the services and a generous contributor 
to its charities. After a long and unusually active career he passed 
into eternity, beloved by a wide circle of friends, honored as a man 
of the highest integrity and as a pioneer of the gi'eatest aid to the 
early upbuilding of the state. 



GEORGE A. PHINNEY 

Both as one of the oldest and as one of the most prosperous 
organizations of its kind in Northern California the firm of A. A. Van 
Voorhies & Co. holds an established position among the foremost 
business concerns of Sacramento. The records show that the business 
was established as early as 1850 under the title of R. Stone & Co. and 
continued to enjoy a steady growth from decade to decade. The 

59 ' ' 



1036 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

demands of tlie business were of such magnitude that in 1891 letters 
of incorporation were secured and since then the present firm has 
engaged in business as a cor^^oration, the president being George A. 
Phinney, who first became identified with the establishment November 
11, 1886, and since then has become familiar with every phase of the 
work. A business of large volume has been built up and in the firm's 
specialties of horse collars, harness and saddles they are considered to 
have no superiors in the west, where they are manufacturers and 
wholesalers. 

The present place of residence of Mr. Phinney is far removed 
from the bleak regions familiar to his early years, for he is a native of 
Maine, born in Franklin county, December 7, 1855, and his childhood 
memories cluster around the pine woods and rock-bound shores of 
that locality. The years of youth were uneventfully passed in country 
schools and in the home of his parents, Jonas and Mary A. (Crafts) 
Phinney. When he had completed the studies of the district schools 
he left for Massachusetts and secured employment in a whip factory 
at Westfield. Two years later, with the savings of this period of work, 
he was able to enter Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, 
N. Y., where he finished the commercial course. Going next to New 
York City in 1874 he secured a position as bookkeeper with a firm 
dealing in grain and there he remained until July of 1876, when he 
returned to Massachusetts. Associating himself with a wholesale firm 
in Westfield he became a traveling salesman and in that capacity 
visited the principal points of commercial importance throughout the 
whole country. For a time his territory embraced all of the region 
west of the Missouri river. 

Upon discontinuing his connection as traveling salesman in 1882 
Mr. Phinney aided in organizing the Standard Whip Company, a firm 
that still exists, although he sold his stock in the concern many years 
ago. August 31, 1885, he was united in marriage with Miss Kate 
Louise Van Voorhies, daughter of A. A. and Hattie A^an Voorhies. 
Thus other interests came into his life besides those of New England 
and he was therefore induced to come to California in 1886, since 
which time he has made Sacramento his home and has devoted his 
time to the upbuilding of the wholesale manufacturing plant of A. A. 
Van Voorhies & Co. His eldest son, A. Van Voorhies Phinney, now 
vice-president of the company, is a young man of exceptional ability 
and is a graduate of the University of California with the class of 
1908. Mrs. Kate Louise Phinney died when her youngest son, George 
A., was only four montlis old, and he was only spared to the age of 
seven years. The only daughter of the union is Clare, now Mrs. C. B. 
McKee, of Sacramento. The second marriage of Mr. Phinney was 
solemnized November 30, 1894, and united him with Miss Jessie L. 
Dayton, daughter of Jerry and Mary Dayton. The three children of 
the second marriage are Jerrv Davton, Ruth Rosalie and Jessie Lee. 



HISTORY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1037 



WILLIAM HARRISON PROUTY 

The well-known citizen of Sacramento whose name heads this 
notice is a native Californian and a son of a pioneer. He was born 
January 18, 1859, at Dry Creek, Amador county, the son of Simon 
and Jane (Newton) Prouty, the former from Ohio, the latter from 
Iowa. Simon Prouty crossed the plains in 1852, by such primitive 
means as were then available, and settled in Amador county, where 
he achieved success as a farmer. He died in 1909, his wife in 1891. 
The son attended public school and thus gained a practical education 
that well fitted him for business life. When he left school it was to 
take up employment in the merchandising establishment of Brewster 
& Company, of Gait, Sacramento county. There he was busy and 
studious, gaining a practical knowledge of the work in hand, and 
when his employers sold out their store he was able to take a better 
position as bookkeeper in the office of an important interest at Truckee, 
Nevada county. So successful was he there that after he had held that 
position two years he was made manager, in which responsible capacity 
he served with efficiency and credit three years. Resigning his duties 
at Truckee, he came to Sacramento to identify himself with the state 
printing office, then in charge of his brother-in-law, A. J. Johnston. 
For seven years he was a bookkeeper, then became manager of the 
stationery department of a stationery store and printing house on J 
street. After six years' successful experience there he connected him- 
self with the establishment of George Z. Wait & Co., with whom he has 
been employed continuously since August, 1907. 

On June 27, 1883, Mr. Prouty married Miss Belle Johnston, sister 
of A. J. Johnston above mentioned. Their home is one of quiet ele- 
gance, known for its unostentatious hospitality. Mr. Prouty has not 
been active in political work, but has done his best as a citizen to 
conserve the best interests of the greatest number of his fellow 
townsmen, and besides has taken a deep and an intelligent interest in 
the public affairs of the state aud nation. In 1912 he was prevailed 
upon to accept the nomination of his party as city trustee to represent 
the Fourth ward of Sacramento. He is helpfully identified with sev- 
eral social and beneficial organizations, being a Mason, identified with 
the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery and Shrine, aud takes an in- 
terest in other societies of various aims and purposes. Mrs. Prouty is 
a communicant of the Presbyterian Church and a member of the 
Tuesday Club of Sacramento. In all things she is a most worthy 
helpnieet to her enterprising husband and they are both popular in the 
circles in which thev move. 



1038 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



JOHN H. SAWYER 

A self-made mau in every sense of the word was John H. Sawyer, 
whose death occurred Janury 6, 1901, at his home in Gait, Cal., de- 
priving the community of one of its most dependable and best loved 
citizens. In the face of the many trials which beset his career, he 
clung to his ideals and ambitions with an intensity of purpose well 
worthy of the emulation of many members of our present generation, 
who decline to maintain the patience and fortitude so essential to 
true success in life and, amid advantages far greater than those pre- 
sented to our forefathers, slip through existence without understanding 
the meaning of altruism or appreciating the blessed privilege of labor. 

A native of Tuffinboro, Vt., Mr. Sawyer's birth occurred February 
5, 1828, and during the first fourteen years of his life he remained with 
his parents, Joseph and Abagail (Hall) Sawyer, natives of Vermont. 
At the age of ten he abandoned his studies through necessity and 
became an apprentice to a carpenter, leaving home four years later 
to take up his trade in Boston, Mass. Until 1850 he remained in 
that city, fairly successful in his work, and during the same year he 
settled in Wisconsin; after remaining there for two years, in 1852 
he came to Gait, Sacramento county, Cal., crossing the plains with 
ox teams. Until 1856 he worked at his trade, establishing himself in 
the community as a man of high principles and unfailing industry. 
When he was able to establish domestic ties he returned to Wisconsin, 
to claim the girl he had loved and waited for throughout his residence 
in the west, their marriage occurring November 4, 1856. The bride. 
Miss Jennie Newcomb, was born near Albany, N. Y., the daughter of 
Samuel E., who settled in Wisconsin, and later on located in Sacra- 
mento county. Mrs. Sawyer received her education in New York state 
and was widely known as a woman of exceptional culture and gener- 
ous sympathies. After locating in Gait, Cal., Mr. Sawyer again took 
up his work, satisfied and happy in the thought of the great purpose 
which actuated his every effort. In connection with his building pur- 
suits he carried on ranching, meeting with fair success. 

To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer seven children were born : 
Frank M., whose birth occurred April 5, 1858, in Wisconsin, and who 
is now a practicing veterinary surgeon in Bakersfield, Cal.; Millie, 
who died in San Francisco; Silvia, who was born in 1864 and who 
died at the age of nineteen; John, who died in infancy; Wallace, born 
in Gait, January 8, 1868; Jean, who died at the age of twenty-nine 
years ; and Tom J., whose birth, June 7, 1879, occurred in Gait, where 
he is now engaged in the general mercantile business with his brother 
Wallace, under the firm name of Sawyer Brothers. 

Mr. Sawyer was an active member of Phoenix Lodge No. 239, 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1039 

I. 0. 0. F., and the Ancient Order United Workmen for many years. 
He was a Republican of strong and progressive principles and endeav- 
ored to lend all aid in his power to the advancement of his partv and 
to the general welfare of his fellowmen. His wife, who died in' 1906, 
shared both his joys and his sorrows with a true heart and a calm,' 
sweet mind, her companionship proving all and more than in his 
youth he had anticipated. 



ALFRED SCHADEN 

For many years the Schadens, father and son, have been identified 
with the grocery business in Sacramento, where the former built up 
an extensive trade as early as the 70s and upon his retirement was 
succeeded by his son, one of the present partners in the prosperous 
establishment. The genealogical records of the family indicate the 
lifelong residence of Henry and Anna (Winters) Schaden in the 
province of Hanover, Germany, whence the former went forth to the 
duties of a seafaring existence, serving for a long period as a cook 
on great ocean vessels of his day. In the family of Henry Schaden 
there was a son, Arend, who was born in Hanover October 9, 1845, 
and who in childhood listened with the keenest interest to his father's 
tales of voyage to distant ports. Thus was roused within him an 
ambition to see something of the world and scarcely had he left school 
at the age of fourteen years before he shipped from Bremerhaven to 
New Orleans. The Civil war had just opened and the ship experienced 
the delays incident to such a condition of affairs. After having 
been detained on a bar for ninety-five days, the vessel was the last 
to leave New Orleans after the blockade had been established by the 
Union fleet. 

After having returned to Bremerhaven on the same ship the 
young seaman accompanied the vessel to Guttenberg, thence to Cape 
Town, Africa, and from there to Rangoon, India, thence returning to 
Germany by way of St. Helena's Island. Meanwhile having been 
made steward on the ship, he made a voyage to Akyab, East Indies. 
Upon his return to Bremen he was appointed light sailor, with little 
less than the wages of first-class seamen, on a vessel commanded by 
Captain Thiernau and shortly afterward accompanied the vessel to 
the United States, where, liking the country and having wearied of 
the sea, he determined to settle. Looking about him for emplo>mient 
in the city of New York, he was successful in securing a clerksliip in 
the grocery store of J. Brummerhop, on the corner of East Broadway 
and Rutgers. That position he retained until he decided to come to 
California. On November 28, 1868, he sailed from New York for 



1040 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Panama. Having crossed the Isthmus, he continued the voyage to 
San Francisco and there landed on Christmas day. The next day he 
came to Sacramento and on the 1st of January he entered the employ 
of his uncle, Herman Winters. During October of 1870 he formed a 
partnership with S. D. Fuller under the firm name of Schaden & 
Fuller. At the expiration of five years he purchased the interest of his 
partner in the grocery business. Five years later he moved across the 
street to the location with which his name is especially linked. From 
1880 until his retirement in 1910 he continued at the same place and 
meanwhile established an enviable reputation for sagacious judgment, 
discrimination as a buyer, and the most honorable dealings with all 
customers. Not only among the earlier settlers of Sacramento, but 
also with the present generation, he has a high standing as a business 
man and citizen. For years he was very active in the Knights of 
Honor, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows a^d the Improved 
Tribe of Red Men. 

The marriage of Arend Schaden occurred in Sacramento March 8, 
1874, and united him with Miss Ameta Sanders, a native of Bremen, 
Germany. They became the parents of four children, namely : Alfred, 
who was born in Sacramento April 21, 1878, attended the public schools 
until sixteen years of age, then engaged for two years as bookkeeper 
with Holln-ook, Merrill & Stetson, of Sacramento, and since that time 
has been associated with the retail grocery business founded by his 
father; Anna Gesine, Arend Otto and John Henry, of whom the two 
last-named sons died in early life. The surviving son has been 
prominently identified with Sunset Parlor, N. S. G. W., in which he 
now holds the rank of past president. Reared in the faith of the 
German Lutheran Church, he adheres to its doctrines and supports 
its missionary movements. In politics he maintains an independent 
attitude and considers the merits of candidates rather than their 
claims. During May of 1900 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Grace Uren, of Sacramento, and two children bless their union, Harold 
Alfred and Clara Helen. 



HON. ARCHIBALD YELL 

It has been the privilege of Mr. Yell to acquire a thorough 
knowledge concerning certain ])arts of Northern California through 
residence therein and the practical, personal information thus gained 
has proved of the highest value to him, enabling him to understand 
the merits of each section and to rightly estimate its possibilities for 
future development. Included among the localities of his former 
association are Sonoma county, where his sojourn was of brief dura- 
tion; Mendocino county, where he held official positions-; Kings county. 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1041 

where he built up au important clientele during his residence ; and the 
cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, with the latter of which he 
has been identified for a period sufficiently long to enable him to 
rightly value its advantages and conservatively estimate its prospects 
for large prosperity. 

Of southern family and colonial lineage, Mr. Yell was born at 
Fayetteville, Ark., in May of 1859 and is a son of DeWitt Clinton and 
Katharine (Smith) Yell, and the grandson of Col. Archibald Yell, who 
was Governor of Arkansas and afterward Colonel in the Mexican 
war, being killed in the battle of Buena Vista. For some time Mr. Yell 
was a pupil in a private school of Nashville, Tenn., but at the age of 
thirteen he completed the studies of that institution, after which he 
took the regular course of study in the University of Nashville and 
was admitted to the bar of the district court in 1877. In that same 
year, having decided to locate in the west, he came at once to San 
Francisco, and from there proceeded to Sonoma county, where for 
one year he studied law under Judge Thomas. At the expiration of 
his period of study he engaged in practice in the justice and county 
courts of Mendocino county, where after two years of general practice 
he was elected district attorney. During his service of three years 
he returned to Tennessee and was admitted to practice before the 
Supreme Court of that state. On his return to Mendocino county he 
resumed service as district attorney, to which office he was elected for 
the second time in 188,3, remaining in the position until 1887,when he 
was honored by election as state senator from Mendocino and Lake 
counties. Four years were devoted to official duties and afterward he 
practiced law in San Francisco for three years, next opening an 
office at Hanford, Kings county, where he remained for four years. 

As attorney in Sacramento, whither he came in the year 1898, 
Mr. Yell engaged in practice with Mr. Aram for twelve months and 
later practiced alone until 1900, when he received an appointment 
as deputy district attorney. Two years were spent in that pos- 
ition when he was appointed warden of the state prison at Fol- 
som, serving four years and three months, after which he again 
resumed his practice in Sacramento, forming a partnership with A. M. 
Seymour, thus entering upon a congenial and profitable relation that 
has continued up to the present time. While making- his headquarters 
in Mendocino county he formed the acquaintance of Miss Lucile Estes 
and after their marriage in November of 1883 they established a home 
in the county where she had been reared and educated. In the various 
places of his residence he has been connected prominently with the 
Masonic Order, being a Mason of the Knight Templar degree; he has 
also held active relations with the Benevolent Protective Order of 
Elks. He is a member of the State Bar Association and is chairman 
of the grievance committee. 



1042 IIISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



H. S. BONTE 

A busy and useful career has characterized the life of H. S. 
Bonte, who has followed the vocation of surveyor and civil engineer 
with signal success. He is a native of Sacramento, the son of Charles 
C. and Anna H. Bonte, the father having been born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
in 1857. It was in his native city that Charles C. Bonte received 
his education, attending the public schools, and in 1873 he 
accompanied his parents to Sacramento, where they made their home. 
He was a student at Augustin College at Benicia until 1877, returning 
then to Sacramento to become a clerk in the motive power depart- 
ment of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, with whom he 
worked for many years and eventually became superintendent of 
that department. This position he held until 1903, when he was trans- 
ferred to San Francisco to become assistant general superintendent oi 
motive power of the Pacific system of the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company, and he is at present serving in that capacity. 

H. S. Bonte received his early education in the public schools 
of Sacramento and was graduated from the high school in 1901. 
He then became a student at Stanford University, until 1906, giving 
close attention to his s})ecial liranch and becoming thoroughly 
grounded in the theories of his chosen work. Naturally gifted in the 
solving of the many problems which confront the. civil engineer he 
early proved his fitness for that special work, and in 1906, 1907 and 
1908 was in charge of a preliminary survey for the hydraulic system of 
the Guggenheims, with headquarters at Dawson City, Alaska. In 
1908 he went to Aberdeen, Wash., in the capacity of locating-engineer 
for the Union Pacific Railroad, and in the following year returned to 
Sacramento to become chief engineer for the Vallejo Northern Rail- 
way Company, in which position he has ever since served with marked 
success. Mr. Bonte was married at Oakland, February 3, 1908, to 
Miss Warfield, and they have a son, John Warfield. A Re]^ublican 
in politics, Mr. Bonte takes a patriotic view of all questions of national 
policy, and his interest in local matters is ever for the welfare of 
the citizens of his native citv. 



CHARLES A. FICAL 

A mechanical oi)erator of no mean ability is Charles A. Fical, 
the present proprietor of the flourishing garage on M street, between 
Nineteenth and Twentieth streets, in whose sho]^s the most ex]iert 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1043 

repairing and automobile work of all kinds is done. At an early age 
he began to pick up a knowledge of machinery, and he has followed 
the work of a mechanical engineer throughout his active business 
life. He was born in Sacramento, October 28, 1868, son of Jacob and 
Mary Fical, who came to California in 1861, crossing the plains and 
experiencing a hard six-months' journey. They settled in Sacramento, 
where Jacob Fical opened a blacksmith shop which he continued 
to operate until his death, in 1867. He had prepared to retire from 
his shop, and at his death was the owner of a beautifully cultivated 
place of one hundred and sixty acres in Florin, and here his widow 
and their three children lived for many years. Mrs. Fical is still 
living, as are her two sons, Byron, now Snaking his home in Oregon, 
and Charles A. Minnie, the only daughter, died some time ago, a^'ged 
fifteen years. 

Until twenty years old Charles A. Fical attended school and 
worked on the ranch near the city, during all of which time he 
interested himself in the engineer's trade. The handling of stationary 
and traction engines alike attracted him and he soon took up that 
trade as his regular work. For nine years he ran a single traction 
engine, and then for a little over seventeen years he was employed 
as engineer at the county hospital. Subsequentlv he went into 
partnership with J. L. Latourrette in the plumbing,' gas engine and 
tinning business, which after twelve years he relinquished to embark 
m Ins automobile garage enterprise, and he is now meeting with the 
most gratifying success in this endeavor. He is an authoritv on the 
subject of automobiles, and holds the esteem of all his associates. 

Mr. Fical was married to Annie Sofia Treganza, of Sheldon, 
Sacramento county, and they are the parents of two children, Howard 
Ames, who is in business with his father, and Cora Frances, who 
is attending the high school. Fraternally Mr. Fical is a Mason, a 
member of the Eed Men, Native Sons and the Grangers, and Mrs. 
Fical also is a member of the last named order. For seven vears he 
was chief engineer of the t^ity Volunteer Fire Department, ' and his 
loyalty to his city has impelled him to fill other positions of trust 
and honor in the capital city which has insured for him the gratitude 
and respect of the entire communitv. 



FEANCIS WILLIAM FEATT 

Throughout a period covering almost sixty years the life of 
Francis William Fratt rendered useful and significant service to 
the material development of California, his helpful activities ceasing 



1044 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

only with his final departure from the scenes familiar to maturity. 
It was his high privilege to witness the remarkable advancement 
made by the west from the era of gold discovery until the twentieth 
century had brought its matchless progress into the world. Co- 
incident with that advancement was his own rise to influence and local 
distinction. Many were the changes that entered into his personal 
history from the far-distant days when as a boy in his native city of 
Albany, N. Y., he met at scliool a lad named Leland Stanford, whose 
name later became inseparably interwoven with the development 
of the western country. Later, while crossing the plains with horses 
and oxen in a large expedition, he formed the acquaintance of Charles 
AY. Coil, for many years one of the most distinguished citizens of 
Woodland. Shortly after his arrival in the Sacramento valley he 
began to be interested in the cattle industry. For years he engaged 
in the business upon a very large scale, making Sacramento his head- 
quarters. Large enterprises brought large returns. The fruits of 
his labors were evidenced by increasing possessions. For years he 
paid taxes upon broad tracts of farming land. During the early days 
he owned the Tomes grant in Tehama county, but during 1879 he sold 
it to Mr. Blossom and invested the returns in other property, mainly 
city real estate. In the latter part of his life, after he had relinquished 
his extensive stock interests, he devoted considerable attention to the 
care and improvement of his real estate in Sacramento, where he 
erected the Fratt building at No. 200 K street, the Union hotel and the 
Orleans hotel. In 1908 he erected a magnificent residence at No. 15.11 
P street. Amid the beautiful surroundings of Park View Place, with 
all the luxuries of life, ministered to by a devoted wife and blessed 
by the admiration and respect of hosts of friends, he passed the 
twilight of a useful existence and thence September 16, 1909, he 
entered into the rest of eternity. 

The political views of Mr. Fratt brought him into hearty accord 
with Democratic principles. Fraternally he held membership with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his marriage, which was 
solemnized at Sacramento October 31, 1879, he was especially 
fortunate, for his wife was a young lady not only of fine family and 
excellent education, but also of gentle character and attractive 
personal endowments. Born in Plattsburg, Clinton county, N. Y., she 
was a daughter of Harvey Bromley, sheriff of that county. After 
having completed the studies of the Plattsburg academy, Miss 
Cornelia E. Bromley came to California in 1868. The recent building 
of the railroad enabled her to travel a considerable portion of the 
distance by train. The balance of the journey was made by stage. 
From young girlhood she has been a sincere member of the Congre- 
gational Church. Philanthropic by nature, solicitous to aid the un- 
fortunate, she was particularly helpful as a member of the board of 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1045 

trustees of the orphan asylum (later known as the orphanage), her 
service in that organization covering a period of twenty-seven years. 
Aiding Mrs. Clayton, Mrs. Huntoon and Mrs. Mandeville, she estab- 
lished the Sacramento Children's Home and served from its organiza- 
tion as a member of the board. She was the first to solicit subscrip- 
tions for the erection of a suitable building on the corner of Ninth 
and X streets. At this writing she acts as vice-president of the home. 
For twenty-two successive years she entertained the children from 
the Home on the 4th of July for an all-day pleasure excursion, besides 
giving them entertainments and treats on other holidays. In addition 
to her other philanthropies she has given distinct civic service 
through her judicious labors as a member of the Sacramento board of 
park commissioners. 



CHARLES D. LEVERING 

The horticultural possibilities of the Fair Oaks district have 
been tested thoroughly and successfully by Mr. Levering since first 
he came to this locality. Recently he completed one of the finest 
residences in tlie district, a two-story frame building fitted with 
every modern convenience, arranged so as to reflect the refined 
tastes of its owners. The attractive appearance of the house is 
heightened through its excellent location on a well-chosen natural 
building site which affords a fine view of the entire settlement. 

A study of the life of C. D. Levering shows that he belongs to 
an honored pioneer family of the east and was born at Sparta, 
Wis., September 15, 1861. At an early age he accompanied his 
parents to Iowa and settled upon a tract of raw farming land in 
Polk ccounty, where he received a common-school education and 
learned the rudiments of agriculture. His opportunities were very 
meagre. Indeed, what he has and what he is may be attributed to 
his own determination, energy and sagacity, rather than to any 
special advantages surrounding his boyhood. When he started out 
to earn his own way in the world he took up the lumber business 
and for about three years he engaged in that work in Iowa, his 
home and his headquarters being at Wiota, Cass county, during 
the period of his interests in that industry. 

At the time of the celebrated opening of Oklahoma to settlers 
in April of 1889 Mr. Levering was in the territory and experienced 
all of the excitement incident to the famous rush. Later he pur- 
chased a claim of one hundred and sixty acres near Omega, King- 
fisher countv. It was no slight task to clear and improve tlie 



1046 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

property, but eventually lie had transformed the raw acreage into 
a valuable farm provided with all the appurtenances to modern 
agriculture. The raising of stock proved his principal source of 
income and he became widely known as a dealer in pure-bred 
Poland-China hogs. Other stock was to be found on his place, but 
his s]")ecialty for years continued to be hogs of the breed named. 

Not long after he had commenced the improvement of the farm 
Mr. Levering brought a bride to the new home. Returning to Cass 
county, Iowa, he there married February 20, 1893, Miss Eva Bur- 
nette, who was born, reared and educated in that county and there 
engaged in teaching school for a few years. Her health was un- 
favorably affected by the Oklahoma climate and it therefore seemed 
wise to seek another location. On three different occasions Mr. 
Levering visited California and inspected various parts of the 
state with a view to removal hither. On one of these trips he bought 
raw land at Fair Oaks. The timber was cleared from the ground 
through his own sturdy labors, the brush also was removed, the 
first furrows turned in the soil and the land brought under cultiva- 
tion. Since he brought the family here in 1905 he has labored in- 
cessantly and judiciously on the place and has developed a fruit 
farm of exceptional value and attractiveness. Besides the home 
place of ten acres, situated in close proximity to the ])lant of the 
Fair Oaks Fruit Company, he owns another tract of twenty-five 
acres. He has })]anted ten acres to orange trees and ten acres to 
almonds and is bringing the entire acreage under profitable im- 
provement. 

Close attention to his own affairs has not prevented Mr. Lever- 
ing from identifying himself with many of the movements for the 
general prosperity. When first a bank began to be agitated as a 
needed institution for the town he joined in the movement and sub- 
scribed for a number of shares of the capital stock. When the 
concern became a substantial fact and business was begun, he was 
chosen a member of the board of directors. Likewise he bought 
stock in tlie Fair Oaks Fruit Company at the inception of that 
enterprise and to its board of directors he also was chosen, since 
which time he has been associated with the successful manage- 
ment of this influential concern. Interested in educational matters, 
he has given his children excellent advantages. The son, Roy, is 
now a student at Oakland, where he studies civil engineering. The 
older daughter, Fay, attends the Sacramento high school, and the 
younger. Fern, is a student in the Fair Oaks schools. The family 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and generous con- 
tributors to its maintenance. Stanch in his allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party and well informed in ])olitics, Mr. Levering never has 
sought or filled official ]iositions. During the period of his resi- 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1047 

dence at Wiota, Iowa, he became connected with the Odd Fellows 
and held all of the offices, including that of past grand, in the 
Wiota lodge. About the same time he became a Knight of Pythias 
and in it also he served through the chairs, finally being chosen past 
grand chancellor of the local lodge. As a citizen he has been pro- 
gressive and loyal and has given his support to those enterprises 
which he believes tend to advance the welfare of the people. 



J. HAYES FISHER, M. D. 

The medical fraternity in Sacramento has a worthy represent- 
ative in Dr. J. Hayes Fisher, who was born November 14, 1880, in 
Red Cloud, Webster county. Neb., the son of Mason A. and Jennie M. 
(Rasmussen) Fisher. The father, who was a builder by trade, 
followed this calling in Sacramento and here Ms earth life came to a 
close Sei3tember 4, 1912. 

The early boyhood years of Dr. Fisher were passed in the vicinity 
of his birthplace and he received his primary education in the schools 
of Red Cloud and Grand Island, Neb. He was fifteen years of age 
when the family removed to California and settled in Sacramento, and 
here he continued his studies. After his graduation from the Sacra- 
mento high school in 1901 he became the druggist at the Sacramento 
County Hospital and in March of the following year he began the 
study of medicine in the Hahnemann Medical College of the Pacific 
at San Francisco. Completing successfully his course of study 
he was graduated May 19, 1905, with the degree of M. D. At the 
time of the San Francisco disaster he was resident physician in the 
city and county hospital of that city, performing the duties of first 
assistant in that institution. It was on August 23, 1906, that he 
returned to Sacramento and opened an office at No. 716 J street, 
continuing there until his removal to his present quarters in the 
Ochsner Building April 1, 1907. In 1903, while in medical college, 
he matriculated at the Pacific Optical College in San Francisco, and 
was graduated from that institution as an -optometrist the same 
year and in his practice he finds much to do along that specialty. 

In 1905 Dr. Fisher was president of Phi Alpha Sigina Society 
and in 1904 was editor of the Periscope, his college paper, and during 
his senior year, 1905, was president of the student body. He was one 
of the organizers of the Sacramento Valley Homeopathic Medical 
Association and served as its secretarv for three vears, or until his 



1048 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

resignation, and he is still a member of the California State Home- 
opathic Medical Society. 

Fraternally Dr. Fisher affiliates with the Woodmen of the World ; 
Red Jacket Tribe No. 28, I. 0. R. M. ; the Maccabees; the Fraternal 
Brotherhood; and the Foresters of America. In the Red Men's tribe 
of which he is a member he holds the office of medicine man, and 
is medical examiner in the other organizations mentioned. Politically 
he is a Republican but has never aspired to any office and usually 
votes for worthy candidates, regardless of their party affiliations. 
As a citizen he is public spirited and helpful to all local interests which 
promise good to the greatest number. Professionally he is popular 
and held in the highest repute and his large practice testifies to his 
ability in the profession which he has chosen for his life work. 



RALPH HILL MUDDOX 

Among the most prosperous and highly esteemed business men 
of Sacramento, whose efforts along the lines of progress have 
been conspicuous in business life is Ralph Hill Muddox, who now 
fills a position of honor in more than one flourishing business house 
in this city. He is a native of Sacramento, having been born on 
the family homestead at Twenty-sixth and J streets, opposite old 
Fort Sutter, on July 9, 1876, and is the son of George A. and 
Isabelle (Bundock) Muddox, the former a native of London, Eng- 
land, and the latter of Chelmsford, England. 

The father, George A. Muddox, was a potter by trade and upon 
his arrival in America came as far west as Illinois, where he set- 
tled, engaging in the manufacture of pottery ware in the city of 
Alton. In 1872 he came to California, and locating in Sacramento, 
estal^lished a pottery business which he continued until his death. 
The mother is still making her home in Sacramento. 

Ralph H. Muddox was educated in the public schools and at 
the Atkinson Business College, from which latter he was gradu- 
ated at the age of twent^^-one, at which time he embarked in the 
contracting and building trade and followed it for twelve years with 
marked success. Having learned the manufacture of pottery and 
cement work when but a lad he became experienced in this line 
of work, and accordingly decided to resume that work. His ter- 
razzo and cement manufacturing plant which is situated on Twen- 
ty-ninth street, between K and L streets, is the center of a thriv- 
ing business which takes much of his attention and has proved a 
;judicious investment and a financial success. Other business inter- 



HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1049 

ests than this concern command Mr. Muddox's abilities. He is 
secretary of the Isleton Asparagus Company, which has one hun- 
dred and fifty acres in asparagus, and he is also a stockholder in 
the Sacramento Olive Company, one of the largest olive orchards 
in Northern California. 

Mr. Muddox has proved himself to be a public-spirited, con- 
scientious and progressive citizen in every sense of the word. He 
affiliates with the Native Sons of the Golden West and was for 
some time active in the Order of Eagles. In politics he is a Re- 
publican and is inclined to vote independently, favoring the man best 
suited for the position. On December 15, 1903, he was married to 
Miss Marian Russell, of San Luis Obispo county, Cal., daughter 
of D. A. Russell, then a lawyer at San Luis Obispo and later at 
Bakersfield, but who is now living retired from active cares and re- 
sp-onsibilities. In 1903 Mr. Muddox made a four-months' tour of 
Europe, touching at different points of interest in England and on 
the continent, meanwhile visiting the old homes of his father and 
mother in England. Mr. and Mrs. Muddox attend the St. Paul's 
Episcopal Church. 



CASPER V. SCHNEIDER 

A son of Charles Joseph and Katherine Schneider, Casper V. 
Schneider was born in Germany February 16, 1875, and was quite 
young when the family sought a home in America. During 1880 
his parents settled in Omaha, Neb., and there he was sent \o the 
parish schools of the Roman Catholic Church until he reached the 
age of fifteen, when he began to earn his own livelihood. As an 
apprentice and helper he entered the shop of the Western Electric 
Company and there learned all branches of the business, later be- 
coming foreman of the repair shop. In the various positions which 
he held with that company he proved efficient, anxious to learn and 
quick to grasp any new idea in the business. Upon resigning in 
1897 he removed to California and settled in Sacramento, where he 
entered the employ of the Electrical Supply Company. At the ex- 
piration of one year he bought an interest in the business. Dur- 
ing 1903 the company was incorporated and he was chosen presi- 
dent, since which he has built up an important and prosperous trade 
in the manufacture and jobbing of electrical supplies and the wir- 
ing of buildings for gas and electricity. 

From boyhood Mr. Schneider has been devoted to the doctrines 
of the Roman Catholic Church and more recently he has become ac- 
tively identified with the Young Men's Institute and the Knights of 



1050 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

Columbus. The German Order of Red Men and the S^^cramento Turn 
ers also number him amoni>' their members, as does the local camp. 
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is independent in politics 
but keeps well posted concerning all national problems, and supports 
such men and such measures of each party as seem to him to be best 
adapted to the advancement of the commonwealth and the country. 
For some years after he came to California he remained single, but 
February 4, 1903, he was united in marriage in Yolo county with 
Miss Pauline Sclimeister, and they came to Sacramento, establishing 
a permanent home in this city and winning the friendship of a 
large circle of ac(juaintances. They are the ]:>arents of three children, 
So]>hie, Lawrence and Virgil. 



FREDERICK S. WALTON 

The Walton family traces its lineage to honored colonial settlers 
of the east and numerous successive generations left the impress of 
forceful personalities upon the history of New England, where there 
yet continues a goodly representation of the name, although with the 
expansion of the country's population and resources to the west there 
has been a corresponding migration of its members from old settled 
regions to the new country. Born June 21, 1870, in Boston, Mr. 
Walton enjoyed in j^^outh the splendid educational advantages offered 
by that historic town, while in the home of his parents, Harrison 
C. and Abbie Ann Walton, he received the example of true courtesy 
to all and the highest refinement of manner. Upon his graduation 
from the Boston high school in 1886 he faced the future with a youth's 
bright hope of success and for the attainment of such a desired result 
he was qualified by birth, breeding and education. The means of the 
family enabled him to gratify a longing for travel and his first long 
voyage brought him around the Horn to San Francisco, where he 
entered into special service for the government as a member of the 
United States navy, stationed for one year aboard the Albatross. 
Later he spent one year in travel, mainly in Australia. 

Mr. AYalton returned home and took up occupative employment, 
engaging as a bill clerk with the American Express Company for 
two 5^ears. Next we find him upon the plains of South Dakota, 
where for one year he served as a member of the Eighth Cavalry, 
U. S. A,, and upon his retirement from the army he remained in the 
Dakotas to carry on mining enterprises. The year 1897 found him 
in Portland, Ore,, where he organized the Quaker Medicine Company 
and became manager of the business, in which he owned one-half of 
the stock. For eleven years he continued in the same position. 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1051 

Under Ins expert supervision the business of the company developed 
greatly and its reputation was established throughout the west. A 
favorable opening caused him to remove to Los Angeles in 1908 and 
there he became general manager for the Dr. Parker Painless 
Dentistry Company. During August of 1910 he came to Sacramento 
and organized the dental firm of Walton- Way, Incorporated, of 
which he is now president and which under his experienced super- 
vision has reached a high degree of professional prestige and finan- 
cial success. Modern improvements and devices of every kind 
suited to professional use may be found in the operating rooms, 
while the reception and consulting rooms are attractive and elegant! 
The success of the enterprise is due to the initiative and sagacious 
judgment of its founder, who in addition to this important association 
still retains his large interest in the Quaker Medicine Companv. 
Fraternally he holds membership with the Elks. The home which 
he has established in Sacramento enjoys the hospitable ministrations 
of Mrs. Walton, formerly Miss Edith Dacre Chapman, whom he 
married August 1, 1909, in Huston, Tex., and who is well qualified 
by native abilities and educational advantages to fill an important 
social position in the cultured circles of the capital city. 



T. J. 'KELLY 

Left fatherless at the age of four years and forced to become 
self-supporting at an age when the majority of boys are enjo^^ng 
educational advantages and athletic sports, Mr. 'Kelly developed 
qualities of self-reliance and industrious application that have been 
of the greatest value to him throughout all of his life. With no one 
to advise him, he early developed the quality of independent reason- 
ing and thus has always studied out in his own wav personal problems 
public questions and national issues. Of recent "vears he has given 
much attention to the fact that twelve millions in 'cash annuallv^goes 
out of California into the hands of the eastern life insurance 
companies, thus building up the east at the expense of the people of 
the west. It is now his ambition to keep at least a small portion 
of this immense sum in our own home state and with that object in 
view he acts as the Northern California agent for the Occidental 
Life Insurance Company, an organization having its headquarters in 
Los Angeles, where it has a reputation for substantial growth and 
excellent financial status. 

Mr. 'Kelly comes of southern ancestry and was born April 17, 



60 



1052 HISTOEY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

1867, in Vernon eoimtv, Mo., where his father, a native of Tennes- 
see, died during middle age. The mother survived him for many 
5^ears and finally settled in California, where in 1911 she died 
at Redlands. There are seven children in the ]mrental family and 
of these all but one are residents of California. Formerly the home 
of the family was in New Mexico, where at one time T. J. and his 
brothers had one thousand head of cattle on the range. As early as 
1882 he began work in the mines of that then territory, but after 
eighteen months he relinquished that occupation and turned to 
other enterprises. For two years he was employed in the car- 
shops at Doming, N. M., after which he went on the road as a 
brakeman with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and eighteen 
months later was promoted to be conductor. 

Upon coming to California and settling at Redlands in December 
of 1890, Mr. 'Kelly bought a tract of land and began the improve- 
ment of the ranch, which eighteen months later he sold to a brother. 
Thereupon he returned to the employ of the Southern Pacific 
Company and had his headquarters at Tucson, Ariz. At the 
expiration of two 3'ears he again resigned from railroad work, this 
time to enter the Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 
where he studied during the year of 1893-94, meanwhile giving con- 
siderable attention also to religious work. Upon his return to 
Arizona he was given a position on the Santa Fe road as a conductor 
and as such continued for seven years, with headquarters at Winslow. 
During the spring of 1902 he became identified with the life insurance 
business for the first time. For one year he represented the New 
York Life Insurance Company and it was during this period that 
he began to study the question of the immense financial drain upon 
western states through the sending of millions annually to eastern 
companies. Not being in s^^npathy with the principle, he decided to 
give his support to western companies and for that reason he left 
the New York Life in order to represent the Conservative Ijife 
Insurance Company of California. At the same time he engaged 
in religious and temperance work among the railroad men and 
was instrumental in getting hundreds of men to pledge abstinence 
from drink. When he came to Sacramento for the first time in 
1905 and saw the prospects of the valley for future prosperity, he 
resigned from railroad missionary work and became identified solely 
with insurance and real estate. 

The marriage of Mr. 'Kelly and Miss Ethel Farmer, of Spring- 
field, Mo., was solemnized May 5, 1897, and has been blessed by three 
daughters, namely: Ella, born in Arizona March 27, 1898; Madeline, 
born in Arizona June 8, 1900; and Marjorie, whose birth occurred 
in Sacramento October 15, 1911. The family are connected with the 
Christian Science Church of Sacramento, in which Mr. O 'Kelly 



HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 1053 

serves as an usher. In former years he was very active in the Order 
of Railroad Conductors and his name is still enrolled in the organi- 
zation, while in addition he has been an influential factor in the 
blue lodge of Masonry at Sacramento. In young manhood he gave 
active allegiance to the Republican party and willingly aided all 
movements for the advancement of that organization, but a later and 
closer study of national issues caused him to transfer his allegiance 
to the Socialist party, in whose ranks he since has been enthusiastic 
and interested. As a citizen he is progressive and loyal, aiding 
with generosity measures for the permanent benefit of Sacramento 
and devoted with whole-hearted s\^npathy to the welfare of the com- 
monwealth. 



AUGUSTIN E. COOLOT 

Among the pioneer families of Sacramento that have taken a 
very important and influential part in the commerical and social 
affairs of the city, mention should be made of the Coolot family. 
The founder of the family in California was Anthony Coolot, an 
Austrian by birth, but after 1850 a resident of the United States. 
Born November 19, 1821, he received a superior education in various 
European cities, after which he spent some time in Algeria, his 
residence there bringing him into close association with the French 
people of that country, so much so in fact that he was always taken 
for a Frenchman himself. Becoming imbued with a desire to come 
to the United States he crossed the ocean and first settled in New 
York City, but the locatic^ did not prove congenial on account of 
his associations with people of the south. Going to New Orleans he 
secured employment as clerk in a large glass and crockery establish- 
ment, in which business he had served an apprenticeship in Europe. 
From New Orleans he set out on a tedious but uneventful trip 
around the Horn on the Yankee Blade, which In-ought the young- 
man to the harbor of San Francisco during the year 1854 and from 
the coast he proceeded to Sacramento, thence went to Nevada 
county and began to mine near Moore's Flat. The mines, however, 
did not produce profitable returns and at the expiration of six 
months he returned to Sacramento, where he secured a position 
in a glass and crockery store. For two years he remained with the 
establishment, but then resigned in order to embark in the general 
variety and notion business, in which line of endeavor he met 
with excellent results. Subsequently he embarked in the wholesale 
cigar and tobacco business, which he carried on until his death in 
1900. ' 



1054 HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 

Mr. Coolot went througli tlie fires and floods of the early days. 
It should he stated tliat previous to the fire he had erected a hrick 
building- at No. 812 J street and it was this structure that arrested 
the progress of the fire of 1862 and helped to save a portion of the 
city. He was a staunch supporter and friend of Sacramento and 
when the attempt was made to remove the city to Sutterville he 
fought the attempt, and though he received flattering offers, notliing 
would induce him to desert the city of his adoption, in which he 
had such abiding faith. He was one of the original subscribers and 
stockholders of the Central Pacific Eailroad and always a liberal 
supporter of enterprises that he deemed for the betterment of the 
people and the building up of the city. He was a ready and willing 
taxpayer and was very enterprising and public spirited, although 
very modest and unassuming, and all of his donations and charities 
were accomplished in an unostentatious manner. After he became 
a naturalized citizen he voted at general elections, but never allied 
himself with any political party, being independent in his attitude 
toward national issues and governmental problems. Throughout 
his entire life he remained a loval adherent of the Eoman Catholic 
Church. 

Mr. C^oolot was married in Sacramento in July, 1861, to 
Margaretha Sommer, a native of Bavaria who had come to California 
by way of Panama in 1860. She became the mother of three 
children, two of whom were daughters, Mary Antoinetta, deceased ; 
and Mrs. Clara Louise Diepenbrock, one of the cultured women of 
Sacramento. The only son, Augustin E., was born in the year 
1867 and to him were given the most select educational advantages 
the city of Sacramento then afforded. From 1876 until 1885 he 
attended the Sacramento Institute conducted by the Christian 
Brothers. Upon the completion of his course of study he began to 
assist his father in the cigar and tobacco business, and continued 
in the establishment until his death. Meanwhile, upon the death 
of its founder in 1900, the company was incorporated with Augustin 
E. Coolot president and Mr. Diepenbrock vice-president. For two 
years, until the dissolution of the company, the business was conducted 
as a corporation. 

Eemoving to San Francisco in 1902 Mr. Coolot embarked in 
business in that city, but the great fire of 1906 wiped out the busi- 
ness. Thereupon he returned to Sacramento and organized the 
Aristo Mineral Water & Siphon Water Company, which has main- 
tained a prosperous development and a steady growth. In this 
concern he fills the office of treasurer. As a business man he has 
displayed much of the keen discrimination, untiring energy and 
resourceful ability that brought success to his father. Unlike him, 
however, he has taken a warm interest in public affairs as a member 



HISTOEY OF SACEAMENTO COUNTY 1055 

of the Eepublican party and a stanch believer in its value to the 
country. His marriage took place in Sacramento January 8, 1902, 
and united him with Miss Eebecca Maude Elliott. The only child 
born of the union died in infancy. The family are generous contri- 
butors to the Eoman Catholic Church and Mr. Coolot has been a 
sincere believer in its doctrines throughout life, having been reared 
in that faith. The Young Men's Institute of Sacramento has his name 
enrolled in its membership and he is also influential in the local work of 
the Benevolent Order of Elks. 



EDGAE H. BELLMEE 

John Bellmer, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born 
near Bremen, Germany, May 11, 1833, and was fifteen years old when 
he landed in New York, When about twenty he started out on his 
travels again. He sailed on the bark Catharine Augusta bound for 
Australia, but his vessel calling at Eio Janeiro, sailed right into the 
yellow fever, and before she could get out of the infested port 
half of her passengers died. Mr. Bellmer, like the others, was glad 
to get anywhere, consequently when he found himself in the clipper 
ship High Flyer sailing around Cape Horn and bound for California 
instead of Australia, he was satisfied. He landed in San Francisco 
in September, 1853, and made his way into the mines, but four years 
later found him in Sacramento in the grocery business, and he re- 
mained in that city till his death April 4, 1899. 

In the fall of 1871 Mr. Bellmer was elected county treasurer, 
and was again elected to that office in the fall of 1873. He was long 
an active member of the Sacramento Turn-Verein and held the offices 
of president and secretary for many terms. He was also prominent 
in the Odd Fellow fraternity, having been a past grand master of that 
order. Mr. Bellmer was married January 18, 1860, in Sacramento, to 
Miss Mary Grady, of New London, Conn. They had twelve children, 
five of whom are living, namely : Mrs. Carrie L. Miller of Sacramento ; 
Mrs. W. B. Morrill of San Francisco; W. F. Bellmer, in retail liquor 
trade, Sacramento ; F. E. Bellmer, head-marker, Sacramento Laundry ; 
and Edgar H. Bellmer, secretary of Sacramento Laundry. 

Edgar H. Bellmer was born in Sacramento, June 25, 1883, and 
kept pretty close to the city schools till he was seventeen years old, 
when he clerked in his father's grocery store. Clerking and book- 
keeping in the Southern Pacific Eailroad store department and other 
offices occupied several more years, after which he bought an interest 
in the Sacramento Laundry and was elected the secretary of that insti- 
tution, which position he has ably filled for the last five years. On 
December 11, 1907, Mr. Bellmer was married to Miss M. E. Sprague 
of Eoseville, and they have two children, Alice L. and Edgar H., Jr. 
Fraternallv he is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West. 



1056 HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



ADAM B. KESSLER 

The prominent dealer in hardware and house fnrnishin,i>- .i>oods 
of Oak Park, Sacramento, whose name is above, was born at Williams- 
town, Clay county, Ind., November 25, 1869, a son of Doui>las and Mary 
Kessler. His parents lived originally near Columbus, Ohio. His 
father taught school until after the death of his wife in 1887, then he 
farmed for some years and eventually passed away in 1906. After 
completing his school education A. B. Kessler did farm work until the 
spring of 1891, when he went to Livingston, Mont. There he worked 
as a carpenter until he contracted a fever which necessitated his 
leaving the town. During the ensuing five years he followed carpen- 
tering and did railroad and mining work from place to place until he 
located in Anaconda, Mont,, where at length he found employment with 
the Montana Meat Company, which retained his services three years. 
During the next two years he was in the employ of the Montana 
Laundry Company at Butte. After that he bought ten acres of land 
at Orangevale, Cal., and operated a fruit farm and vineyard until 1909, 
when he sold the place. Early in the following year he entered the 
service of the Oak Park Lumber Company, but after a few months 
became a salesman in the E. A. Pierce hardware store. It was not 
long before he bought the stock of that concern, to which he has 
since added to complete the line and put in house furnishing goods, 
crockery and silverware. By fair treatment of his customers, as 
well as by the application of good business ability, he has built up a 
good trade which is constantly increasing. 

January 14, 1904, Mr. Kessler married Miss Jessie R. Pierce of 
Sacramento, daughter of a pioneer at Fair Oaks and Orangevale, 
who has retired from active life and is living with his son, E. A. Pierce, 
a contractor. Mrs. Kessler has borne her husband four children : Ruth, 
Joseph Pierce, Dorothy, and Viola M. She is a member of the 
Mothers' Club of Highland Park, the family are communicants of the 
Baptist Church, and Mr. Kessler affiliates with the Knights of Pythias. 
As a citizen he is conspicuously public-spirited and progressive. 



